(source: SME)
This article was published in the Career & Employment Guide 2023, our special annual publication focused on the labour market, human resources and education.
Slovakia’s higher education system is set for a shake-up as some of the country’s top universities run through plans to work more closely together.Slovakia’s higher education system is set for a shake-up as some of the country’s top universities run through plans to work more closely together.
A total of €72 million has been made available from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience programme for Slovak universities, if they form a consortium. There are 33 higher education institutions in Slovakia.
Unlike with a merger, each institution in a consortium would retain its status as a separate legal entity. The Education Ministry has issued a call for the submission of project plans to support the strategic development of the infrastructure of universities. It says this would “increase the competitiveness of universities through the joining of universities into larger units, complex reconstruction, modernisation and building of integrated research, educational and accommodation infrastructure”.
A number of Slovak universities have announced they are in negotiations to form consortia, including three Košice-based universities: Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (UPJŠ), the Technical University of Košice and the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy.
Progress of reforms and changes in the education sector which Slovakia is required to implement under the EU Recovery Plan.
Done:
• Reform of the university management system
• Start of merging universities into larger bodies
• Internationalisation of universities
• Introduction of the definition of barrier removal standards, creating a barrier removal manual and mapping the needs of schools at all levels of education
• Simplification of recognition of educational and professional qualifications
• Ensuring all children aged five can attend pre-primary educational facilities
To be done:
• Implementation of legislative changes regarding compulsory pre-primary education for children from the age of five and the introduction of a legal right to a place in kindergarten or other provider of pre-primary education from the age of three
• Adoption of a law on the new definition of the concept of special educational needs and the preparation of accompanying methodological materials for teaching staff, professional staff and school management
• At least two calls to support the strategic development of universities have been closed
• Entry into force of the new definition of the concept of special educational needs
• Approval of a final version of the new curriculum for all educational cycles of primary and lower secondary schools organised into multi-year educational cycles
• Entry into force of legislative changes intended to strengthen the skills of teaching and professional staff and motivate their lifelong professional development
• 60 percent of teachers trained, especially in preparation for the new curriculum, in inclusive education and digital skills
• Performance contracts signed with at least 90 percent of public universities
Valid as of April 30, 2023
The goal is to create a consortium of Košice universities, according to UPJŠ officials.
Under the universities’ plans, all three institutions would harmonise accreditation of joint study programmes, internal quality systems, establishment of scientific schools for industrial doctorates, and link up their information and library systems, consultancy and internationalisation of studies, UPJŠ added.
The development would also see new buildings constructed, while each institution’s scientific infrastructure, services for students, including student dormitories, canteens and libraries, would be available to all partners.
This would create “a campus of Košice universities” according to UPJŠ.
Similar moves are being considered by other Slovak universities, including the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava and the University of Trnava.
And while Slovakia’s biggest university, Comenius University, has said it is not considering the ministry’s call – it told The Slovak Spectator the size and complexity of its operations meant it would not be able to comply with the Education Ministry’s conditions to access the funding – others in the capital are considering forming consortia.
The University of Economics in Bratislava (EUBA) has begun intensive negotiations with the Slovak University of Technology (STU) in Bratislava and has set up a joint team to work on the preparation of a shared development project proposal in response to the ministry’s call.
“We can confirm that even before the publication of the ministry’s call, EUBA and STU in Bratislava had collaborated on some joint research projects,” Miroslav Horňák from EUBA’s communication department told The Slovak Spectator.
STU spokesperson Juraj Rybanský said the university saw the closer cooperation of universities in response to the ministry’s call as an opportunity to strengthen Slovak higher education institutions’ performance and improve the interconnection of individual fields of study to support areas of the economy with high added value.
Renáta Hall, a higher education expert and former advisor to ex-prime minister Eduard Heger, told The Slovak Spectator that creating consortia could be a step towards merging universities in future and subsequent broader cooperation between students and staff at different institutions.
But successfully merging universities needs to be approached as a long-term task, only achieved after each institution had gained a greater knowledge of the other’s operations and capacities for creating connections between the universities – and, crucially, the people who work and study there, she added.
“I don’t think we can expect this to happen overnight, especially not in Slovakia where the management of higher education institutions is very decentralised, and the central body of a higher education institution cannot decide on mergers,” she said.
Hall warned that if the formation of consortia ended up being nothing more than the fulfilment of a legal formality by the universities involved, little meaningful change would be effected in the sector.
“Cooperation should bring [the universities involved] added value they did not have without it,” Hall noted. “If [the cooperation] is only formal and universities continue to do the same things as now, only call it a consortium, there will not be any significant change.”
Any positive change will depend on whether the formation of a consortium creates common interdisciplinary subjects and programmes, offers a wider set of support services for students, or saves money through joint provision of services or key purchases, for example of energy, she suggested. She added though that although universities in the same city had so far announced plans for consortia, any decision on closer cooperation between institutions need not be based on proximity.
“For example, there are consortia of European universities in different countries which offer joint study programmes and other activities,” Hall said. “A lot can be done online today.”
