THE NUMBER of Slovak students leaving to the Czech Republic to continue in their studies has risen steeply, Ivan Ostrovský from the Academic Ranking and Rating Agency (ARRA) said.
Last year there were 6.4 percent of Slovak students at Czech schools, nearly double what it was in 2003, when it was 3.5 percent.
“The impact of this effect can be especially dramatic for Slovakia and its economy,” Ostrovský said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
The ARRA report also showed that the number of university students in Slovakia has been decreasing. Moreover, since 2006 the number of students who sent their applications to schools has fallen. While in 2006 there were 84,500 young people applying for the studies, last year it dropped to 54,500. Finally, only 41,600 students enrolled for the studies. Back in 2006 it was nearly 60,000, Ostrovský said, as reported by SITA.
The planned capacity at schools is 62,000, which means that the 33 percent of university potential is still unused.
“On one hand we ineffectively waste even the small amount of public sources which the universities receive,” Ostrovský explained. “On the other hand these are funds the state could use to improve the quality of the schools.”
The report also showed that students are most interested in Jessenius’ Medical Faculty of the Comenius University (UK) situated in Martin. The list of leaders at top positions includes the Faculty of Economy of the Technical University in Košice (TUKE), Faculty of Pedagogy of the Trnava University, and the UK’s Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, SITA wrote.
ARRA ranked 112 faculties of which 104 were public and eight private. The agency divided them into 11 groups based on specialisation, SITA wrote.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
