iacke
Spring 2003
Supply of adult education in the 2002/2003 3-18 academic year * Model for self-evaluation of quality in educational organisations for adults * Work of guidance centres in 2002 * Local guidance network in adult education * Evaluation of the social-integration role of the programme * First NLP Trainer certificates awarded in Slovenia * Lifelong Learning Week - eighth year! * 7th Adult Education Colloquium
SIAE EVENTS
How are we introducing the POKI model to our 19-25 secondary school? * Situation and development of the Association of Slovenian Adult Education Centres
26-30
Slovenian membership of the EAEA executive committee * Development of the European Certificate in Basic Skills
14,278 graduates in Slovenia last year
SLOVENIAN ADULT EDUCATION SCENE
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
SLOVENIA FROM NOVIČKE TO NOVIČKE
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Andragoški ce Slovenian Institute for Adult Education
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iter Republike Slovenije
PROGRAMME BASIS OF NOVIČKE
Novičke (The News) is an information bulletin with whitch we wish to inform individuals and organisations abroad with adult education and learning in Slovenia. We plan to provide the following types of:
-	description and presentation of events and activities in adult education;
-	development, research and other programmes and projects;
-	information on organisations, their needs, plans and activities;
-	information on policy and strategies of adult education;
-	the latest news in administration and legislation;
-	statistical data;
-	information on forthcoming events, workshops, seminars and conferences;
-	presentations of new books and articles.
Novičke will provide brief, concise, objective and unbiased information.
Novičke will be published three times a year in English language.
Users will receive Novičke free of charge. This is a policy we intend to continue, provided
we are able to cover the costs of publishing from the public funds allocated to adult
education.
Novičke is edited and published by the Information Centre at the SIAE.
In charge of the publication are: Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik, M. Sc., head of the
Information Unit, and Nevenka Kocijančič, editor.
DTP: Solos, inc.
Translation: AMIDAS, inc.
Printed by: Tiskarna Štrok.
The publisher's address: Andragoški center Slovenije, Šmartinska 134a, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Phone: +386 (0)1 5842 560, fax: + 386 (0)1 5245 881, internet: siae.acs.si/novicke, e-mail: nevenka.kocijancic@acs.si
ISSN 1408-6492 (English edition - printed) ISSN 1581-3789 (English edition - online) Edition: 880
SIAE EVENTS
Presentation of the report Supply of adult education in the 2002/2003 academic year
This article summarises the most important conclusions of the Report on the supply of adult education in Slovenia in the 2002/2003 academic year. The Slovenian Institute for Adult Education also during this academic year monitored the programmes offered by diverse educational institutions. We published the data collected in the web-based Review of adult education, at www.acs.si/pregled, which also provides other sources of information on educational opportunities for adults, guidance centres and data on additional forms of education intended for adults (centres for self-directed learning, learning exchanges).
It is with satisfaction that this year we again find that the response of providers for presentation in the web Review has been considerable. 292 providers responded, 239 of which had been presented in the previous year's Review, while 53 were appearing for the first time. The programme range is rich, with more than 4,460 educational programmes listed. As many as 77 % of providers submitted data through our Internet data-entry application, which demonstrated its worth, allowing as it does faster and simpler collection of large amounts of data. We can say that the ever-greater response of providers shows that they have accepted the Review as an additional way to present their activities to the wider public which also promotes adult education in general.
Almost one-third of the programmes on offer in the Review are provided by private educational institutions (31.5 %), which are important providers of educational services for adults; secondary schools (16.4 %) and folk highschools (12.3 %) also have an important share. Various societies (5.5 %), museums and galleries (3.8 %) and general-educational libraries (2.1 %), which increasingly incorporate adult education into their activities, are responding in greater numbers.
Although we consider education to be an important factor of regional development, there are still differences among Slovenian regions in the growth of the key development factor - knowledge. The unequal distribution of education supply among Slovenian regions will unfortunately not reduce this difference. In terms of the provider offers recorded, we can say that adult education is best catered for in central Slovenia (130 providers),
particularly Ljubljana, while educational opportunities for adults are much more modest in Zasavje and Notranjska-Karst (4 providers). Even analysis on the municipal level failed to show substantially greater access to adult education.
Compared to last year, the structure of programmes recorded did not change significantly. The majority are various programmes of general non-formal education, while the range of programmes for the acquisition of an education and work-related training and additional training programmes is more modest. Almost half of the general education programmes are language programmes, while there is also an extensive range of computer programmes. Formal education is dominated by three-year vocational education programmes; the supply of vocational-technical programmes and four-year professional technical education is relatively large. The supply of work-related training and additional training programmes did not change significantly from the previous year. These are dominated by non-certified vocational and professional training programmes, while the supply of training and additional training programmes under statutory regulations, and the supply of non-certified vocational and professional additional training programmes, are both extensive.
Categorising programmes by individual subject areas again shows the prevalence of general education (41.6 %), which includes programmes of language learning, personal development, general education and programmes for the third age. Technical programmes, including programmes with various contents, are also extensive (25.3 %): computing and informatics, metal working and reprocessing, safety at work and fire safety, construction, electronics, transport, internal transport, shipping and storage and other subjects. There is a relatively rich supply of educational programmes in business ande economics, especially: economics, business finance, book-keeping and accounting. Again this year, there was a shortage of educational content in research activities, the introduction of innovation and rationalisation.
Classification of programmes under the ISCED 1997 international classification into nine narrow areas shows a prevalence of arts and humanities (42.8 %); this includes foreign-language, arts, music, creative arts, audiovisual technology and multimedia production, history, archaeology, philosophy and ethics. Under this classification, health and social work (1.4 %) has the smallest supply of programmes.
We hope that the Review will continue in future to contribute to greater awareness on the part of adults of available educational opportunities, and that it will serve as an important source of information for the professional public in guidance and information activities and in the development of appropriate systems and a professional basis in the area of adult education.
Erika Brenk
(erika.brenk@acs.si)
SIAE
Offering quality education to adults - POKI Model for self-evaluation of quality in educational organisations for adults
As elsewhere in Europe and around the world, the Slovenian system of adult education is increasingly showing a need for the systematic introduction of activities to achieve quality. The general reasons, reflected in the need for greater transparency and reviewability of the education system, opening up of the education market, responsiveness to the needs of development and competitiveness, are joined by the very poor results achieved by Slovenians in the international study on adult literacy. We can also add the fact that the field of adult education has long been on the margins of the education system, and consequently has often lacked the conditions for the development of various factors with significant impact on quality (teaching materials, teacher training, equipment ...), while the ever-present standpoints which simplify the path to education must also not be ignored. Systematic monitoring of quality and the results attested to can most readily remove such phenomena.
