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YouthWiki

EACEA National Policies Platform
Slovakia

Slovakia

4. Social Inclusion

Last update: 29 January 2024

 

Currently Slovakia doesn´t have any standards in the field of social inclusion at youth work level. There are present varied publications with examples of good practices. The most complex definition of social exclusion is defined in the National Strategic Framework for combating Social Exclusion and Poverty.

According to The Youth Report 2018 https://www.iuventa.sk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Sprava-o-mladezi_2018_ENG.pdf  inclusion is one of the 8 priority areas in the filed of youth work in Slovakia. Since 2014 , the youth inclusion policy is focusing on two target groups:  the socially excluded youth and youth at risk of social exclusion. 

Specific national legislation on youth exists since 2008 as the Act No. 282/2008 Coll. on youth work support . It regulates the youth work support, non-formal education in the field of youth work, the youth work funding, the accreditation of educational programmes in the field of youth work and the voluntary service within the frame of youth work. The novelisation in 2019 brings more accurate definition of the competencies for the youth work by the local and regional governments and increases the quality of the youth work via intersectoral cooperation. The role of municipalities in supporting the youth work of the marginalised groups, youth with disabilities and/or from remoted and economically disadvantaged areas is included. The Act also gives legislative base for combating discrimination in the youth work in all conditions. 

The main groups of young people facing social inclusion issues in Slovakia are:

  • Roma young people and youth from marginalised communities
  • Young grown-ups leaving the orphanages, re-educational institutions, foster families,
  • Youth with disabilities and special needs
  • Young people from geographically remoted and economically disadvantaged rural areas
  • Young families and single - parent families
  • Young women 
  • Youth belonging to LGBTI+ community

For more information see chapter 4.1.

The pandemic situation has had significant impact on both excluded youth and youth in the risk of social exclusion. Combating the gap in various areas of life will be targeted in the EU Recovery and Resilience Plan for the Slovak Republic, adopted by the Government resolution on 28.4.2021

 

The youth social inclusion policy is governed by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic, and the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic and their budget and allowance organisations. See more in chapter 4.2 on the Administration and Governance.

The social inclusion is becoming better legislatively saturated in the Slovak Republic (Chapter 4.3). The Slovak Government is ensuring the youth development support via various tools and commitments.

The Slovak Youth Strategy for 2021-2028 is based on knowledge and evidence of the real needs of young people and is the result of a constructive youth dialogue with representatives of public administration, self-government, and the non-governmental sector. During the two years of consultation preparation processes, more than 300 entities from all over Slovakia participated. It is based on fundamental principles such as dignity, justice, equality, respect, and autonomy, while being based on the principles of active participation, inclusion, and equal access to opportunities. Youth policy, such as the preparation, creation, influencing and implementation of a wide range of measures that directly or indirectly affect the quality of life of a young person, is implemented at local, regional, national, and international levels, therefore supporting the achievement of meaningful civic, economic, social, cultural and the political participation of young people at all levels.

Slovak Republic finds the legislative support for the inclusive strategies in national and international enactment and documents that were accepted and ratified. However, the Slovak Republic does not have a separate strategy for the social inclusion of young people. 

In 2020, the Ministry of Education introduced the First Action Plan to the Strategy for Inclusive Access to Education for year 2021, which included many important measures for achieving desegregation and inclusion in education. The plan thus raised expectations that in the upcoming year, access of children from marginalized Roma communities or children with special educational needs to education would improve.

The Strategy on Inclusive Education was approved by the Slovak Government in 2021 and the Action Plan is being prepared currently for the years 2022 – 2023. The Education Act Amedment  adopted in October 2021 introduces the term inclusion into legislation, it also details the counselling system, operation of school support teams and higher levels of counselling system. The education is perceived as one of the most important drivers for successful social inclusion toward the society, labour market and adult life. 

During 2021, more conceptual materials related to education have been adopted such as the Recovery and resilience plan for the Slovak Republic, which is relatively ambitious in inclusive education. Apart from measures aiming to create conditions and tools for improving education of children with special educational needs such as the introduction of eligibility for support educational measures and the reform of counselling and prevention system, it intends to focus also on desegregation of education. A definition of segregation should be introduced to legislation, a monitoring of segregation should be carried out together with pilot projects focusing on desegregation and methodical and financial support of the desegregation process should be set up.

In March 2021, the Slovak government also adopted a new Roma equality, inclusion, and participation strategy till 2030. The strategy concludes that quality education is still inaccessible to children from marginalized Roma communities who are still facing segregation in special schools or separate classrooms in grammar schools.

There are several inclusion programmes in Slovakia where children and youth are important target groups e.g. in national programmes for the development of inclusive education, deinstitutionalization of orphanages, development of community centers, field social work and others. For further details see chapter 4.4.

Non-public institutions and non-governmental organizations in Slovakia are particularly active in the supporting excluded groups and in fighting radicalization and extremism (4.5).

The chapter 4.6 addresses to quality services affecting the social inclusion of young people in Slovakia. There are several information sources and systems where consultations and advice can be obtained on topics such as housing, health, social assistance, also on specific groups such as people with disabilities or ethnic minorities. Youth work programmes fostering social inclusion of young people in Slovakia are discussed in the chapter 4.7. Moreover, chapter 4.8 provides brief information on forthcoming policy developments relevant to the topic of the social inclusion of youth in Slovakia.