Education and Training Monitor 2022

1. Key Indicators

Figure 1: Key indicators overview

Eurostat (UOE, LFS, COFOG); OECD (PISA). Further information can be found in Annex I and at Monitor Toolbox. Notes: The 2018 EU average on PISA reading performance does not include ES; the indicator used (ECE) refers to early-childhood education and care programmes which are considered by the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to be ‘educational’ and therefore constitute the first level of education in education and training systems – ISCED level 0; the equity indicator shows the gap in the share of underachievement in reading, mathematics and science (combined) among 15-year-olds between the lowest and highest quarters of socio-economic status; b = break in time series, u = low reliability, : = not available, 09 = 2009, 13 = 2013, 18 = 2018, 20 = 2020.

Figure 2: Position in relation to strongest and weakest performers

2. A focus on digital education

Young people fare well in digital skills, but Slovenia faces a shortage of highly qualified information and communications technology (ICT) specialists. Slovenia ranks 11th among the EU Member States in the 2022 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). 68% of those aged 16-19 in Slovenia have basic or above-basic overall digital skills. This is close to the EU average (69%)¹. However, the gap with the EU average is larger when the reference group is widened to those aged 16-24; 63.4% have basic or above-basic overall digital skills vs an EU average of 71.2%. Teenagers seem to be more confident in their digital skills than young adults. The share of ICT graduates has been gradually increasing in recent years and now accounts for 4.1% of total graduates (EU average: 3.9%)². Nevertheless, 69.3% of companies in Slovenia which tried to recruit ICT specialists in 2021 reported difficulties in filling vacancies compared to an average of 55.4% of companies reporting the same problem across the EU (DESI, 2022). The demand for ICT specialists is high and the higher education sector struggles with supplying enough graduates with advanced digital skills³. The share of ICT graduates in Slovenia in short-cycle tertiary education (i.e. below bachelor’s level) is 6.4% and the share of ICT graduates of bachelor’s degree courses is 4.6% (EU average: 4.9% and 4% respectively). However, Slovenia falls behind at the master's and doctorate levels where 2.6% of masters students and 2.3% of doctoral students graduate in the field of ICT compared to EU averages of 3.5% and 3.2% respectively⁴.

Slovenia is investing in digital skills and digital infrastructure for schools. Schools are better equipped and connected than the EU average. However, problems remain with connectivity in remote areas. Under the country's national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP), Slovenia aims to: (i) improve the connectivity of 228 educational institutions; (ii) permanently deploy at least 40 long-distance optical connections of 100 Gbps for the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES); and (iii) develop new IT solutions to help digitise the teaching process at all education levels. Digital skills are also expected to be better integrated in curricula at all levels of education. Currently, computer science is a compulsory subject only in the first grade of upper secondary general education; it remains an optional subject at other levels. Computer science is integrated in several subjects in upper secondary vocational programmes. Slovenia maintains teachers’ e-communities dedicated to digital education, and encourages the use of self-assessment tools for teachers (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2019). However, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed deficiencies in teachers’ digital skills, which could be partly due to the lack of mandatory ICT training for teachers (European Commission, 2020). As part of the measures under the NRRP, Slovenia plans to train 20 000 education professionals and managers – half of the teaching population – in digital skills. In addition, in 2021 a two-year project on digital competency began in 220 schools to enhance digital school strategies and peer reflection of teachers.

Figure 3: Tertiary ICT graduates by education level, 2020.

Government action is increasing the digitalisation of education. The Digital Education Service, set up within the Ministry of Education, Sience and Sport, is coordinating and supervising activities related to the digitalisation of education, including the Slovenian digital education action plan (ANDI 2027). The purpose of the action plan is to determine the country's vision and goals for digital education over the next 7 years in three areas. Besides organisational questions, it covers educational content related to: (i) teaching and curricula; (ii) education, training and communities; (iii) leadership; and (iv) the support environment (e-services, infrastructure, equal opportunities, evaluation). In addition the action plan looks at (i) provisions of the Slovenian state budget; and (ii) the efficient and coordinated use of EU, national and other resources. The plan envisages the set-up of a national digital education coordination centre, which will act as a single contact point for all services and activities at all levels of education. ANDI 2027 is also the main strategic framework for the continuous professional development of teachers in digital skills.