At the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education, we decided to help educational organisations and teachers by developing a quality model adapted as far as possible to demand and conditions in Slovenian adult education. We felt that the first step towards systematic quality assurance must be a model which will enable self-assessment, with models of external assessment only being developed in the next phase. This was our approach to the production of a self-evaluation model, which we termed Offering Quality Education to Adults (POKI - Ponudimo odraslim kakovostno izobraževanje). Use of the model should gradually achieve the following basic goals in educational organisations:
•	Adults would be offered quality education appropriate to their needs;
•	We would encourage and establish individual and group learning for persons engaged in adult education;
•	We would foster and establish a team approach and a partnership and participatory decision-making regarding the development of adult education in educational organisations.
The framework model for monitoring quality in adult education is divided into six basic areas of quality, to which we must pay attention in assessing and developing the quality of work in the field of adult education. These areas are:
•	Achieving the objectives of the curriculum,
•	The educational process,
•	Participants,
•	Teachers,
•	Educational institutions and partners,
•	Management and administration.
Each of these areas is further divided below into subareas and quality indicators which define basic activities and processes indicating quality.
Introducing the model into educational practice
In June 2001, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport selected in a public tender the first four secondary schools to introduce the POKI model into their own educational organisation. This year, they have been joined by a further ten new schools. Thus in the 2002/2003 school year, the POKI project directly or indirectly involves: 8 secondary schools, 6 folk highschools, approximately 1,200 teachers and other professional staff, and approximately 11,700 adult participants in education.
Alongside constant professional support from the Slovenian Institute of Adult Education and relevant education, self-evaluation in an individual educational organisation operates in the following manner:
•	The educational organisation appoints a project group for quality, and ensures constant information flows regarding the work of the group as a whole.
•	The educational organisation defines its objectives and the position it wishes to have in the field of adult education.
•	The educational organisation selects the area in which it wishes to evaluate the level of quality over a given period. It selects up to four quality indicators.
•	For the selected indicators, the educational organisation determines the level of quality it wishes to achieve.
•	With the help of qualitative and quantitative methods, the educational organisation determines as objectively as possible the actual level of quality for the selected indicators.
•	On this basis, it prepares a self-evaluation report which the project group presents to the whole staff, and sometimes also to partners.
•	The self-evaluation report is the basis for the design of primarily concrete measures which the educational organisation (on the basis of a consensus of all employees) adopts to improve quality over a defined period.
•	At the end of this period, the whole staff determines whether they have been successful in realising the measures adopted.
•	On completion of this cycle, the educational organisation chooses other areas, subareas and indicators, and repeats the procedure for quality assessment and assurance.
Results to date
The basic effects which we as outside observers have noticed in this phase are:
•	In some staff, attention to the question of the quality of adult education has increased substantially, with in many cases discussion of these issues taking place for the first time despite a long tradition in adult education.
•	The status and importance of adult education has improved.
•	A whole series of professional initiatives have appeared to improve the situation in various areas.
•	Responsibility for teaching results has increased, not just in the academic sense (grades), but also responsibility for effects in the work process.
•	Consideration has been prompted of adult education quality standards.
•	Various minor improvements have been introduced even in the situation assessment phase, representing part of the quality of services.
•	The need for additional training for adult education work has increased; in some cases on the basis of the introduction of the model, a whole series of education programmes are already underway.
•	Initiatives are appearing for the organisation of professional meetings among teachers from various educational organisations to exchange professional solutions.
We must also mention that the attitude towards the issue of quality and the introduction of the model has not been positive on the part of all people. In particular, resistance can be observed against the project groups, which reach into established practices, and the management of educational organisations do not always support change.
This year, the project has also gained an international dimension, since we have joined the Grundvig 1 Management of quality in adult education with the development of self-evaluation processes international project. Apart from Slovenia, the project also includes Finland (Salpaus Further Education), Poland (The Torun Teacher Training College), Germany (BILSE Institut fur Bildung und Forschung GMBH) and Spain (DEMA - Enpresa garapena/(desarrollo empresial). The POKI model will thus be subject to a process of benchmarking with several models of self-evaluation used in various countries by partner organisations. Our main interest here will be to explore the international comparability of the model, while at the same time, we will have an opportunity with the help of the benchmarking method and the exchange of good practices to determine how to improve the POKI model.
Guidance work in adult education Work of guidance centres in 2002
Five guidance centres for adult education have been operating in Slovenia since September 2001: Koper, Maribor, Murska Sobota, Novo Mesto and Žalec. Three more started working in the autumn of 2002 - in Jesenice, Postojna and Trbovlje. You can read more about guidance centres on the web at: http://isio.acs.si/.
Guidance centres offer adults in their local environment guidance prior to participation in education, during education, and at the end of education. In so doing, they apply the following basic operating principles: accessibility to all adults, no payment, impartiality and confidentiality of data.
The first analyses summarising the operation and content of work of the first five guidance centres in 2002 have been conducted. Data show that guidance centres were very well attended, with centres providing 6,576 services1 during this period. Combined data for all five centres for the whole period observed show that personal visits (48.8 %, of which 39.4 % were first personal visits) prevail, followed by telephone calls (42.7 %, again dominated by first callers, 37.8 %) and other forms of guidance (8.5 %; replying to letters and email questions, providing written materials, such as adult education tenders etc).
Counsellors in guidance centres keep current records on the characteristics of clients. Advice or assistance was sought in 2002:
•	By more women (two-thirds in all five guidance centres);
•	By more young adults (50.9 % of all adults for whom we obtained age data were 30 or under, 17.3 % between 31 and 40, 6.6 % between 41 and 50, and 2.7 % over 50);
•	Most clients had completed upper secondary education (4 years) - more than one-third of all clients for whom we obtained education data (4.7 % had failed primary school, 16.8 % had completed primary school (compulsory primary school - 8 years), 18.6 % had low vocational education (3 years), 4.7 % higher education and 5.5 % university education);
•	By more employed adults - 38.7 % (of the 86.6 % of clients for whom we obtained this information, 28.5 % were unemployed, 3.8 % self-employed, 11.4 % school children or students, and 2.3 % pensioners).
