Education Ministry: Changes to School Funding Aimed to Redress Injustice

Bratislava, 5 August (TASR) – The Education Ministry has defended its proposed changes to the school funding system, arguing that the current model, where all schools receive the same funding but do not have the same obligations, is unfair to children, unsustainable in the long term, and unlike systems in other EU countries, TASR learnt on Tuesday. The ministry issued the statement in response to criticism from the opposition's Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) regarding the planned changes. „What the Education Ministry is doing is a factual and long-overdue correction of an injustice, which has been highlighted not only by the Supreme Audit Authority but also by the Value for Money Unit,” reads the ministry's press statement provided to TASR. The ministry pointed out that the current system obliges public schools to accept every child, while private and religious schools have the freedom to select pupils — despite receiving the same funding. The proposed reform aims to change this. The ministry clarified that non-public schools would still have a choice: „Either they join the public system, accept children from their local district, and receive full funding, or they retain their freedom of choice, but their funding will reflect their status within the system.” In its statement, the ministry also criticised the rhetoric of those opposing the reform: „Statements made in recent days by certain groups and politicians, including KDH, are examples of how education is being misused to create a false sense of injustice in a situation where long-demanded and fair measures are being introduced. These statements are neither truthful nor necessary.” The opposition party KDH continues to criticise the proposed changes, objecting in particular to the planned reduction in per-student contributions for private and religious schools not registered as public education providers. KDH claims this infringes on the freedom to choose schools and threatens the identity and mission of religious schools, calling it an attack on children of faith. The 'Slovakia' party also opposes the changes, calling them discriminatory. It emphasises that private and religious schools regularly achieve above-average results and views the reform as a punishment for excellence. The Education Ministry has drafted a new bill on the financing of schools and educational institutions. It would expand the range of reasons for reducing the contributions per student. Under the proposal, private and religious schools not registered as public education providers would see their funding cut by 20 percent. mf