Illustrative stock photo (source: SME)
Young Slovaks are frustrated with the fact that ruling elites are not interested in the lives of ordinary people. As a result, they cannot imagine living in the country and consider moving abroad. This stems from a survey carried out by the Youth Council of Slovakia (RMS) on 12,000 young people within the European project Structured Dialogue, the SITA newswire reported.
The poll was conducted in all regions of Slovakia and the pollsters addressed also members of the Hungarian and Roma minorities and young people living in socially deprived environments.
“We asked young people what they need to fulfil their potential, what they are lacking and how they perceive the changes in society,” Matej Cibík of RMS said, as quoted by SITA.
As for future developments in the society, young people are critical of the ruling elites and consider the ruling politics ineffective. They also disagree with the fact that corruption scandals have not been investigated yet. Many respondents think that the ruling elites deal with their “own affairs”, as reported by SITA.
Some young people consider living with Roma minority a problem and are afraid of refugees, but they are more concerned with the rise in far-right extremists in Slovakia, the results suggest. Young Roma, on the other hand, have witnessed the increase in open expression of hate in the past six months also from the majority of inhabitants.
The survey also showed that pupils and students are very critical of the education system as it prefers passivity and rewards rote learning and fulfilment of tasks.
“They consider an active approach to the society and the world crucial for their future,” Cíbik said, as quoted by SITA.