Combined data on the content of guidance show that most guidance sessions concerned
1 Full information-guidance work in one centre comprises the work of one professional staff member.
the acquisition of education at a higher level - 43.8 %, to non-formal forms of education for work and profession - 13.0 %, and requalification (change of profession at the same level)	-
10.8 %. Other subjects of discussion were distributed among non-formal forms of education for personal development, various forms of learning, and the financing of education.
Some data - on the types of guidance, and on activities - was only collected for the final quarter of last year (from September to December 2002). Data on the types of guidance show that 70.3 % of discussions took place before participation in education, while just under a quarter - 24.9 % - took place during education and 4.8 % after education. Data from the analysis are similar to those from the previous year, except that the number of discussions prior to education has fallen, while the number of discussions during education has increased.
We can conclude that all five guidance centres operated successfully in 2002. Through their active operation, local guidance centres have become recognised, both by adults needing advice or assistance concerning education and by professional institutions, which see guidance centres as partners in their educational work.
Andreja Dobrovoljc (andreja.dobrovoljc@acs.si), SIAE
Guidance work in adult education Local guidance network in adult education
Right from the start, in defining the concept of guidance centres in adult education we paid particular attention to how to provide adults with comprehensive, quality and impartial information and guidance. We thus decided to form alongside each guidance centre a local guidance network (http://isio.acs.si/omrezje/), comprising various educational and other institutions engaged in a particular local environment in education or any form of guidance activities for adults, to be administered by strategic partners.
We formed local guidance networks by arranging for each new guidance centre to conduct a detailed analysis of the existing supply of education in their environment, and of the type of guidance activities already developed. In so doing, we did not restrict ourselves to
educational guidance; we also considered guidance (social, health, property etc) intended for other adult activities. All institutions revealed in this process, which could form the local guidance network, were invited to participate by the staff of the new guidance centres. As anticipated, there were a number of problems: institutions whose basic activities were not educational sometimes failed to see the point of participating, while in educational organisations, there was a prevalent fear that co-operation would result in competitors obtaining commercially confidential data. At first there was considerable distrust: guidance centres arose under the wings of existing educational organisations in the local environment, and so participating organisations were convinced that they would direct adults primarily towards their own organisation; at the same time, this organisation would gain insight into the competition. As we said, we expected such difficulties. It seems that in Slovenia in general, we do not know how to co-operate, while in adult education, probably due to the broad range of programmes on offer, there is even less such co-operation.
Nonetheless, we did not give up. Although participation in the local guidance network was voluntary, such networks were formed for all of the operating guidance centres. The average network, together with the guidance centre, comprises eight institutions, which is a fairly good start. The most common partners are secondary schools providing adult education, social work centres, libraries, companies, employment services, regional chambers of commerce and small business, and further and higher education institutions. All institutions forming a local guidance network signed a special agreement among the professional partners, in which they undertook, with the intention of providing quality guidance to adults, to co-operate among themselves in the provision of information and assistance to individuals, and in the planning and implementation of joint campaigns. Joint campaigns are agreed in the professional committee, which meets several times a year. The committee adopts the annual plan of the guidance centre and the local guidance network, and is responsible for preparing and updating databases, establishing links with local organisations, evaluating guidance activities etc. After one year of operation, we can conclude that the most common joint activities of professional partners are linked to the exchange of information, the formation of shared information bases, complementary services for individuals, joint media appearances and the like.
Strategic councils were established at all guidance centres in order to ensure the development of the local guidance network in accordance with the development needs of the individual environment, to enable co-operation among various local institutions, and not least to enable monitoring of whether guidance activities are in fact developing such that they primarily assist individuals, and that all institutions engaged in such or similar activities are treated equally. These councils determine new demand for guidance and
education in their local environments, represent the interests of the guidance centre and the local guidance network incorporation into local environment development programmes, evaluate the quality of guidance and propose improvements; they also perform other tasks set out in the annual programme of work.
And who are the strategic partners? For all but two guidance centres, they are municipalities or local government units, regional development agencies, regional chambers of commerce and small business, and regional units of the Employment Service of Slovenia. Individual guidance centres' strategic partners include regional trade union organisations, local radio stations, higher education centres. These are undoubtedly important factors steering and determining local development, which we can certainly consider as a success in the conception of local guidance networks.
The Slovenian Institute for Adult Education conducts activities on a national level similar to those run by guidance centres in their local environments for co-operation among strategic and professional partners. We find that events on the national level are similar to those in local environments - some have no problems with co-operation, and work very creatively to develop the local guidance network and ensure quality guidance in adult education, while others are either afraid of competition or uninteresed. Nevertheless, we have already held a number of successful meetings. Co-operation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, the Education Institute of RS, the Vocational Education Centre and the Association of Slovenian Adult Education Centres is particularly good. Although co-operation has not been formalised, we agree with these organisations, together or individually, on development plans, possible forms of national and local co-operation, information exchanges, joint international co-operation, and the implementation of pilot projects to improve co-operation, and we co-operate in the further training of counsellors etc.
Despite the initial difficulties, we believe that the idea of creating local guidance networks with a central guidance centre steering and determining the co-operation among professional and strategic partners in a local environment has had a successful start in practice. The results of guidance activities, shown in other articles in this issue, are undoubtedly a reflection of the coordinated and committed partner co-operation.
Sonja Klemenčič (sonja.klemencic@acs.si), SIAE
PLYA
Evaluation of the social-integration role of the programme
The Faculty of Arts (FF) in Ljubljana prepared the evaluation study The Evaluation of the Effects of the Program "Project Learning for Young Adults" on Social Integration , which ran from August 2000 to September 2002. This was one of the studies supported by the Ministry of Education and Sport in 2000 through a public tender for financing and cofinancing of evaluation studies in education (Ur. L. RS 31/2000). The basic objective of the study was to determine the social-integration effects of education in the Project Learning for Young Adults (PLYA1) programme, which was launched in 1999 as part of the national project for curricular renewal of publicly certified education in the Republic of Slovenia. The evaluation determined:
•	Whether the programme encourages and enables young people to return to education, and the effects of the programme;
•	Whether the programme has only short-term or also long-term effects, with young adults persisting after returning to education until they successfully complete education and find employment;
•	How the PLYA curriculum is structured and which components influence its quality;
•	Which quality indicators can be recognised in the training system for PLYA programme mentors (whether any deficiencies can be observed which should be removed).
