Guidance System in Slovenia
OVERVIEW
There are two established guidance and counselling systems in Slovenia that provide guidance and counselling:
- Education and training institutions,
- The Employment Service of Slovenia and other institutions in the field of career guidance.
Young people have access to guidance by school counsellors and career counsellors at universities' career centres as well as by guidance counsellors in any of 12 Career centres of the Employment Service of Slovenia.
Adults can receive free guidance at Career centres of the Employments Service of Slovenia or educational guidance at 17 regional adult education guidance centres operating in the frame of the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education.
POLICY
Guidance service provision and development's main national authorities in Slovenia are:
- Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities and Ministry of Educationare responsible for legislation in the field of guidance service provision and development.
- National Education Institute is implementing and monitoring innovative programmes and practices in schools and develops guidelines for school counselling service for primary and secondary schools.
- Employment Service of Slovenia is one of the key Slovenian labour market institutions with the following activities: employment advice and job broking, life-long career guidance, unemployment benefit and unemployment insurance, implementation of active employment policy measures and programmes, issuing of work and employment permits for foreign workers, preparation of analytical, development and other professional materials and labour market information.
- Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training develops vocational standards for vocational education and training programmes.
- Slovenian Institute for Adult Education is the main national institute for research and development, quality and education, guidance and validation, promotional and informative activities in the field of adult education.
- Public Scholarship, Development, Disability and Maintenance Fund of the Republic of Slovenia provides career orientation of employees by strengthening HR departments in companies and consequently providing their employees accessible and qualitative career development.
The Lifelong career orientation expert group (a national guidance forum) is a cross sectoral group that discusses and puts forward to The Ministry of Education recommendations on national and European policy developments in the field of lifelong career orientation.
SERVICE AND PRACTICE
Guidance for young people
Career guidance in Slovenian schools is organised as school counselling service. Their work is defined by the guidelines for guidance service, according to which guidance includes information on careers, diagnostics, career counselling, career education as well as guidance activities for parents. Apart from career counselling school counselling services also cover learning problems, special needs, identifying talented students, self-development, personal and social development, as well as coordination of dropout prevention.
Outside the school system guidance counsellors in career centres of the Employment Service of Slovenia provide free guidance for young people as well. Additionally Euroguidance Slovenia provides guidance tools for guidance counsellors and students:
-Kam in kako (Where and how) online ICT guidance tool in two versions for students of elementary schools, VET schools, general upper secondary schools and their guidance counsellors as well as for higher education students, the unemployed and all citizens interested in career change.
- Career path planning tool for Slovenian students, an online survey to annually map the motivations and career paths of 14-year old students in their last year of lower secondary school.
The Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training in cooperation with Employment Service of Slovenia is developing and maintaining the Moja izbira(My Choice) portal.
Guidance in higher education
Career guidance is implemented by career centres at universities to assist students and prospective students with activities such as personal counselling, workshops, career camps, career days, speed dates with employers, job opportunities and job searching, career fairs.
Study in Sloveniaportal is a one-stop shop offering visitors information about study, research and exchange in Slovenia offering also relevant information regarding higher education, culture, life and administrative procedures.
Career guidance for adults
The Employment Service of Slovenia is one of the key Slovenian labour market institutions and the main provider of labour market related services. The Employment Service of Slovenia is structured into one central, 12 regional and 59 local labour offices. It is an independent legal entity with public institute status operating uniformly across the entire country funded by the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Career centres of the Employment Service of Slovenia are coordinated by Euroguidance Slovenia and are providing information needed when planning education or employment to help individuals in career decision making. The clients are mostly unemployed people, but also pupils, students and those how want to change their career paths.
Main providers are 17regional adult education guidance centresin all regions operating in the frame of the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education, providing counselling for individuals and institutions in relation to adult education.
The Public Scholarship, Development, Disability and Maintenance Fund of the Republic of Slovenia provides different projects to support lifelong career orientation of the employees.
TRAINING
Since there are no specific career guidance study programme in Slovenia, guidance counsellor have university degree in relevant field (psychology, social work, pedagogy, etc.) with additional professional training leading to a professional exam in lifelong career orientation (employment sector) or a professional exam in education (education sector). Guidance counsellors in adult education guidance centres have undergone specific training to provide guidance in the field of adult education.
The Employment Service of Slovenia provided multidisciplinary 160-hour modular training for career counsellors in lifelong career orientation from employment and education sectors in order to provide career counsellors with the needed knowledge on useful working methods and their theoretical background. It is divided into four modules (career orientation, guidance, lifelong guidance career tools and working with group in career orientation) for four different fields of practice (employment counsellors, education counsellors, HR and NGO).
Professional standards in guidance are still under development.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Research and development is carried out by the following institutions:
- The Employment Service of Slovenia (labour market data and forecasts) in the employment sector;
- Slovenian Institute for Adult Education in adult education;
- Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training and The Educational Research Institute (the central research institution in Slovenia for research in education undertaking basic research, development and applied projects on issues of current interest in all sectors of education and related areas) in the education sector.
ETHICS
On the general level IAEVG Ethical standards are base for work in career guidance also in Slovenia. The Employment Service of Slovenia has additional ethics code (professionalism, integrity, data protection).
Further information can be found at:
Last updated at: February 2024