Slovenia is strengthening its measures to promote digital inclusion. In 2021, 50% of the population aged 16-74 had at-least-basic digital skills, which is comparable to the EU average (54%). 20% of the population had above-basic digital skills (EU average: 26%). The 'digital divide' remains significant with regard to marginalised groups, especially in rural areas (European Commission, 2021b). Slovenia’s strategy for digital transformation of the economy sets the target of more than 80% of adults having at-least-basic digital skills by 2030, in line with the EU-level target. In early 2022, Slovenia adopted the Promotion of Digital Inclusion Act to: (i) improve digital literacy; (ii) increase interest in professional digital skills and entrepreneurship and (iii) reduce the gender gap in digital skills. The biggest digital literacy project in the country was launched in May 2022. It encompasses: (i) funding of EUR 150 in digital vouchers for students to buy digital devices; and (ii) funding for adults over 55 to participate in digital literacy training. Children will also be entitled to free courses in advanced digital skills, such as coding, robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital entrepreneurship. Further changes to the bill are planned to allocate more resources to digital literacy courses.

3. Early childhood education and care

Participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) keeps increasing, and is now approaching the EU average. In Slovenia, as in most European countries, the share of children attending pre-school has increased significantly in the last 10 years. In 2020, 92.6% of children between the age of 3 and the starting age of compulsory education participated in ECEC (EU average: 93%). Since 2013, their participation has increased by 4.7 percentage points⁵. Similarly, the inclusion of toddlers up to three years of age in formal childcare or education has grown by 10.5 pps in the past decade⁶. Government policy has been successful by either subsidising fees for children who are enrolled in a public kindergarten or by giving a concession for parents who send their children to private institutions (cf. European Commission 2021a). Since 2018/2019, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport covers all expenses for children aged 5 not previously attending kindergarten to be enrolled in short programmes (duration of 240 hours). 

Slovenia is updating its ECEC curricula. In 2021, Slovenia amended its ECEC Act, with the intention of further increasing the rate of enrolment in ECEC. In early 2022, the Slovenian authorities launched a revision of the ECEC curricula as part of the broader education policy reform under the NRRP. According to the expert group convened to prepare the revision, the revised ECEC curricula should: (i) incorporate new insights from research and practice; (ii) respond to the changing societal context; and (iii) cater for the specific developmental needs of children in the youngest age bracket (National Education Institute Slovenia, 2022a). It should also help to equip ECEC professionals with new skills, in particular digital skills, skills in teaching sustainability, and skills teaching in multilingual and multicultural classrooms (National Education Institute Slovenia, 2022a). The updated curricula shall be gradually implemented until 2026-2027, along with training of ECEC staff and an evaluation of the reform.

4. School education

The percentage of pupils who leave education and training early (3.1%) is significantly below the EU average (9.7%). Nevertheless, the share of early school leavers among young people born outside the EU is twice as high (6%) as among those born in Slovenia (2.9%)⁷. It is also much higher among some groups of teenagers, such as those of immigrant and Roma descent (OECD, 2021). Counselling services for pupils at risk have been provided in Slovenia since 1999, and contribute to the low national rate of early leaving from education and training. Counsellors provide pedagogical, psychological, and social counselling and offer support to pupils, teachers, parents and school management (European Commission, 2019). 

Parents are increasingly postponing their children’s entry into compulsory schooling by one year. In 2020, 86.4% of six-year olds attended primary education, a 6.1 percentage point drop compared to 2013⁸. The proportion of six-year olds enrolled in ECEC increased in the same period. The reasons for – and effects of – delayed schooling warrant more systematic research (Marjanovič Umek, 2021), as does the transition from pre-school to primary school requires further attention.

Young Slovenians perform well in basic skills. However, gaps persist between boys and girls and between pupils born in Slovenia and pupils with a migrant background⁹. 15-year-olds in Slovenia tend to perform better in PISA tests than the EU average. This is one of the results of Slovenia’s focus on ensuring quality and equity in its education system (European Commission, 2022b). Nevertheless, the educational achievement of 15-year-olds differs according to socioeconomic background, and the characteristics of the school and programme they attend. The national curriculum for basic schools (for children aged 6 to 15) and general upper-secondary schools has been amended to support the acquisition of key skills. Various initiatives, such as the 'Opening up Slovenia' initiative, which focuses on innovative open-learning approaches, have also contributed to the overall good results (European Commission, 2022b). The national strategy for the development of reading literacy (2019-2030) promotes the development of reading literacy and reading culture among individuals of various age and between social groups and individuals. Slovenia also runs a project focusing on mathematical and scientific literacy with support from the European Social Fund (National Education Institute Slovenia, 2021).

The government is promoting inclusion in education in Slovenia. Following the implementation of the new 2020-2031 Roma education strategy, Slovene authorities launched a new project on 'Multifunctional Roma centres as innovative learning environments'. Supported by European funding, the project will help Slovenia's Centre for School and Extracurricular Activities to strengthen the skills and knowledge of Roma children and adolescents and increase their integratio in the education system. Support for students from migrant backgrounds, including more language lessons (cf. European Commission, 2020) continues to be important, as Slovenia is a common destination country for migrants from other Balkan and eastern European countries. 

