Governance

Governing bodies:

• The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport is the main governmental authority for education and training.
• Ministry of Family, Labour, Social affairs and Equal Opportunities is responsible for the social status of pupils and their families and plays active and important role in the areas of vocational and adult education.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport is directly responsible for the drafting, evaluation, analysis and implementation of regulations for all levels of education. The Ministryconsists of numerous services, directorates and sectors covering specific areas, however, most relevant directorates in the field of education and training for young people (aged 18-24) are:

• The Upper Secondary, Short-cycle Higher Vocational and Adult Education Directorate (Direktorat za srednje in višje šolstvo ter izobraževanje odraslih)
• The Education Development Office (Urad za razvoj in kakovost izobraževanja)
• The Higher Education Directorate (Direktorat za visoko šolstvo).

Consulting bodies:

• The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport is comprised of consulting bodies. Following two are relevant regarding education and training:
  • The Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational and Technical Education (Strokovni svet RS za poklicno in strokovno izobraževanje)
  • The National Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Slovenia (Svet RS za visoko šolstvo).

Quality assurance bodies:

Two national agencies are responsible for quality assurance, evaluation and assessment of education and training:

• The National Examinations Centre (Državni izpitni center) is a central institution for external assessment of pupils, apprentices, and adults in Slovenia.
• The Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency (Nacionalna agencija Republike Slovenije za kakovost v visokem šolstvu) provides for development and operation of a quality assurance system in higher education.

Representative bodies (trade unions):

Additionally, two representative trade unions play an active role in the field of education and training:

• The Education, Science and Culture Trade Union of Slovenia (Sindikat vzgoje, izobraževanja, znanosti in kulture Slovenije) is a representative trade union mainly for teachers and employees of public higher education institutions.
• The Higher Education Trade Union of Slovenia (Visokošolski sindikat Slovenije) primarily represents employees.

Universities are associated under the Slovenian Rectors' Conference (Rektorska konferenca RS), which is a body tasked with representing universities and protecting their interests.

Students also have their own representative body. The Slovenian Student Union (Študentska organizacija Slovenije) was established by the Student Association Act (Zakon o skupnosti študentov). SSU is an umbrella organization consisting of student organizations of the Universities of Ljubljana, Maribor, Primorska and the Student Clubs Association of Slovenia, which gathers 52 student clubs from around Slovenia (see Chapter 5.3).

For more details about the governance of the education and training system please visit Eurydice.

Cross-sectorial cooperation

Cross-sectoral cooperation is implemented within two councils. The Council of the Government for Student Affairs (Svet Vlade Republike Slovenije za študentska vprašanja) is an expert consultative body of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, which carries out expert tasks for it and provides assistance in decisions on topics related to students' issues. It consists of representatives from:

• the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport,
• the Ministry of Family, Labour, Social affairs and Equal Opportunities,
• the Ministry of Culture,
• the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food,
• the Ministry of Health,
• the Ministry of Finance,
• the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning,
• the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology,
• the Ministry of Infrastructure,
• the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth
• and student organisations.

Another example of cross-sectoral cooperation is the project Traditional Slovene Breakfast (Tradicionalni slovenski zajtrk). The aim of this project is to educate, inform and raise awareness of schoolchildren and the general public about the importance of breakfast in the context of eating habits, the meaning and advantages of locally-grown foods of Slovene origin, the essential nature of agricultural activities and beekeeping for production, the environment, economic activities and the proper handling of waste from day-to-day activities and the rational management of packaging. The project also raises youth awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle, including the importance of moving and performing sports activities. The following institutions are involved in the project:

• the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food,
• the Ministry of Health,
• the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport,
• the Ministry of Culture,
• the National Institute of Public Health,
• the National Education Institute Slovenia
• and other non-public institutions.

Guidelines for healthy nutrition in educational institutions (Smernice zdravega prehranjevanja v vzgojno-izobraževalnih ustanovah) were developed together by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry for Education, Science and Sport.

Strategy of development and use of skills in Slovenia is an example of cross-sectoral cooperation. Slovenia entered the project together with OECD and has committed to develop a national strategy for the development and use of skills, in line with the OECD methodology and framework. The project is coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and has coincided with the development of the national development strategy by 2050. It is expected that the prepared strategy should be one of its five pillars, which includes 'knowledge and skills'. The main goal of the joint project of the OECD and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia is the strategic evaluation of the national system of skills and the way in which skills in Slovenia are developed and used. The results of the project will help Slovenia to develop effective strategies and policies in the field of skills in order to meet the future skills needs in Slovenia and to improve the match between supply and demand for skills at both the state, regional and local levels. The drafting of the strategy is based on the OECD methodology cross-sectorally and involves several different relevant stakeholders. In Slovenia, 8 ministries have joined the project. The results or recommended priority areas for Slovenia are as follows:

• Empowering the active population with appropriate skills for the future
• Establishing a lifelong learning culture
• Joint efforts to enhance skills

In December 2017, the strategy went into the second phase, the preparation of an action plan. In order to prepare an action plan, the Task Force, composed of representatives from the participating departments, focused on the country's skills system, which covers all levels of governance.