The research group consisted of Dr Rastko Močnik (Faculty of Arts), Dr Andreja Istenič Starčič (Faculty of Arts), Dr Valentina Hlebec (Faculty of Social Sciences), Dr Livija Knaflič (SIAE), Sonja Klemenčič (SIAE) and Andreja Dobrovoljc (SIAE). We used qualitative and quantitative methods in our work. The empirical part of the study covered all young people who at any time had been included in the programme, the mentors providing the programme, and the directors of institutions providing the programme. Mentors and directors of the following institutions enabled implementation of the empirical part of the study: PLYA Ajdovščina at Ajdovščina FU, PLYA Radovljica at Radovljica FU, PLYA Maribor at the Maribor Adult Education Institute - Folk University, PLYA Murska Sobota at Murska Sobota FU, PLYA Skala Celje, PLYA Slovenj Gradec at the MOCIS Centre Slovenj Gradec, PLYA at the Memory Education Centre Koper, and PLYA Ljubljana at the TIN Education Institution.
The evaluation study considered the following areas in more detail: • Young people attending the programme: who are the drop-outs, what are their
The programme is described on the web at http://www.acs.si/projekti/011/.
expectations of the programme, what sort of lifestyle do they lead?
•	PLYA programme effects: which expectations did participants realise during their attendance of the programme, what knowledge and skills did they obtain?
•	PLYA programme curriculum: its conformity with the starting points of curricular renewal, its components, assessment of its objectives.
•	PLYA programme mentors: conformity of their professional training with the PLYA curriculum and curricular renewal, their understanding of knowledge, learning and teaching.
The evaluation covered all young adults (6162) who participated in the programme since its inception in 1998. We determined what happened after inclusion in the programme to young people who had left education and consequently found themselves socially marginalised. Data3 on their current status show that 40.6 % are in education, 2.2 % probably began education this academic year4, 9 % are in permanent, and 14.7 % in temporary employment, 20.8 % are unemployed, 1.9 % are doing military service, 1.9 % are on childbirth leave, 1.9 % are in treatment for addiction, and 7 % were listed as "other" or "unknown".
Answers about their future plans show that the majority have created a clearer perception of their futures - some two-thirds of participants want to continue their education (33 % full-time and the same number part-time). Given these figures, and others previously cited, we can say that the programme was successful.
The research group felt that the basic conclusion of the evaluation study was that the Project Learning for Young Adults has long-term social-integration effects. The final report of this study is available in the library of the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education, while a book of the same title is due to be published in May.
Andreja Dobrovoljc (andreja.dobrovoljc@acs.si), SIAE
This number is somewhat higher than the actual number of participants due to differences in the method of recording their numbers.
80 % of all participants responded to the survey in spring 2002.
The evaluation study was finished in September 2002 and we haven't been informed if the young adults realised their intention, but they were registered.
Education in neurolinguistic programming First NLP Trainer certificates awarded in Slovenia
The final session of the extended, 18-day education programme for the international NLP Trainer certificate took place in Strunjan from 3 to 7 December 2002. We have been providing organised education in neurolinguistic programming, NLP for short, since 1994. Obtaining the international NLP Trainer certificate requires prior acquisition of two international certificates - NLP Practitioner and NLP Master.
Special, in-depth learning experiences, action learning, intensive training of personal presentation and learning skills, learning in organisations and counselling, comprehensive professional use of NLP contents, methods, techniques and tools, and other approaches are the main characteristics of education for NLP Trainers. Education was provided in small groups in the form of learning workshops, with participants giving independent presentations throughout.
The training programme was run by the internationally renowned German trainers Dr Mona Vogl and Bert Feustel MA. Dr Vogl, a psychology graduate, is an outstanding professional in the field of education for NLP trainers and the development of management staff, and is a personal development counsellor. Bert Feustel, also a psychology graduate, prepares basic and advanced international seminars in NLP, and seminars and lectures for companies, associations and institutes; provides individual counselling, "coaching" and NLP seminars for business purposes. The two foreign trainers were assisted by Nada Mulej, a Slovenian NLP trainer with an international certificate. She has an exceptional knowledge of methods for teaching adults, "superlearning", counselling communication and rhetoric; she has a wealth of experience in teaching, counselling and motivating adults to learn.
We awarded 24 international certificates on 7 December 2002, thus gaining the first NLP trainers in Slovenia. The international certificate of the International NLP Trainers Association (INLPTA) will allow them to independently run education in NLP and its use in conjunction with other approaches.
Zdenka Birman Forjanič (zdenka.birman@acs.si), SIAE
Learning festival in Slovenia Lifelong Learning Week - eighth year!
This year's Lifelong Learning Week (LLW) will run from 13 to 19 October. With preparations starting at the beginning of the year we would like to persuade as many organisations, societies, groups and individuals which in their environments design, organise, implement, support or promote learning and education to participate in good time. The first LLW, organised in the "Year of Lifelong Learning" (as a response to a European initiative in 1996), involved 59 providers and around 500 events. Most were organisations engaged in adult education. In later years, the number of LLW friends grew rapidly, so that by last year it had increased almost ten-fold, with around 3,000 events and 1,200 items in various media attracting the attention of many citizens all over Slovenia. However, it is not just the continuous growth in the number of participants, but also their extreme diversity, that is encouraging, demonstrating that the LLW actually addresses all generations and illuminates the role of learning in the most diverse areas of public and private life. In this way, all of us involved in the project - either as providers of educational, promotional, cultural and social events, or as participants - contribute to realising the slogan "Slovenia, a learning country", while in a wider sense we are also helping realise the European Action plan in the area of lifelong learning (Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality, November 2001).
The plan for LLW 2003, the eighth implementation of the by-now well-known and established Slovenian model for LLW, is based on the experience of all of us who over the years have built on the initial concept (more information on the Lifelong Learning Week is available on the web at http://llw.acs.si). Special features of this year's event are: The European Year of the Disabled, which dictates the central theme of LLW 2003, more active involvement in LLW by the Employment Service of Slovenia and its regional services and labour offices, and our links with the first regional festival of learning in South-Eastern Europe.
