The role of subnational governments in adult skills systems: Slovak Republic

This country note provides an overview of the governance of the adult skills system in Slovak Republic. It is part of an extensive review of all 38 OECD countries. The main findings across all countries are summarised in the OECD policy paper The Role of Subnational Governments in Adult Skills Systems. Representatives from the government of the Slovak Republic reviewed the country note in April and it was published in June 2025.

Table 1. Overall governance and expenditure structure

Governance structure	Levels of governance	% of general government expenditure at the sub-national level
Unitary	National: State (štátu), Regional: 8 regions (samosprávne kraje) Local: 2 927 municipalities (obci)	17.2%
How is the adult skills system governed?
Centralised	Combined system ✓	Decentralised

Note: For more information on the definitions of the governance models, please see (OECD, 2025[1]).

Source: (OECD/UCLG, 2022[2])

How is the adult skills system governed?

The Slovak Republic has a combined governance model for the adult learning system:

• Vocational Education and Training (VET), Higher VET (HVET), Continuing Education and Training (CET) and Adult Education (AE) policies and legislation are designed and funded at the national level, while implementation and delivery takes place at the regional and local levels. For VET and HVET, delivery is organised through the secondary vocational schools (stredná odborná škola) and non-state schools (neštátne školy). AE can also be delivered in these institutions, by private providers or in Centres of the Academy of Education (Centrá Akadémie vzdelávania) and Academy of the Third Age (akadémia tretieho veku), which also offers CET.

• Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) are designed and funded at the national level and implemented through deconcentrated branch offices of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ústredie práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny) that serves as the Public Employment Service (PES). It coordinates, manages and controls the activities of 46 territorial branch offices across the country, providing job mediation, professional counselling and job training.

Table 2. Allocation of responsibilities across policy areas and levels of government

		Strategy	Intelligence	Implementation	Funding	Delivery
Policy area	National level
	VET, HVET	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	CET	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	AE	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	ALMP	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	Regional level
	VET, HVET	-	-	✓	✓	✓
	CET	-	-	-	-	-
	AE	-	-	-	-	-
	ALMP	-	-	✓	-	✓
	Local level
	VET, HVET	-	-	-	-	-
	CET	-	-	-	-	-
	AE	-	-	-	-	-
	ALMP	-	-	✓	-	✓

Legend: ✓ = Yes; - = No

Note: For more information on exact definitions of policy areas and responsibilities, please see (OECD, 2025[1]).

Infographic 1. Overview of the adult skills system

Note: Colour code: Dark blue → government/national/subnational agencies, Green → social partners, Lighter blue → private actors and education providers, Yellow → Expert councils/foundations/associations/research institutions. For more information, please see (OECD, 2025[1])

Source: OECD compilation based on available information.

Stakeholders and responsibilities at the national level

At the national level, the following stakeholders have a central role in the adult skills system:

• The Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic (Ministerstvo školstva, výskumu, vývoja a mládeže Slovenskej republiky) designs the legislative framework and funds VET, HVET, CET and AE. In contrast, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic (Ministerstvo práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny Slovenskej republiky) is responsible for designing and overseeing the implementation of ALMPs.

• The ministries’ activities are supported by national agencies: the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ústredie práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny) serves as the PES and funds, designs, provides intelligence and guides implementation over ALMPs. The State Institute for Vocational Education (Štátny inštitút odborného vzdelávania) develops educational standards for VET, and the State School Inspection (Štátna školská inšpekcia) performs quality controls over schools including VET institutions.

• At the national level, CET and AE programmes are provided, among others, by the Academy of Education (Akadémia vzdelávania).

• Multiple organisations or institutions evaluates and provides guidance on the development of adult skills policies, including the Government Council for Vocational Education and Training (Rada vlády Slovenskej republiky pre odborné vzdelávanie a prípravu), the Accreditation Commission for Specialised Activities in the Area of Work with Youth (Akreditačná komisia pre špecializované činnosti v oblasti práce s mládežou); the Curriculum Board (Kurikulárnu radu), the Board for System Changes in Education (Rada pre systémové zmeny v školstve) and the School Four-Partite (Školská štvorpartita).

