(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good afternoon. The first October edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day and tips for the weekend in less than five minutes. We wish you a pleasant read.
For weekend tips and reads, check out our Spectacular Slovakia weekly roundup. This week, Peter Dlhopolec is writing about the Garage, the best photos of 2020, and bike trips in Banská Bystrica Region. You can read several interviews at the end of the roundup.
Graduates not ready for life at work
Graduates struggled with finding job also due to the pandemic. (source: Unsplash)
The opinion that school did not do much to help their graduates find a job is shared by 41 percent of the public university student respondents of the “Quarter to Quality Education” survey, carried out by the Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education (SAAHE) in the spring of 2021. On the other hand, only 15 percent private university students say they feel insufficiently prepared.
The pandemic has made it more difficult for graduates without any practical experience to find jobs. Apart from the lack of a traineeship, the respondents complain of insufficient ways to improve their foreign language and transferable skills during studies.
The survey found that while 59 percent of full-time students perform paid work during a semester, the majority of them work outside their field of study.
“I always had a job outside my field of study so that I at least had some chance of finding work after graduation,” said 2020 graduate Simona Masaryková.
Last chance for a White Night in Bratislava
White Night 2021 in Bratislava (source: TASR)
The first weekend of October offers the last chance to see the White Night events installations in Bratislava.
After the coronavirus pandemic scrapped White Night last year just before it started, the organisers of the popular multi-genre festival opted for something that cannot be cancelled this year, extending the event in time and placing most of the artworks in public places. Visitors can enjoy most installations each day between 19:00 and midnight.
Check out our guide on what, where and when to see.
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Coronavirus in Slovakia
Masks will no longer be compulsory for pupils in classrooms as of Monday.
1,216 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 9,308 PCR tests performed on Thursday. The number of people in hospitals has increased to 536 people, while 12 more deaths were reported as of Thursday. The vaccination rate is at 44.6 percent, 2,042 people have received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.
See the distribution of the newly-diagnosed infections on the map of districts:
Feature story for today
When Bratislava's legendary Salvator pharmacy near St Martin’s Cathedral opened to the public for a month last spring, visitors may have found it rather odd to walk around its empty spaces. Only the photos hanging on the walls recalled the pharmacy's rare baroque furniture. Now there is a high chance that the iconic pharmacy may offer the full experience of what it once was.
The city has now set aside €990,000 for the purchase of the furniture from its current owner.
In other news
Investigators of the Purgatory team dealing with high-profile corruption crimes have been released from custody. The appellate court sees no reason for criminal prosecution in their case.
Instagram starlet Zuzana Plačková and her husband René Strausz have not been taken into custody. The court states that it did not find proof that the couple committed the crime they have been charged with. Plačková faces drug-related charges.
Inflation has increased from 3.3 percent in August to 5.1 percent in September, according to annual inflation flash estimate of the Eurostat.
One of the largest metallurgical companies in Slovakia, the aluminium producer Slovalco in Žiar nad Hronom, is reducing the production of aluminium in reaction to the steep growth of electricity prices, the record prices of emission allowances, as well as insufficient compensation from the state through the Environmental Fund. The company has not ruled out a complete shutdown.
Oligarch Miroslav Výboh, who faces corruption charges, faces an international arrest warrant. He is not in Monaco, though, the local authorities have confirmed. His attorney said he is abroad, and willing to be interrogated through a video call. (Sme)
Australian Robert Jordan will oversee the finalising of the Mochovce nuclear power plant as project director, Slovenské Elektrárne informed. Jordan was the director of the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset, England. (TASR)
Do not miss on Spectator.sk
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