- Describing the forms of education in the country
- Identifying an ‘inclusive setting’ in the country
- What an ‘official decision of SEN’ means in the country
- What ‘out-of-education’ means in the country
The EASIE data collection covers all recognised forms of education at ISCED levels 02, 1, 2 and 3.
This means any type of education organised by or approved by any recognised educational provider in the public or private sector: municipality, local or regional educational provider from the public or private sector, working with/for ministries responsible for education and areas such as health, social, welfare, labour, justice, etc.
6–16
What are the typical age ranges for the ISCED levels?
| ISCED LEVEL 02 | ISCED LEVEL 1 | ISCED LEVEL 2 | ISCED LEVEL 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-5 | 6-9 | 10-14 | 15-18 |
In Slovakia, there are state and non-state schools. Non-state schools include private and church schools. Non-state schools have to follow the National Education Programme.
In the EASIE data collection, an inclusive setting is operationally defined as:
A recognised form of education where the child/learner follows education in mainstream classes alongside their peers for the largest part – 80% or more – of the school week.
The 80% time placement benchmark clearly indicates that a child/learner is educated in a mainstream class for the majority of their school week. At the same time, it acknowledges possibilities for small group or one-to-one withdrawal for limited periods of time (i.e. 20% or one day a week).
Very few participating countries can provide exact data on children/learners spending 80% of their time in a mainstream group/class. However, all countries can apply one of three agreed proxies that provide an approximation to this benchmark:
- Placement in a mainstream class implies over 80% or more
- Data is available on the number of hours of support allocated to a child/learner
- Placement in a mainstream class implies over 50% or more.
In the EASIE data collection, the agreed operational definition is:
An official decision leads to a child/learner being recognised as eligible for additional educational support to meet their learning needs.
Countries may have different types of official decision, but for all official decisions:
- There has been some form of educational assessment procedure involving different people. This procedure may involve the child/learner, parents, school-based team members, as well as professionals from multi-disciplinary teams from outside the child’s/learner’s (pre-)school.
- There is some form of legal document (plan/programme, etc.) that describes the support the child/learner is eligible to receive, which is used as the basis for decision-making.
- There is some form of regular review process of the child/learner’s needs, progress and support.
An official decision leads to a child/learner being recognised as eligible for additional educational support to meet their learning needs.
Children/learners with disabilities, intellectually gifted children/learners and those from socially disadvantaged environments are considered to have SEN (245/2008 Education Act, Section 2, Subparagraph j). Special educational needs are diagnosed by the Educational Counselling and Prevention Centres (245/2008 Education Act, Section 2, Subparagraph j).
The child/learner’s legal representatives or the school may propose initiation of the assessment procedure. However, the legal representatives must approve the school’s proposal for the child/learner to undergo assessment. If the legal representatives do not approve, the assessment cannot take place (325/2008 Order on the Educational Counselling and Prevention Centres, Section 2).
The educational assessment procedure at the centres involves a multi-disciplinary team. The outcome of the procedure is the proposal on the education of a child or learner in kindergarten, primary or secondary school (245/2008 Education Act, Section 11). The proposal stipulates the form of education proposed by the centre’s experts (integration, special class or special school) and states whether or not the legal representatives agree with the proposal.
The proposal is accompanied by a report from a psychological, special-pedagogical and medical examination (if necessary), the individual education plan and other documents (if necessary).
The 245/2008 Education Act and the education programmes for intellectually gifted children/learners and for children/learners with disabilities outline the support these children/learners are supposed to receive.
Children/learners with SEN are entitled to have modified educational content, forms, methods and approaches (245/2008 Education Act, Section 2, Subparagraph j). They should have access to special curricula, special textbooks, special aids and the support of counselling centres, including specialists available within them, e.g. special teacher, psychologist, speech therapist (245/2008 Education Act, Section 6, Paragraph 4, Subparagraph p; Section 144, Paragraph 2 and 3). Children/learners might be supported by a teaching assistant (245/2008 Education Act, Section 30, Paragraph 6).
More details on the support that children/learners are supposed to receive is outlined in the education programmes for children/learners with disabilities (245/2008 Education Act, Section 94, Paragraph 2) and for intellectually gifted children/learners (245/2008 Education Act, Section 103, Paragraph 5). However, their implementation might be affected by the decisions of school founders and head teachers and by the availability of the funding.
Children/learners from socially-disadvantaged environments do not have special education programmes. However, they are entitled to:
- adjustments in the organisation of their education;
- adjustments in the environment;
- the application of special methods and forms of education (245/2008 Education Act, Section 107, Paragraph 1)
By law, there is no obligation to regularly review the decision of SEN (re-assessment). However, as per the Education Act (Section 130, Paragraph 6), the child/learner’s parents/legal representatives may file a motion to review the decision with the Ministry.
The individual education plan may be reviewed during the school year. This is at the discretion of the class teacher/head teacher.
Within the EASIE data collection, specific questions examine children/learners who are out of education. This means children/learners who should, by law, be in some form of recognised education, but who are out of any form of recognised education. A recognised form of education is any type of education organised by or approved by any recognised educational provider in the public or private sector.
The group of young people aged 15–24 who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) are considered out of formal education.
In 2018/2019, learners spending less than 80% of the time with their peers are considered to be part-time learners.