The reform legislation package adopted by the Parliament in October 2021 includes an extensive amendment to the VET Act. Apart from improving shortcomings of the 2018 amendment to this act, the legislator has focused on making it easier for businesses to enter dual VET, mainly by reducing the related administrative burden. The amendment also brings two systemic changes.
Supra-company training centres
Acknowledging the limited potential of companies – especially of small and low-performing ones – to provide practical training at the workplace, and following a call of experts to expand the ‘dual’ into ‘trial’, the title of 'supra-company training centre' was introduced for companies already offering practical training.
The new ‘supra-company training centres’ should facilitate expansion of work-based learning by offering practical training for learners who sign a learning contract with another small or medium-sized enterprise or self-employed person. However, Slovak ‘supra-company training centres’ differ from those of the same name in other countries.
The title ‘supra-company training centre’ will be awarded to companies offering dual VET after approval by the relevant sectoral assignee – professional employer organisations assigned to represent employers’ interests in the respective VET field and sector of the economy. Companies must also comply with legal requirements, such as having a strategy for VET quality, and relevance to the labour market needs approved by the sectoral assignee, as well as meeting criteria determined autonomously by the relevant sectoral assignee.
These requirements should, however, not result in additional administrative burden or become a barrier to learners contracted with another company. A quality assurance model and methodology for developing a VET quality strategy are not yet in place. The legislation does not foresee support or financial incentives for companies wishing to set up supra-company centres.
Employer Council for VET
Following a proposal from the Employer Council for Dual VET, the Ministry of Education changed the name of the Council to Employer Council for VET. Originally, this umbrella body coordinated the activities of sectoral assignees in dual VET. The most important task of the Council so far has been to coordinate the accreditation of training companies in accordance with the State requirements for premises, training equipment and materials.
The Council’s responsibilities have been expanded to the entire secondary VET system, for example by strengthening its influence on setting new entrants’ ceilings for each school and programme. Further, sectoral assignees are now legally entitled to annual subsidies from the State budget for their activities.
The sectoral assignees and the Employer Council for VET will be subject to expenditure and performance monitoring. A future amendment to the VET Act is expected to address this issue as well as that of sectoral assignee capacity.
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| Please cite this news item as: ReferNet Slovakia; Cedefop (2021). Slovakia: reform legislation package for better VET. National news on VET |