Slovenia is focusing on the green and digital transitions in education, but implementation could be strengthened. The NRRP supports a comprehensive reform of curricula aimed at developing digital skills, skills for sustainable development, and the financial literacy of teachers and pupils. Currently, environmental and sustainable development topics are integrated as a cross-curricular theme in many compulsory subjects in primary education. However, given the curriculum overload in Slovenia, not enough time can be given to these themes (European Commission, 2022a). Although teachers are obliged to include environmental education in their lessons, many of them lack the necessary knowledge and skills to do so, as environmental sustainability is rarely part of initial teacher training (European Commission, 2022a). Some progress has been made towards the nationwide implementation of education programmes to promote environmental sustainability, but it is far from being comprehensively implemented across the country (European Commission, 2022a). In addition, there are large divides in environmental optimism and the ability to explain or discuss environmental issues (environmental self-efficacy) between boys and girls as well as between socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged pupils (OECD, 2022b).

Slovenia faces a growing shortage of teachers at all levels of education. The number of teachers in service has been falling due to retirement and low numbers of new entrants to the profession. Some schools are reporting difficulties in finding teachers of mathematics and technical subjects (e.g. computing). The challenges are expected to intensify in the future, especially for teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) (European Commission, 2022b). In 2022, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport issued a public call for scholarships for students of pedagogical study programmes in the fields of science and technology for the 2022/23 academic year. The Ministry also reintroduced systemic traineeship for education staff. Meanwhile, in early 2022, nearly 40 000 staff working in all levels of education protested to demand higher wages for teaching and non-teaching staff and bonuses for extra work during the pandemic.

Slovenia has welcomed displaced children from Ukraine into kindergartens, basic and upper secondary schools. Pupils with temporary protection are entitled to intensive Slovene language courses in the beginning of the school year. These courses have also been offered to Ukrainian students who have arrived since March 2022. In April, the National Education Institute published guidelines for the inclusion of children and adolescents with temporary protection in educational institutions to help managers and staff in kindergartens and schools to create an inclusive school environment (National Education Institute Slovenia, 2022b).

5. Vocational education and training and adult learning 

In recent years, Slovenia has witnessed steady enrolment of young people in vocational education and training (VET) programmes. In 2021, approximately two thirds of Slovenian pupils (65.9%) opted for VET education programmes after completing basic education¹⁰. Despite high enrolment rates, the employment of recent VET upper secondary graduates decreased between 2018 (84.5%) and 2021 (78%) by 6.5 pps¹¹. Many Slovenian employers have had difficulties in finding suitable staff for several years. This might be related to the poor reputation and lower wages associated with these professions, (Hergan & Čelebič, 2016), and consequently the decision of young people to enrol in tertiary education. Participation in work-based learning by upper-secondary VET students was 73.9% in 2021, well above the EU average of 60.7%¹². Those enrolled in three-year VET programmes receive practical training with employers for at least 24 weeks, while those in four-year programmes receive practical training with employers of 8 weeks on average.

All key actors are satisfied with Slovenia’s apprenticeship programme, but challenges remain. The Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training (CPI) has published its final evaluation report on the implementation of the pilot apprenticeship scheme (Cedefop, 2022a). The scheme was launched in 2017 with four programmes, and then gradually extended to 12 programmes in 2021/2022. The evaluation revealed great satisfaction among learners/apprentices, companies and schools. Nevertheless, the evaluation also said that links between school-based and company-based learning could be strengthened. The attractiveness of apprenticeships and the shared responsibility of social partners could also be further promoted. The evaluation also showed that promoting the full equivalence between school-based and company-based learning for qualifications may need to be reconsidered.

The government has proposed measures to strengthen the cooperation of VET institutions with social partners. As part of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), these measures will ensure that the VET system is better aligned and linked to the needs of the labour market through incentives for employers to provide learning places for apprentices and students in upper secondary and higher vocational schools. Furthermore, the promotion of vocational education will be encouraged to increase the attractiveness of VET. In 2021, the Ministry of Labour set up a project that will develop a long-term systemic approach to skills forecasting: the Skills Forecasting Platform (Cedefop, 2022b). The platform will be a systemic IT tool to better match the skills of job seekers and employees with the demands of the labour market. The government also intends to develop a tracking application to monitor the employment performance of VET graduates under the NRRP. 

Adult participation in lifelong learning is improving, but vulnerable groups need support for upskilling and reskilling. In 2021, 18.9% of the surveyed working age population in Slovenia (25-64) had participated in lifelong learning in the 4 weeks before the survey (the Labour Force Survey). This is significantly above the EU average of 10.8%¹³. Despite this positive development, the rate of adult participation in learning in Slovenia has been declining since 2010. The participation in learning in the last four weeks prior to the survey is particularly low among low-skilled (3.4 %, EU average: 4.3%) while it has, compared to year 2020 (when it was 3.9%, below EU average of 4.8%) significantly improved for older persons (10.3%, EU average: 5.7%)¹⁴. The key reasons for low rates of participation in lifelong learning are the lack of motivation on the part of the target population and the reluctance of employers to refer their employees to training. Slovenia's 2030 target is the same as the EU target, namely for 60% of all adults to engage in learning in any given year.