The SEE learning festival will be held under the slogan "Learning from each other - learning for the future", and will comprise national learning festivals, each following their own scenarios, in eight countries linked in the EBIS project1. In addition, joint events will be
The EBIS project is coordinated by the Institute for International Co-operation of the German Adult Education Association - IIZ/DVV, Bonn, with the following countries participating: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.
organised from 16 to 19 October in Skopje in Macedonia, bringing together representatives of the political and cultural life of participating countries; two or three examples will be presented - successful individuals, projects and institutions - from each country; two regional workshops will be organised - the first on the theme of Adult Education and Employment, the second on Legislation in Adult Education. The ceremonial and professional events will be accompanied by open-air events: a concert, and possibly a marathon race, while an exhibition of successful projects in the field of adult education and culture will be opened (for more on this, see http://www.inebis.com). Apart from the main event, each participating country will organise a regional workshop as part of its learning festival, to which experts from the whole region will be invited. Slovenia will participate in this series of workshops through its traditional adult education colloquium. This year's colloquium is the seventh, and on 17 and 18 October it will allow local and foreign experts to exchange opinions on the theme of Current Issues in Learning and Motivation of Adults.
We will also operate on the international level in other ways through the LLW project. Along with partners from Bulgaria, Germany, Romania and Spain, we will participate in the EU project Widening and Strengthening the European Dimension of the Lifelong Learning Week Movement (see http://www.llw5.org), we will be active in the international ALW/LF movement, coordinated by the Unesco Institute of Education (see http:// www.unesco.org/education/uie/InternationalALW), we will establish links with festival coordinators all over the world, and we will exchange experience and know-how.
One traditional component of LLW which always receives a good response is the presentation of awards for outstanding learning achievements. The Slovenian Institute of Adult Education awards them for the adult education field to individuals, groups and/ or organisations which have achieved outstanding results in their learning. To date we have already awarded 77 prizes, 44 to individuals and groups for enhancing their own knowledge, and 37 to individuals, institutions, local communities and others for professional and promotional achievements in enriching the knowledge of others. The awards will be presented at the opening ceremony of LLW 2003, which this year for the first time is being staged before the start of the Week, so that LLW providers and coordinators, who otherwise are busy organising their own events in the third week of October, can also participate. The nominations procedure is currently underway, and we are delighted to be already meeting people whose life stories provide us with an example, and inspire us to continue our work on this project and on lifelong learning in general.
Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik MA (zvonka.pangerc@acs.si), SIAE
Current Issues in Learning and Motivation of Adults 7th Adult Education Colloquium
The theme of the conference, Current Issues in Learning and Motivation of Adults, brings attention to two important aspects of adult education: characteristics of adult learning and the nature of motivation for learning. Reasons for the research in adult learning and motivation are constantly emerging. On one hand economical, societal and technical development produces the needs to constantly improve professional skills and increase educational level. The need for permanent education has already become an integral part of life in many modern societies and lifelong learning is universally recognized. On the other hand common recognition of learning in adult age is coupled with de-institutionalization and individualization of learning. Due to increasing demand for learning and lack of public or private resources for funding of training policy-makers, managers, trainers and individuals themselves have to find new ways of gaining knowledge and developing skills. Consequently, new forms and concepts of learning are emerging that emphasize individual mobilization and autonomy in learning activity such as: work-based learning, informal learning, self-directed learning, distance learning, e-learning etc. Although social and economical reasons force adults to engage in learning activities, it is not necessary that they have adequate skills for learning and/or are motivated to learn. The main purpose of the colloquium is therefore to gain better understanding of adult learning and methods for its improvement; and factors that enhance or impede adults motivation in learning.
The aims of the colloquium are:
•	to examine empirically and theoretically a range of important issues related to adult learning and motivation;
•	to enhance our understanding of learning and motivation in different contexts;
•	to explore the possibilities to implement the theoretical findings as a tool for improving instruction and policy making.
A number of international speakers will be invited to provide an analysis of the issues which have emerged from recent research in this area. Also numerous paper and workshop presentations will be held to stimulate discussion on particular topics.
The 7th Adult Education Colloquium is an important part of the 8th Lifelong Learning Week in Slovenia as well as one of the meeting places for academics and professionals in a series of workshops organized under the umbrella of the 1st Regional learning festival for South Eastern Europe.
Those who want to participate at the conference are kindly invited to register on-line (http:/ /llw.acs.si/ac/registration/) or by e-mail (marko.radovan@acs.si), fax (+386 1 5245 881) or regular mail (Andragoski center Slovenije, Smartinska 134a, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia) as soon as possible.
Some deadlines:
•	registration without paper presentation: May 31, 2003
•	full-paper submission: June 30, 2003 (see details)
The official language of the conference is English.
Marko Radovan MA (marko.radovan@acs.si), SIAE
SLOVENIAN ADULT
EDUCATION SCENE
How are we introducing the POKI model to our secondary school? Reactions from practice
In the 2001/2002 school year, the Secondary School of Food Technology and Veterinary Science in Ljubljana joined the national development project Offering Quality Education to Adults (POKI), being developed by the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education with support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.
The foundations for joint work on the project were provided by the framework methodology for self-evaluation developed by the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education, while the task of the project group in our school was to supplement this framework model and adapt it to the specific features and needs of our school.
Vision of the development of quality of adult education in our school
The first step in the introduction of the model required us to consider strategic objectives, or the situation we want to have in adult education. In so doing, we started from the fact that today students come to us from all over Slovenia, and can choose from a broad range of educational programmes such as: technical high school, veterinary technician and food technician, vocational programmes for bakers, confectioners, and bitchers. At the same time, in defining our position in the adult education field, we took into account the fact that the food industry and the veterinary sector in Slovenia has for years had poorly and often unsuitably educated employees. The demands placed on employees in these professions are growing every year, due to technological development, major legislative changes arising from the accession approximation to European Union, and the introduction of quality standards in companies.
The increased requirements of employers are reflected in the increased demand for adult education. We therefore believe that adult education is very important for basic professions, such as bakers, confectioners, butchers and food technicians, as well as for the wider community, and will only become more so in future. The same applies to education in the veterinary technician programme, for which we are the only specialised school in Slovenia.
We therefore believe that investment in quality education is relevant and essential for our school. While until 2001 adult education in our school was a parallel, "necessary" activity, in 2001/2002 we took the first step towards improving the quality and recognition of adult education by establishing an adult education department.
Teachers as an important factor of adult education
Then, once we defined the vision and set the long-term objectives of our activities, one area and three quality indicators being the subject to quality assessment, were selected from among the defined basic areas and quality indicators. In doing so, we helped ourselfs with the self-evaluation handbook, which is a constituent part of the POKI model.
