The state wants to replace departmental forms with services built around specific life events. The key is linking ministries and shared data to help parents, students, and employers make better decisions. The first results are already being tested, and more are to be added later this year.
Data that connect schools and the labor market
The Ministries of Labor and Education, together with social partners, established Aliancia sektorových rád. It aggregates data from European and national sources (e.g., CEDEFOP, Sociálna poisťovňa, Štatistický úrad, labor offices, and the education ministry) and has created a forecasting model for 24 sectors. The model does not just look at what has already happened; it predicts regional trends in demand for occupations and skills. Thanks to this, it can guide parents, schools, and school operators on where there is potential for employment and where the weak spots are.
An important innovation is linking the "language" of employers and schools: schools can see which specific skills will be needed and can adjust their offerings accordingly. Electronic applications have already delivered more accurate data, despite initial problems; today they serve as a compass for parents and schools alike. At the same time, universities are undergoing digital transformation, and emphasis is being placed on lifelong learning, including individual learning accounts. The aim is for choosing a field of study not to be a one-off event, but part of a continuous career journey.
What citizens will see in practice
Secondary schools' performance plans are to be newly based on an integrated labor market model and, after discussions with local governments, are to be published by 30 November. Parents submit applications in February, so they should be able to orient themselves to market needs before the deadline. Within a horizon of one to three years, the offering of fields of study in the regions should come noticeably closer to real demand—step by step, not in a leap. This is not a one-off project, but a systemic solution with ongoing updates of current data.
As early as this year, a website is to be added where parents can view employment forecasts, indicative wages, or the speed of entering work in a given region. The data are also used for retraining: approximately 80 % of courses are validated by the alliance based on market needs. Specific procedures are also being simplified: unemployed people no longer apply to Sociálna poisťovňa for a benefit on their own; institutions exchange the data automatically. Likewise, confirmations related to allowances for people with disabilities are exchanged electronically, so that citizens do not carry documents between offices.
