Pre-school education
In the
non-institutional form and institutional form. Non-institutional form of preschool education takes places in the family. Institutional form of preschool education is carried out in preschool establishments being represented by kindergartens and special kindergartens. Preschool establishments admit children between the age of three and six years. Exceptionally, it is possible to admit children from the age of two years. (Preschool education in preschool establishments is also provided to children over six years of age, whose start of compulsory school attendance was postponed or whose fulfillment of compulsory schooling was additionally postponed.)
Preschool establishments are established with varied lengths of operation such as half-day, full day, weekly and continuous operation. A prevailing number of kindergartens are operating full day, usually from
There exist mostly state kindergartens, however, church and private kindergartens are becoming quite common too. In most of the kindergartens Slovak is the communication language, though there are several kindergartens (mostly state ones) with Hungarian and Ukrainian as communication languages aimed predominantly at children of those nationalities. There exist a few kindergartens providing education in English, they are private ones.
In
·
· The British International School Bratislava (www.bis.sk)
·
· Wonderland English-German Kindergarten (www.wonderland.sk)
· Brilliant Stars Intl. Kindergarten (www.brilliantstars.sk)
· Little Angel Playschool (www.littleangel.sk)
· Minikin playschool (www.minikin.sk)
· Atlantis (www.atlantis-centrum.sk)
· Babyland (www.babyland-centrum.sk)
In Košice:
· English private kindergarten Kids (www.skolkakids.superfirmy.sk)
· English Learning Centre (ELC) (www.elc.sk)
· Happy English Childcare (www.skolka-hec.sk)
Some of them are establishments where also primary and even secondary education is carried out.
For the list of kindergartens see the database of the Institute for Educational Information and Prognosis (www.uips.sk, in Slovak only) Look for >> regional schools >> available databases and search for „materské školy“ in the field of „druh školy“ – school type.
See also the section „Private Schools“ at www.greenpages.sk.
Schools
In the
Primary education: age 6 to 10
Primary education is provided by the first stage of primary school (Grades 1 to 4). Obtaining of the primary education enables pupils to continue in the second stage of primary school or in the 8-year secondary school.
Lower secondary education: age 10 to 15
Lower secondary education is provided by the second stage of primary school (Grades 5 to 9) or by the initial four years of the 8-year secondary schools.
Upper secondary education: age 15 – 19
Upper secondary education is carried out in secondary schools represented by secondary grammar schools (gymnasia), conservatoires (music secondary schools), secondary specialised schools, secondary vocational schools. Gymnasia represent a secondary comprehensive school that prepares students particularly for studies at higher education institutions. The general prerequisite for admission to higher education study is secondary school-leaving certificate issued after passing the secondary school-leaving examination taken upon completing 13, exceptionally, 12 years of study. The school-leaving certificates are issued by most of the mentioned types of secondary schools. Higher education institutions organise as a rule the admission examination.
There are public, private and church schools. Public primary and secondary schools are established by municipalities (towns) and education is provided free of charge. In private and some church schools a school fee is paid.
There is a general grading scale:
1 – excellent
2 – very good
3 – good
4 – satisfactory
5 – unsatisfactory (fail)
In the majority of schools, Slovak language is the language of instruction. However, there are also schools with instruction in other language than Slovak (Hungarian mostly, but also Ukrainian, Bulgarian, German, English).