We realise that teachers have a major impact on the quality of adult education, and so in introducing the quality model to our school, we initially focused on them. Here, we wanted to find out the motivation of teachers for additional training for adult education, their cooperation in the preparation and development of teaching materials for adults, and how satisfied teachers are with working in adult education.
In the process of quality assessment, we collected various data, opinions and standpoints, with the aid of which we were able to answer the questions regarding the quality of work of teachers teaching adults in our school. The process of quality measurement involved teachers, education participants and the management of the educational organisation on an equal basis. Teachers had the opportunity to express their assessments, opinions and positions by completing a questionnaire, while the project group held guided discussions with school management and those responsible for adult education.
Action plan for the introduction of quality improvements
All information, opinions and positions were combined into a self-evaluation report in which, based on discussions with staff, we wrote an action plan for the development of quality in the area concerned, under which we decided that in 2003:
•	We will formulate a long-term plan of measures to improve the motivation of teachers for additional training for adult education work.
•	We will provide all teachers teaching adults in our school with a 24-hour adult-education training programme based on their needs. 8 of these hours will take place during working hours.
•	On the basis of analysis of co-operation to date in the preparation of teaching materials and the motivation of teachers for preparing teaching materials, and analysis of the
material, financial and incentive conditions teachers need, we will formulate written instructions and criteria for the preparation of teaching materials for adults.
•	We will educate all interested teachers about preparing teaching materials for adults.
•	We will arrange an area in the school library bringing together all existing teaching materials for adults, prepared by teachers, together with a list (catalogue) of existing teaching materials for participants, which will also be published on the school web site. We will also arrange a working area for teachers to be used in preparing teaching materials for adults; it will be equipped with a computer and access to both COBISS and the Internet.
•	We will prepare an internal competition for the production of teaching materials for adults.At the end of the competition, we will analyse entries and assess the teachers' readiness to prepare materials for their own subject and adapt them to adults. We will choose teachers and set deadlines for the production of materials.
We expect we will be able to transfer the knowledge we acquire on the POKI project to the other areas of the school's operation (improving the quality of youth education). Quality improvements will enable the participants to acquire more appropriate knowledge (current, coordinated with employer requirements) in a more appropriate manner (forms, initiatives). The school will raise standards, retain excellent teachers and survive more readily in competition with other educators. Employers will employ well-trained professionals whom they will be able to influence themselves in the future. In this way we will thus improve the educational structure of employees in the food and veterinary industries in Slovenia.
If we achieve the set goals, participants in our education will be satisfied - they will acquire quality knowledge, they will be successful at work, they will be motivated for further learning. Teachers will also be satisfied and motivated, while companies will be delighted to co-operate with us and will seek our help. We will also expand adult education to non-formal programmes and training in food domains and veterinary studies, and will improve the school's co-operation with foreign partners.
When will we reach our satisfaction? Satisfaction is a matter of the time frame we set for realisation of our goals. We will be satisfied as long as change is heading in the direction of realising our goals and as long as we can clearly show that we are achieving ever-improving results.
Jasna Kržin Stepišnik (jasna.krzin-stepisnik@guest.arnes.si), Secondary School of Food Technology and Veterinary Science in Ljubljana
Comparison of data on further education in the area of adult education
Situation and development of the Association of Slovenian Adult Education Centres
The Association of Slovenian Adult Education Centres (ZLUS) further strengthened its membership in 2002. Despite the resignation by members from the Ljubljana region and the reduction in membership to 31, it retains its place in the adult education sector, while in certain programmes it is even strengthening its role. The Association with its members is the leading partner in the implementation of the Adult Education Master Plan, which encompasses: literacy education, primary school for adults, democracy, information and counselling. Despite the reduction in public funding for adult education and the deterioration of the situation in the education market, members managed to preserve the diversity of programmes on offer. Statistical data show that folk highschools have enough flexibility, quality and professionalism to successfully adapt to conditions and the education market in the European Union. All members are predominantly market-oriented, further proof of which is provided by the financial data from statistical reports.
Statistical data on adult education for 1999/2000
In analysing and presenting comparative data for further education in adult education by individual types of educational organisation, we used data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS)1.
Providers
Statistics covered the following organisations in adult education: folk highschools (all, irrespective of ZLUS membership), other specialised organisations (private organisations), units within schools, units within companies, driving schools and others.
Data are comparable among folk highschools, private organisations and units within companies, and are therefore of interest. Comparison of data from units within schools and other organisations is more difficult. Driving schools, which are the most numerous, but which have fewer programmes, hours and enrolled participants, are different. Some 97.5 % of candidates complete the programme.
1 Statistical information, 9 Education, no. 130, 21 November 2002, Ljubljana
Analysis shows that the numbers of folk highschools and units within companies are almost the same, while there are 2.6-times as many private organisations. Along with the numbers of organisations, data on the number of programmes provided are also comparable. The ratios favour folk highschools: private organisations provide only 1.9-times as many hours as folk highschools, while folk highschools provide some 1.4-times as many hours as units within companies. Enrollment by participants in folk highschools is also very good: private organisations enroll only 32 % more participants, and units within companies only 34 % more than folk highschools. Candidates are by far the most successful in folk highschools, where as many as 84 % of participants successfully complete education, compared to 52 % in private organisations and only 35 % in units within companies.
Employees
Comparative analysis of data shows that folk highschools have the most full-time and contractual employees, which certainly contributes to the quality implementation of the wide range of programmes, as well as to the success of participants in education.
Non-certified programmes
Data concerning the implementation of non-certified programmes are comparable among folk highschools, private organisations and units within companies. Figures for other organisations are considerably lower and of no interest to us.
Analysis shows that all three comparable types of organisation implemented comparable numbers of non-certified programmes. Private organisations provided 48 % more teaching hours, although they are 2.6 times as numerous as folk highschools and units within companies. Units within companies are most successful in terms of the number of participants involved; private organisations enrolled only 32 % more participants than folk highschools, which is considerably lower if we compare the figure with the number of organisations. Folk highschools are by far the most successful in terms of the number of participants who successfully complete education.
Publicly certified programmes
In the analysis of data in the area of implementation of publicly certified programmes, driving schools stand out for all measured data. Their data must be placed in the context of the number of driving schools and the programme for passing the driving test for adult citizens of Slovenia.