Table 3. Stakeholders and responsibilities at the national level

Name of institution	Responsibilities					Organisation type	Areas	Description
	Strategy	Intelligence	Implementation	Funding	Delivery
The Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth SR (Ministerstvo školstva, výskumu, vývoja a mládeže SR)	✓	✓	-	✓	-	Ministry	VET HVET CET AE	The Ministry is responsible for the legislative and political framework for education, including for VET, HVET, CET, and AE. It manages schools, including secondary vocational schools, designs the curriculum for VET programmes, and oversees the accreditation of programs providing CET and certification of institutions providing AE. It is also responsible for monitoring the quality of education by supervising the State School Inspection.
Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the SR (Ministerstvo práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny SR)	✓	✓	-	✓	-	Ministry	ALMP	The ministry is in charge of designing the policy framework and strategies that aim to increase employment. It sets annual objectives for ALMPs in collaboration with the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family and is responsible for the collection and management of information on the labour market and skill needs. It also manages funds from the European Social Fund Plus. It is also responsible for funding ALMPs through delegation to the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family. Furthermore, the ministry designs and oversees the implementation of calls for submission of demand-oriented projects. The calls are mainly aimed at target groups who are not registered with PES (inactive persons). Non-profit organisations, associations, foundations, etc implement projects.
Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Ústredie práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny)	-	✓	✓	✓	✓	National agency	ALMP	It serves as the PES and is governed by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic. It coordinates and oversees the activities of 46 territorial branch offices across the country, which provide job mediation, professional counselling and job training. It develops labour market analysis, evaluates ALMPs and allocates funds to the territorial offices. It is also involved in the annual process of setting national objectives for ALMPs in collaboration with the Ministry. Upon agreement from the Ministry, it outsources training programmes, professional counselling and job placement services to independent providers.
State Institute for Vocational Education (Štátny Inštitút Odborného Vzdelávania)	-	✓	✓	-	-	National agency	VET AE	This agency is under the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic. It supports the development of educational standards and qualifications, including for VET. It also manages EU projects for AE. It analyses trends and needs in the development of VET and AE. It has operational responsibility for VET schools.
The State School Inspection (Štátna školská inšpekcia)	-	✓	✓	-	-	National agency	VET	It performs independent quality controls over the level of education and pedagogical management in schools and school facilities, including VET schools.
Academy of Education (Akadémia vzdelávania)	-	-	✓	✓	✓	Education provider	CET AE	The academy is the oldest organisation of lifelong learning in the Slovak Republic. It is an independent civic organisation operating through 36 centres nationwide. It offers qualification development, retraining, employee and unemployed training, managerial and skills training, language education for all ages, and professional courses for blue-collar professions.
Government Council for Vocational Education and Training (Rada vlády Slovenskej republiky pre odborné vzdelávanie a prípravu)	-	✓	-	-	-	Expert council	VET	The council advises the government on VET policies. It provides input to policy development, forecasts the labour market and skills needs, and develops plans for promoting VET. It also provides input on the development/design of new VET programmes and on funding allocation.
The Accreditation Commission for Specialised Activities in the Area of Work with Youth (Akreditačná komisia pre špecializované činnosti v oblasti práce s mládežou)	-	✓	-	-	-	Expert council	VET	The Commission is an advisory body to the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth. It provides recommendations to the Ministry on the certification of VET programmes. The Commission consists of experts in the field of youth work, who are appointed by the Minister of Education, Research, Development and Youth.
Curriculum Board (Kurikulárnu radu)	-	✓	-	-	-	Expert council	VET HVET	This is an advisory body to the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic on the content, reforms and evaluation of education policies, in particular VET and HVET. The board provides input on draft curricula prepared by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and state educational programmes.
Board for System Changes in Education (Rada pre systémové zmeny v školstve)	-	✓	-	-	-	Expert council	VET HVET	This is an advisory body to the Minister of Education, Science, Research, and Sport of the Slovak Republic, who is also the head of the board. The board provides input on ways to optimize the educational system in particular VET and HVET.
School Four-Partite (Školská štvorpartita)	-	✓	-	-	-	Social Partner	VET	This is an advisory body of the Minister of Education, Research, Development and Youth. It analyses the current state of education and training more generally. It comprises employer union representatives, self-government representatives, representatives of trade unions for teachers and other education sector workers, and experts from the education sector.

