The Education Ministry has decided to cancel a planned programme introducing optional yoga exercise to elementary schools, and has proposed a commission be established to look at other forms of physical exercise.
The proposed yoga programme brought a fierce reaction from the Slovak Church this past summer, with religious officials accusing the ministry of trying to introduce alien beliefs to the schools.
Roman Catholic bishop Rudolf Baláž said of minister Milan Ftáčnik's decision to scrap the yoga that "the minister backed down for the common good."