Comparative data for other organisations shows that folk highschools are the most successful in the range of programmes, hours of education provided, number of participants involved and the number of participants successfully completing education:
•	They offer almost 2.5 times as many programmes as private organisations, and almost twice as many as units within schools;
•	They provide some twice as many education hours as private organisations, and almost 4 times as many as units within schools (units within companies provide 2.6 times as many education hours as folk highschools);
•	Private organisations and units within schools enrolled roughly 1.4 times fewer, and units within companies only half as many, participants than folk highschools;
•	There are also proportionately fewer participants in other organisations successfully completing education.
Comparative data for folk highschools in the last two years
We took the data for analysis from SURS sources for 1999/2000 and 2000/2001, and from a survey questionnaire for all ZLUS members for 2000/2001.
Data show that the numbers of members and employees have fallen. There are a number of folk highschools which are not ZLUS members, although for statistical purposes ZLUS records them among folk highschools. This influences the number of full-time and contracted employees.
BUSINESS	NO.	EMPLOYEES	CONTRACTED	NO.	NO.	NO.
YEAR	MEMBERS			PROGRAMMES	HOURS	ENROLLED
1999/2000	45	294	3,083	3,299	134,666	50,452
2000/2001	31	193	2,373	1,854	305,034	60,314
Analysis of the data in the table above shows that the reduction in the number of ZLUS members (by 31 %) has been accompanied by a reduction in the number of professional staff employed (by 34 %). The number of contract workers has also fallen (by 23). The number of programmes has fallen in the last year (by 44 %), while the number of hours (by as much as 226 %) and the number of participants enrolled (by 19.5 %) have increased.
We can conclude that folk highschools have increased their productivity: with fewer employees they have provided more educational programmes for more participants. Market orientation can also be seen in the programmes required by the market, since otherwise the number of programmes is in decline.
Development strategy of the Association of Slovenian Adult Education Centres
At ZLUS, we have included the following tasks in our development strategy:
•	To strengthen and expand membership of the Association,
•	To connect and strengthen the network of public institutions for adult education,
•	To preserve and improve the quality, accessibility and flexibility of the Association,
•	To move to programme-project financing,
•	To strengthen international partnerships,
•	To integrate the ZLUS into the European system of adult education.
Analysis of the situation of ZLUS, comparative data for the last two years, and comparison with other organisations in the adult education sector show that the Association has not lost its role as a leading partner in the adult education sector. Through the use of all capacities, a clear strategy and defined goals, it will further strengthen its role in the future.
Andrej Sotošek, MA (andrej.sotosek@guest.arnes.si). The Association of Slovenian Adult Education Centres
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
European Association for the Education of Adults Slovenian membership of the EAEA executive committee
At the voting assembly of the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA), held in Sofia on 9 and 10 November 2002, Dr Vida Mohorcic Špolar, director of the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education, was among those elected to the executive committee as a representative of the Adult Education Society of Slovenia.
Since 2000 and the Lisbon conference of the European Council, the EAEA has particularly dedicated itself to promoting the culture of lifelong learning. From the resolutions of the presidency, we read that at the start of the 21st century, "lifelong learning is of fundamental importance for the development of citizenship, social cohension and employment." Now many national governments, as well as supranational and international bodies (EU, OECD, UNESCO) are taking the position that lifelong learning is essential for the economic, democratic and social well-being of individuals, as well as for the development of organisations, local environments, minorities and society as a whole.
Lifelong learning programmes must be available to people of all ages, regardless of previous education, sex, environment and employment status, since they contribute to economic development, employment and modernisation of the labour market while at the same time enabling individuals and groups to participate in decision-making processes (ensuring democracy), recognise and respect differences, opening up opportunities for cultural creativity and personal development. Adult learners form a very diverse group, and so we must consider their needs as individually as possible. This means that they must have the option of choosing from among various methods (projects, flexible learning, distance learning, e-learning etc), forms (evening classes, courses, seminars, workshops, meetings etc), topics and difficulty levels.
The transition from an industrial society, in which precisely defined knowledge was required for various work tasks at different levels, to a post-industrial society, a knowledge society, lifelong learning is becoming essential. The EAEA is therefore establishing it as a fundamental human right.
The EAEA is also a bridge between various areas of adult learning. It is a connecting
network of civil organisations which provide non-formal education with a broad range of social contacts on local, regional, national, European and global levels. It arranges virtual and direct international meetings, as well as co-operation of researchers and other experts in the field of adult education. It promotes contacts among people from various cultures and environments and the exchange of information on democracy and human rights in theory and practice. It works as a partner with legislative structures on national and European levels.
The substance of the EAEA meeting in Sofia was given over to the issue of active citizenship. The opening paper was presented by Ruud Veldhuis from the Netherlands, while other papers were presented by:
•	Vida A. Mohorcic Špolar (Slovenia) - presentation of the Education and Training for Governance and Active Citizenship in Europe (ETGACE) project,
•	Marta Vinnai (Hungary) - presentation of a project on education for active citizenship for the long-term unemployed,
•	Sue Cara (United Kingdom) - presentation of the Advocacy Guide project (how to influence policy, pressure methods etc).
The work continued in five working groups which discussed:
•	Ways to overcome social exclusion,
•	Abilities (training) for active citizenship,
•	The fight against racism and xenophobia,
•	The role of non-governmental organisations in the development of civil society,
•	Citizenship and work.
Representatives of 29 countries and 49 associations attended the session and assembly of the EAEA (10 November 2002). The assembly ratified the acceptance of new members from Ireland, Hungary and Serbia and Montenegro.
Candidates for EAEA president were Sue Waddington, NIACE, United Kingdom, and Janos Sz. Toth, MNT, Hungary, who was elected. The new Executive committee of the EAEA consists of: Lucien Bosselaers, SOCIUS, Belgium, Brid Connolly, AONTAS, Ireland, MichaelSamlowski, IIZ/DVV, Germany, Sofia Corradi, FPEA, Italy, Roma Juozaitiene, AAE, Lithuania, Sturla Bjekkaker, AEA, Norway, Vida A. Mohorcic Špolar, ADS, Slovenia, Isabel Garcia-Longoria, FEUP, Spain, Andre Schlafli, SVEB, Switzerland, Jumbo Clercq, Odyssee Projectbureau MO, Netherlands, and Sue Waddington, NIACE, United Kingdom.
Further information is available on the web at: http://www.eaea.org/.
