The Analysis of Findings about the State of the Education System in Slovakia

The Analysis of Findings about the State of the Education System in Slovakia was delivered by the Learning Makes Sense Initiative, which aimed at preparing the comprehensive reform of the whole education system. The analysis covered five areas: customised support for all learners; training and development of teachers and professional staff; education content and methods; education openness and permeability; and governance and financing in education. It aimed to identify the major problems in the education system, together with their causes and relationships. The analysis is based on an extensive qualitative and quantitative data collection carried out in 2017–2019. The analytical framework was the education vision formulated in 2016, based on discussions with numerous Slovak and international experts. The aim of the data collection was to find out what prevents us from achieving the envisaged state as defined in the education vision. Problems related to education policy as well as its implementation in various contexts were examined. In total, 656 respondents representing all the important actors in the education system took part in the in 421 individual and group interviews. The quantitative survey aimed to verify the scope of the problems identified, and in total 15,322 respondents participated, from various positions in pre-primary up to higher education levels, as well as professionals in human resources (HR). In the Slovak context, this is unique in terms of the sample size and the complex approach.