Some private international/foreign language/ schools (primary, secondary)
·
· The British International School Bratislava (www.bis.sk)
·
· QSI International School Of Bratislava (http://www.qsi.org/SVK/index.htm)
· QSI International School of Košice (http://www.qsi.org/ksc_home/)
There are also bilingual schools – certain subjects are taught in Slovak, others in a particular foreign language. In
A list of bilingual secondary schools – English section
|
Name |
Town |
Address |
URL |
|
Gymnázium J. Hronca |
|
Novohradská 3 |
|
|
Bilingválne gymnázium C.S. Lewisa |
|
Beňadická 38 |
|
|
Gymnázium |
|
Pankúchova 6 |
|
|
Evanjelické lýceum |
|
Vranovská 2 |
|
|
Gymnázium J. M. Hurbana |
Čadca |
17. novembra 1296 |
|
|
Evanjelické gymnázium J.A. Komenského |
Košice |
Puškinova 3 |
|
|
Spojené evanjelické školy |
Liptovský Mikuláš |
Komenského 10 |
|
|
Súkromné gymnázium |
Prešov |
Solivarská 28 |
|
|
Gymnázium bilingválne anglicko-slovenské M. Hodžu |
Sučany |
Komenského 215 |
|
|
Evanjelické gymnázium |
Tisovec |
Jesenského 836 |
|
|
Súkromné gymnázium |
Zilina |
Oravska cesta 11 |
|
|
Obchodná akadémia |
Trnava |
Kukučínova 2 |
|
A list of bilingual secondary schools – German section
|
Name |
Town |
Address |
URL |
|
Gymnázium |
|
Bilíkova 24 |
|
|
Obchodná akadémia Imricha Kravaša |
|
Hrobákova 11 |
|
|
Gymnázium |
Poprad |
D. Tatarku 14 |
|
|
Gymnázium V.B.Nedožerského |
Prievidza |
Matice slovenskej 16 |
|
|
Obchodná akadémia |
Trnava |
Kukučínova 2 |
|
A list of bilingual secondary schools – French section
|
Name |
Town |
Address |
URL |
|
Gymnázium JGT |
Banská Bystrica |
J.G.Tajovského 25 |
|
|
Gymnázium |
|
Metodova 2 |
|
|
Gymnázium M. R. Štefánika |
Košice |
Nám. L. Novomeského 4 |
|
|
Gymnázium Ľ. Štúra |
Trenčín |
1. mája 2 |
A list of bilingual secondary schools – Spanish section
|
Name |
Town |
Address |
URL |
|
Gymnázium M.Kováča |
Banská Bystrica |
Mládežnícka 51 |
|
|
Gymnázium F. G. Lorcu |
|
Hronská 3 |
|
|
Gymnázium |
Košice |
Park mládeže 5 |
|
|
Gymnázium |
|
Párovská 1 |
|
|
Bilingválne slovensko-španielske gymnázium |
Nové Mesto nad Váhom |
Športová 41 |
|
|
Gymnázium M. Hattalu |
Trstená |
Železničiarov 278 |
A list of bilingual secondary schools – Italian section
|
Name |
Town |
Address |
URL |
|
|
Gymnázium |
|
Ladislava Sáru 1 |
||
Children of foreigners with residence (temporary, permanent or tolerated) in
The list of schools and school facilities in
Contact phone numbers of kindergartens, elementary, secondary schools, and universities can be found on: www.zlatestranky.sk. Many schools have their own websites. Contact details and phone numbers of private schools with instruction in a foreign language are also available at: www.greenpages.sk.
After-school activity
Primary or secondary schools’ classes are usu
After school, students can attend after-school clubs run by schools themselves, devoted to various fields of interest, e.g., science, ecology, drama classes, music, sport, photography etc. Main enrolment/registration days for a particular after school activity/programme are usu
Apart from that, students can also attend language classes speci
Many children and youth organisations providing after-school activities are associated with the Youth Council of Slovakia (www.mladez.sk).
Au-pair service
If you need to babysit your child, you can use the services of one of the many agencies which arrange babysitting for a fee (for both healthy or sick children, whole-day or just afternoon babysitting – with the possibility of being prepared for classes or accompanied to children’s clubs, after-school activities, babysitting in the evenings and at weekends etc.)
A babysitting charge depends on a type of babysitting (regular, occasional, in a school facility or in the household), on a length of babysitting (short-time or long-time babysitting), as well as on a number of children. The price is app. from 100 SKK to 150 SKK per hour.
For further information, contact directly particular agencies or consult their websites. A majority of agencies can also provide a babysitter who can also speak a foreign language (usu
For a few of them see www.greenpages.sk.