Instead of bachelor’s and master’s theses, practical experience. Universities have welcomed the change, under which students will be able to choose how they want to complete their studies.
Under the new system, students will be able to choose whether to write a final thesis or complete an internship. Students want their studies to be more closely connected with practice. The school will offer students a list of internships to choose from, similar to how it offers topics for final theses. After the internship, the student will face a defense before the state examination committee.
“We also made this change because times are changing. We already feel that final theses in the form we used to do them may be outdated. The labor market, society, and other stakeholders all require such changes,” explained State Secretary of the Ministry of Education Róbert Zsembera.
Slovakia is the first country in Central Europe to offer students this option.
“Students may think it’s easy, that they’ll just bring some paper. That’s not true. The supervisor will regularly consult with the company about the milestones they set and whether they are being met,” clarified Vice-Rector for Development and Public Relations at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Andrej Brník.
“We are preparing our system so that students can choose between a final internship or a final thesis no later than the 2027–2028 academic year,” said Vice-Rector for Undergraduate and Lifelong Learning at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Ľudmila Elbert.
“I am convinced that many universities, even though they have the option to introduce it in the next academic year, will implement it across Slovakia very quickly, perhaps as early as this September,” added Zsembera. The Higher Education Act also allows universities to completely abolish the writing of bachelor’s theses. Some are already considering it.
Source: STVR
