The range of reasons for reducing the normative contribution to schools will be expanded, with private and church schools seeing a 20 percent reduction, unless registered as public education providers, according to the new law on the financing of schools and school facilities, which was approved by the Slovak parliament on Tuesday.
"The reason for reducing the normative contribution is to equalise the conditions for the financing of schools founded by different types of founders, in particular as regards the criterion of providing education in the public interest," explained the Education Ministry, which drafted the legislation.
The amendment to the Education Act passed Tuesday will also make pre-school education mandatory for all four-year-old children as of September 2027, and a year later, it will also be compulsory from the age of three.
At the same time, parents will have the opportunity to decide on the form of home education for their child if they have the required education level.
"The proposal respects the right of parents to decide whether their four- or three-year-old child will undergo compulsory pre-school education in the form of individual education or whether they will use the option of regular daily attendance on weekdays for at least three hours a day," reads the approved document.
Under this home education model, there would be no obligation to enrol a child in a nursery school; only to notify the respective municipality of home education. However, if it is shown that the child's knowledge and skills haven't developed in line with the standards set by the Education Ministry, parents will be obliged to enrol their child in a nursery school within 15 days of the date of the assessment.
Source: TASR