Slavica Borka Kucler (slavica.borka.kucler@acs.si), SIAE
From the working meeting of partner countries in Brussels Development of the European Certificate in Basic Skills
The European Certificate in Basic Skills (EUCEBS) is a three-year international pilot project in which the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education is involved as a partner1 . It is an innovative project the aim of which is to introduce a public document demonstrating that the holder has mastered six key skills: oral and written communication, arithmetic, information technology, inter-personal relations, active citizenship and learning skills. The main innovation of the project is that acquisition of the document is based on procedures and instruments for assessing and certifying knowledge, it will be provided to candidates on-line, and it will be the first European document allowing certification of knowledge in the area of basic skills. It will be verified in eight partner countries already during the project.
In this article we present the two-day working meeting of partner countries, which was held in Brussels at the end of January. On the first day of the meeting a workshop was organised by the European Trade Union Institute in Brussels in co-operation with the University of Edinburgh, on the theme of Basic skills and social dialogue. The objective of the workshop was to study the possibility of establishing and recognising EUCEBS as a European document. It is no coincidence that the theme of the workshop was "social dialogue", since we, the project partners, realise that introducing and establishing the document will require co-operation with employers and trade unions. Whether the document will have any value in the labour market depends particularly on the success of dialogue with social partners. Several papers were presented at the workshop discussing various aspects of assessing and recognising knowledge and skills on the European level. European Commission representative Jens Bjornavold gave an interesting contribution on the theme of Transparency of basic qualifications - problems and solutions. He said that documents had been adopted in recent years at the European Union level dealing with certain issues of the recognition and transparency of knowledge and skills at different levels and in different areas of education. He stressed that numerous instruments already exist in the European Union to increase the transparency of qualifications. He set out the
The project, coordinated by the University of Edinburgh, involves 11 partners from 8 countries: United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Romania and Slovenia. The Basic Skills Agency based in London and the European Trade Union Institute based in Brussels are also participating as silent partners. The project is financed from the European Union Leonardo programme, and in Slovenia it is also supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. The project will end in 2004.
He also mentioned other instruments at the European Union level to increase the transparency of qualifications; these are described at: http://www2:trainingvillage.gr/etv/transparency/tools.asp).
2
EUROPASS project, created following a European Commission initiative.2 EUROPASS is a document recording education and training outside the country of permanent residence. Its purpose is to promote mobility in work-related training. He advised partner countries in the EUCEBS project to study the possibility of including the European Certificate of Basic Skills in the EUROPASS project.
The second day of the meeting was a working meeting of partner countries intended to evaluate progress of work to date and to agree on a plan of work for this year. Work on the project so far has focused on two areas: preparation and implementation of pilot testing of key areas, and study of the possibility of introducing a European Certificate of Basic Skills in the partner countries. As part of the former, our task was to develop a set of instruments to test key competences and test them on a selected target group. It appeared that 4 of the 8 countries deal with the demanding task of developing sets of test instruments. In Slovenia we experimentally developed pilot tests for communication, arithmetic and learning skills, and began testing them on a group of adults. The authors of the trial tests are long-time teachers in literacy programmes, while the set of instruments for testing learning skills was produced by an experienced adult educator.
At the meeting, we posed the question of whether the project partner organisations were capable of developing a standardised test to assess key competences which will be reliable and comparable among different countries, or whether it would be better to take the easier route and simply adopt wholesale tests already developed to assess skills from vocational education. Psychologist Marc Demeuse from the University of Liege in Belgium, an expert in psychometric testing methods, attempted to answer the question for us in a special lecture. He presented the methodology and models of some well-known international research projects in the education field3 while revealing some of the traps in designing standardised tests. Those participating in the meeting agreed that for the purposes of the EUCEBS project we will have to follow a more pragmatic model in the development and selection of tests, one which will satisfy the requirement for comparability and reliability.
The second area of work, studying the possibility of introducing a European certificate and its verification in individual countries, also proved to be very demanding. Partner countries are in initial talks with the relevant institutions involved in the procedure for verifying educational programmes and certificates. Given that the project is still in a relatively early phase, we cannot as yet expect the efforts of partners towards recognition
3 Methodologies of the following studies were presented: IALS - International Adult Literacy Study, PISA, DeSeCo, TEF, IEA.
of the certificate to produce concrete results. The introduction and establishment of the European certificate in Slovenia will have to run in two directions. The European certificate will have to be placed in the current education system, and it should be linked to other projects developing programmes, catalogues or assessment of basic skills and knowledge; this would maximise the transparency of the European certificate in Slovenia. Furthermore, the standards for key skills being developed by EUCEBS are largely in line with the standards for basic skills and abilities supported by the literacy programme. On the other hand, we will work for a recognition of the European certificate in the labour market; here we will have to co-operate with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and trade unions.
Ester Možina MA (ester.mozina@acs.si), SIAE
SLOVENIA FROM NOVICKE TO NOVICKE
More students graduating each year 14,278 graduates in Slovenia last year
At the beginning of last year, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport collected the first data on graduates of higher-education institutions and post-secondary vocational colleges in 2002. They found that 2002 was rather successful in this area, with some 14,278 diplomas awarded - 13,345 in higher education and 933 in post-secondary vocational education.
Analysis shows that 12,023 graduates completed higher education studies in undergraduate programmes, while 1,322 completed postgraduate studies, the highest number to date (71 obtained a specialisation diploma, 941 master's degrees and 310 doctorates). Of the graduates from undergraduate programmes, 5,830 people obtained a university education in Slovenia, with 5,049 completing higher professional education. A further 1,144 students graduated under the former college programmes (at both universities - Maribor and Ljubljana - they were last advertised in the 1995/1996 academic year).
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, around 5,500 students graduated on average each year; 60 per cent or more obtained college diplomas, with the remainder receiving university degrees. In 1994, when the new Higher Education Act entered into force, there were 5,812 graduates; the first growth was noticed in 1995, when 6,419 candidates graduated, with numbers rising every year thereafter. Graduate numbers in 2002 were more than twice the level in the year when the Higher Education Act came into force. The situation for postgraduate study has been similar: in 1994, 47 specialisation diplomas, 377 master's degrees and 160 doctorates were awarded; seven years later, there were 50 per cent more of the first, 150 per cent more of the second, and three times as many doctorates. The growth in the number of graduates of all groups can be ascribed to the rising numbers of people enrolling in individual study programmes.
As the data show, more students receive suitable diplomas every year in Slovenia. However, it is still the case that studies in our post-secondary vocational and higher education institutions take too long.
(summarised from
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