Legend: ✓ = Yes; - = No

Source: OECD compilation based on (The Government of Slovak Republic, 2003[3]) (Government of Slovak Republic, 2008[4]) (Kalužná, 2008[5]) (Government of Slovak Republic, 2008[6]) (Government of Slovak Republic, 2009[7]) (OECD, 2020[8]) (Cedefop, 2022[9]) (European Commission, Eurydice, 2024[10]) (OECD, 2023[11]) (Government Council for Vocational Education and Training, 2024[12]) (Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth, 2024[13]) (Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, 2024[14]) (UNESCO International Centre for Technical and Vocational ducation and Training, 2024[15])

Stakeholders and responsibilities at the regional level

The Slovak Republic is divided into 8 self-governing regions (samosprávne kraje), each with its own elected regional parliament and president.

• The self-governing regions to independently manage specific public policy and service areas, including education. They can establish, manage and distribute funds to secondary schools, including secondary vocational schools (stredná odborná škola).

• The Regional Offices of School Administration (Regionálny úrad školskej správy) are regional branches of national administration that can assist in establishing, financing and coordinating secondary vocational schools.

Table 4. Stakeholders and responsibilities at the regional level

Name of institution	Responsibilities					Organisation type	Areas	Description
	Strategy	Intelligence	Implementation	Funding	Delivery
Self-governing regions (samosprávne kraje)	-	-	✓	✓	-	Subnational government	VET	They are regional government-level bodies that can establish and manage secondary schools, including VET schools. They allocate funding to these schools. It also provides professional and counselling services to schools and school facilities that it founded. It monitors compliance with generally binding regulations on education and training.
Regional Offices of School Administration (Regionálny úrad školskej správy)	-	-	✓	-	-	Subnational agency	VET	Regional Offices of School Administration are local state body administrations under the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic. They can assist in establishing, financing, and coordinating secondary vocational schools. They also provide professional counselling to school founders on subjects like educational organisation. The regional office also performs financial control of the funding received by founders from the state budget.

Legend: ✓ = Yes; - = No

Source: OECD compilation based on (Santiago et al., 2016[16]) (European Commission, Eurydice, 2024[10])

Stakeholders and responsibilities at the local level

At the local level, the territorial offices of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Úrady práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny) serve as “one-stop shops” for employment services and provide job mediation, professional counselling, and job training, including upskilling and reskilling for jobseekers and persons interested in employment. Meanwhile, secondary vocational schools (stredná odborná škola) provide VET and HVET and non-state schools (neštátne školy) provide VET. Other education providers include the Academy of the Third Age (akadémia treaties veku), which provides CET and AE for senior citizens.