Slovenia intends to promote adult learning and strengthen participation in lifelong learning. It has set an ambitious target to help achieve the objectives of the European Pillar of Social Rights action plan, while paying particular attention to different vulnerable groups (e.g. those over 65, the low-skilled, the less qualified, etc.). The National Assembly adopted the National Resolution of Adult Education Master Plan 2022-2030, with defined goals, indicators and priority areas. A significant share of resources from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) will be used to promote lifelong learning, in particular flexible upskilling and reskilling opportunities for all. These funds will take into account: (i) the need for entrepreneurial and digital skills; (ii) the need to better anticipate changes and new skills requirements based on labour-market needs; (iii) the need to facilitate career transitions and promote professional mobility; (iv) the need to modernise labour-market institutions and services to assess and anticipate skills needs: and (v) the need to provide timely and tailor-made support to match jobseekers with work, promote employment transitions, and encourage job mobility.

6. Higher education 

The tertiary education attainment rate among 25-34-year olds is well above the EU-level target and continues to increase.

Figure 4: Tertiary education attainment rate by sex in Slovenia (%), 2012-2021.

It increased over 10 percentage points in the past decade, reaching 47.9% in 2021 (vs an EU average of 41.2%)¹⁵. This puts Slovenia ahead of the EU-level target of 45%. The Resolution on the national programme of higher education until 2030 envisages that at least 50% of Slovenian citizens aged 30 to 34 will complete one of the levels of higher education by 2030. At the same time, Slovenia has the largest tertiary-education gender gap in the EU (women 60.8%; men 37.2%) and a significant gap between the native and foreign-born population among 25-34 year-olds (50.2% among native-born vs 24.3% among foreign-born). The recent Eurostudent survey shows that Slovenia is one of the countries with fewest female students compared to male students in the field of ICT (Hauschildt, K. et al., 2021). Meanwhile, the overrepresentation of female students in education subjects is high in Slovenia: the proportions of female students in the field of education are more than 30 percentage points higher than the average share of female students in the tertiary sector) (Hauschildt, K. et al., 2021).

The number of graduates in Slovenia has increased in all fields of higher education. Many Slovenian students choose vocational tracks and STEM degrees (OECD, 2021). Compared to 2015, the number of graduates in STEM fields increased by 2.9 percentage points, accounting for almost a third (28.6%) of all graduates in 2020. As in previous years, the largest share of graduates completed studies in the fields of business, administration and law (19%), followed by engineering, manufacturing and construction (17%)¹⁶. A growing number of international students are enrolling in Slovenian higher-education institutions, with more than half originating from countries of the former Yugoslavia (OECD, 2022a, SURS, 2022c). In 2020, the share of foreign students among all students enrolled in tertiary education in Slovenia was 7.8%, almost twice the percentage registered in 2018 (4.7%). The share of both foreign students and graduates is the highest at the doctoral level. 20.1% of all doctoral students are foreign as are 11.4% of all doctoral graduates¹⁷.

The Slovenian authorities continue to reform higher education. Under the NRRP, Slovenia plans to invest into pilot projects of higher education institutions that focus on the green transition, digitisation and lifelong learning. Based on these pilot projects, Slovenia aims to prepare a Blueprint for investing in green, resilient, sustainable and digitally connected higher education, paving the way to systemic change. The reforms also hope to address attainment gaps by introducing greater flexibility in study programmes including through micro-credentials. The National Assembly adopted in March 2022 a resolution on the national programme of higher education until 2030. It aims to improve the quality, attractiveness and responsiveness to society of higher education. The document sets out strategic objectives in the following areas: (i) linking the higher-education system to social development; (ii) improving legislation and increasing funding; (iii) improving quality; (iv) increasing internationalisation; and (v) increasing digitalisation. 

Student life is increasingly being affected by rising living costs, impacting the accessibility of higher education. Students face difficulties in renting apartments, a problem that is particularly acute in Ljubljana and for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The recently adopted Student Status Act, based on a proposal by the Slovenian Student Union, is aimed at improving students’ living conditions. Major provisions of the Act include: (i) a requirement for higher-education institutions to ensure equal treatment for all students; (ii) explicit prohibition of sexual and other harassment or violence; (iii) a gradual increase of 20% in the state scholarship by 2024; and (iv) ensuring additional financial support for the construction and renovation of student accommodation facilities.

Annex I: Key indicators sources

Annex II: Structure of the education system