SLOVAKIA
ES
AND THE
F
EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND
Slovakia is using ESF funding to tackle
high levels of long-term unemployment
and significant regional disparities. Over
EUR 1.7 billion is being invested in a
wide range of projects aimed at improving the situation for employment and
social inclusion through support for jobs
and better access to quality education
and lifelong learning opportunities – key
factors for future economic growth.
Social
Europe
SLOVAKIA
ESF
INVESTING IN PEOPLE AND JOBS:
THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SLOVAKIA
Although Slovakia is one of the fastest growing EU economies, it does face a number of
key challenges, including high long-term
unemployment levels and marked differences in regional economic development.
Nevertheless, Slovakia aims to increase the
employment rate to 72 % by 2020. To achieve
this, it must give long-term unemployed jobseekers the skills to improve their job prospects and benefit from the opportunities
offered by a growing economy. In addition,
the population of Slovakia is ageing relatively
rapidly, so older workers must be helped with
new skills and opportunities such that they
can work for longer.
Slovakia’s specialisation in manufactured
goods and its openness to trade made it vulnerable to the global recession, resulting in
higher unemployment – most markedly in the
manufacturing sector and among low-skilled
workers and the young. The potential for job
ccreation
eation in the future is expected to come
increasingly from the services sector rather
than from industry. In response, Slovakia is
investing heavily in education and training
to adapt the knowledge
and skills of workers such
that they can benefit from
this changing employment
MICROFINANCE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
E
EN
TREPRENEURSHIP
market. In particular, the country is investing in
R&D activities and the highly qualified workers
these demand through boosting the number
of graduates. Slovakia is aiming for 40 % of its
young people (aged 30-34) to have completed
a tertiary-level qualification by 2020.
“Towards 72 %
in work by 2020”
Slovakia is also taking determined steps
to help people living in its less-developed
regions, and in particular the Roma. A key element of this is to improve social inclusion by
concentrating on improving the education system, especially for early school years. Better
trained teachers and programmes to support
the most disadvantaged children are among
the measures needed which will help to maintain Slovakia’s less-than 6 % school drop-out
rate and to li 170 000 people out of the risk
of poverty and social exclusion by 2020.
ESF spending in Slovakia
Slovakia is receiving nearly EUR 1.5 billion in
EU funding for the period 2007-2013. With
national co-funding, the total amount being
spent on jobs and education in Slovakia is
EUR 1.76 billion. A wide variety of actions
are being supported through two ESF programmes covering employment and social
inclusion, and education.
NET
WOR
KING
SLOVAKIA’S ESF PRIORITIES
More jobs for more people
The main objective of ESF funding is to reduce
long-term unemployment and boost employment. The ESF is therefore financing measures
to improve the adaptability and skills of workers and support a culture of lifelong learning. This is helping people acquire the skills
they need to find jobs and further develop
their careers – and this at any time of their
life. Public employment services are being
improved and expanded so as to reach as
many people as possible. From 2007 to 2011,
around 24 000 new jobs had been created and
approximately 26 000 people had found work
through ESF-supported measures.
“Instilling a culture
of lifelong learning”
Improving skill levels among vulnerable
groups – the long-term unemployed, young
people, women, the elderly and disabled,
and among disadvantaged groups such as
the Roma – is also helping to build a more
inclusive society. Particular efforts are
being made to reduce regional disparities
in employment, for example in many projects to increase school attendance, improve
access to health services, and provide
more leisure facilities. Another example is
a project implementing a flood-defence programme that offers up to 4 500 new jobs in
200 village communities.
Building a learning culture
The ESF is supporting Slovakia in completing
the reform of the education system, which is
raising the quality of both content and teaching procedures so as to ensure that education is more closely adapted to the changing
needs of a modern society. It is also supporting greater emphasis on science and technology teaching, as well as foreign languages,
as drivers of future development. An example is a project to investigate young people’s
interests and match these to career guidance – including the identification of the skills
needed for them to attain their career goals.
ESF-funded projects are helping to establish a lifelong-learning culture that develops
key competences and skills and is accessible
to all Slovak citizens throughout their lives,
enabling them to raise their qualifications in
accordance with employers’ demands. For
example, a Slovak packaging company used
ESF funding to provide professional training
and new skills, such as in quality and environmental standards, for 304 staff members –
thus making them more adaptable and better
equipped for their future careers.
KE-30-12-479-EN-C
THE ESF IN SLOVAKIA:
SOME EXAMPLES
Better conditions for the Roma
A boost to science education
Many ESF projects are addressing the specific
needs of the Roma community in Slovakia. In the
town of Dobšiná, one such project is providing
targeted assistance to excluded sections of its
population, especially the Roma people who tend
to live in segregated settlements and are more
exposed than the average population to longterm unemployment, low levels of education
and living in conditions of poverty. Thanks to
ESF funding, the town has assigned one social
worker and two assistants to work closely with
these communities, providing personalised
help and guidance aimed at improving their
difficult circumstances – in particular through
better school attendance, improved health,
leisure activities for children and young people,
and better use of social benefits within the
community. Over 200 such projects have been
supported throughout the country.
The ESF co-funded ‘Inovácia vzdelávania’
project improved science teaching in schools
to boost science education generally and
to attract more young people to scientific
careers. The project introduced teachers to
new methods of teaching incorporating the
use of new technologies, as well as of the
English language and English terminology.
Teachers were instructed on how best to
integrate English terminology into their
lessons in biology, geography, chemistry and
physics, and were encouraged to use the new
skills and methodologies for students aged
between 10 and 15. The project had a marked
impact on the enthusiasm of students, as well
as on their general environmental awareness.
Do you want to…?
…lea more about the ESF in Slovakia?
…learn
…understand better how the ESF works?
…und
…see video clips on projects from across the EU?
Then visit the ESF website:
http://ec.europa.eu/esf/slovakia
http:
TRAINING
JOBS
NEW
INNOVATION
SKILLS
© European Union, 2012
Reproduction is authorised provided the
source is acknowledged.
ISBN 978-92-79-23462-0