Table 5. Stakeholders and responsibilities at the local level

Name of institution	Responsibilities					Organisation type	Areas	Description
	Strategy	Intelligence	Implementation	Funding	Delivery
Municipality	-	-	✓	-	-	Subnational government	CET AE ALMP	Municipalities have very limited formal responsibilities in the adult skills system. However, they are involved in implementing ALMPs at the local level, as they participate in the advisory committees for the PES that decide on local priorities.
Territorial offices of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (Úrady práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny)	-	-	-	-	✓	National agency	ALMP	The territorial offices act as “one-stop shops” for employment services, social assistance beneficiaries, and other social benefits. They provide job mediation, professional counselling, and job training, including upskilling and reskilling for job seekers and persons interested in employment. They have advisory committees (committees on employment issues) that decide on local priorities in terms of ALMPs and assess applications for provision of contributions to which there is no legal entitlement. The members of the advisory committee include the territorial office, municipalities, and regions, employers and trade unions.
Secondary vocational schools (stredná odborná škola)	-	-	-	-	✓	Education provider	VET HVET AE	These institutions provide VET in the form of secondary vocational education and HVET through post-secondary study. They are funded by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic and by the self-governing regions, which allocate state funds. The self-governing regions run some of them. They can also organise lifelong learning courses.
Non-state schools (neštátne školy)	-	-	-	-	✓	Education provider	VET AE	Besides the public secondary vocational schools, there are non-state schools (private and church). Funders of private schools can be natural or legal entities, while founders of churches are state-acknowledged churches or religious societies. They provide secondary vocational education. Non-state schools are co-financed by the state. They are subject to regular evaluation and inspection by the State school inspection. They can also organise lifelong-learning courses.
The Academy of the Third Age (akadémia tretieho veku)	-	-	-	-	✓	Education provider	CET AE	They are providers of CET and AE to the senior citizens. University of the third age teachers are mainly university teachers who give lectures to senior citizens.

Legend: ✓ = Yes; - = No

Source: OECD compilation based on (Cedefop, 2022[9]) (European Commission, Eurydice, 2024[10]) (Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, 2024[14])

References

[9] Cedefop (2022), Vocational education and training in Europe - Slovakia: system description, https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/vet-in-europe/systems/slov.

[10] European Commission, Eurydice (2024), National Education Systems, https://eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-education-systems/slovakia/overview.

[12] Government Council for Vocational Education and Training (2024), Webpage, http://radavladyovp.sk/.

[7] Government of Slovak Republic (2009), Zákon o celoživotnom vzdelávaní a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov č. 568/2009 Z. z., https://www.epi.sk/zz/2009-568.

[6] Government of Slovak Republic (2008), Zákon o podpore práce s mládežou a o zmene a doplnení zákona č. 131/2002 Z. z. o vysokých školách a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov v znení neskorších predpisov č. 282/2008 Z. z., https://www.zakonypreludi.sk/zz/2008-282.

[4] Government of Slovak Republic (2008), Zákon o výchove a vzdelávaní (školský zákon) a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov č. 245/2008 Z. z., https://www.zakonypreludi.sk/zz/2008-245.

[5] Kalužná, D. (2008), “Main Features of the Public Employment Service in the Slovak Republic”, OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, No. 72, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/230166268277.

[13] Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth (2024), Webpage, https://www.minedu.sk/about-the-ministry/.

[14] Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic (2024), Webpage, https://www.employment.gov.sk/en/.

[1] OECD (2025), “From national to local: Exploring the role of subnational governments in adult skills systems across OECD countries”, OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers, No. 2025/XX, OECD Publishing, Paris.

[11] OECD (2023), ““Who does what” for active labour market policies: A zoom on the role of subnational governments”, OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers, No. 2023/09, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/d8d6868d-en.

[8] OECD (2020), OECD Skills Strategy Slovak Republic: Assessment and Recommendations, OECD Skills Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/bb688e68-en.

[2] OECD/UCLG (2022), 2022 Country Profiles of the World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment., https://www.sng-wofi.org/country-profiles/slovak_republic.html.

[16] Santiago, P. et al. (2016), OECD Reviews of School Resources: Slovak Republic 2015, OECD Reviews of School Resources, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264247567-en.

[3] The Government of Slovak Republic (2003), Act No 5/2004 on Employment Services.

[15] UNESCO International Centre for Technical and Vocational ducation and Training (2024), Webpage, https://unevoc.unesco.org/home/Explore+the+UNEVOC+Network/centre=395.

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