External Education Policies - Slovenia SLOVENIA 1 MAIN APPROACHES TO EXTERNAL EDUCATION COOPERATION AND THEIR OBJECTIVES Internationalisation of Higher Education: key figures Slovenian international co-operation comprises bilateral and multilateral co-operation in scientific and technological fields, and international co-operation in higher education. Since 1992, more than 30 international bilateral agreements have been signed by Slovenia on education, culture, and science, more than 20 programmes and some protocols. These documents pave the way for an easier and more efficient co-operation of Slovenia with the greater part of European and some non-European countries at all levels and in all areas of education. In particular, the various forms of direct links and exchanges, from secondary school students, university students to teachers, professors, and experts have been encouraged.1 In terms of scholarship provided for foreign students, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia provided a limited number of scholarships, of which the majority were reserved for students from countries which are part of a bilateral agreement: Belgium (Flanders), Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Poland, PR of China, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey. A limited number of scholarships was reserved also for the students from the following countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, which - as shown on Figure 1 – brought some tangible result as a bulk of foreign students studying in Slovenia come from the Balkan region (e.g. Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the FYR of Macedonia and from Serbia and Montenegro).2 Figure 1: Top 10 home countries of international students in Slovenia in 2009 Country 2008/09 Croatia 727 The Former Yugoslav Rep. Of Macedonia 248 Bosnia and Herzegovina 208 Serbia 129 Italiy 110 Russian Federation 43 India 39 Ukraine 21 Republic of Seychelles 17 Austrija 15 Other countries 265 Total 1822 Source: Statistical office of the Republic of Slovenia3 1 Ministry of Education and Sport, http://www.mss.gov.si/en/areas_of_work/international_co_operation/ 2 Data for the academic year 2008/09, from: Tanja Celebic, International Mobility of Students and academic staff in tertiary education, IMAD Working Paper No. 8/2008, Vol. XVII (http://www.umar.gov.si/en/publications/working_papers) 3 http://www.stat.si/pxweb/Database/Demographics/09_education/08_terciar_education/01_09552_participa tion_undergraduate/01_09552_participation_undergraduate.asp 1 External Education Policies - Slovenia The above mentioned scholarships are open to foreign (priority is given to postgraduate) students who wish to come to Slovenia as a visiting student for up to ten months (depending on quota and selection). The main purpose of the scholarship scheme is to support foreign students who wish to undertake a part of their postgraduate study on the individual basis under the supervision of a Slovenian professor. As for fields of education chosen by student who come to study in Slovenia, social science, business and law, humanities and arts, as well as engineering are the most popular (see Figure 2). It is also estimated that in the next few years important changes in academic mobility in Slovenia will take place. The key areas which will consequently change and enrich the national educational development are: lifelong learning, new information and communication technologies, education for democratic citizenship, foreign language learning together with the provision of quality in education.4 Figure 2: Distribution of international and foreign students in Slovenia by field of education in 2007 35.0 30.0 25.0 20.0 15.0 10.0 5.0 % 0.0 Source: OECD, 2009 Finally, according to available data (2006) regarding the outgoing mobility of Slovenian students, majority of them went to Germany, Austria, Italy and the UK to carry out their education. If compared to other European countries, the share of Slovenian students abroad is rather modest and, in 2006, amounted to 2.2% of all students in tertiary education5. As further confirmed by the OECD (2007) data regarding student mobility in higher education, Slovenia is among the countries with the lowest percentage of international students in higher education enrolments, with only the Slovak Republic having a smaller share. Main policies and strategies in place Slovenia has established bilateral scientific and technological co-operation with about 70 countries on the basis of more than 130 bilateral acts. In line with the government decisions the priority world regions of bilateral co-operation include the EU member states, neighbouring countries and developed overseas countries and regionally important 4 Ministry of Education and Sport, http://www.mss.gov.si/en/areas_of_work/international_co_operation/ 5 Tanja Celebic, International Mobility of Students and academic staff in tertiary education, IMAD Working Paper No. 8/2008, Vol. XVII, http://www.umar.gov.si/en/publications/working_papers 2 External Education Policies - Slovenia countries. Bilateral scientific and technological co-operation annually on average encompasses 20 public calls for proposals pursuant to agreements with other states, with ministries, joint statements and other bilateral documents, resulting in various projects carried out with partners from about 30 countries6. It can be said, however, that there is a recognisable shift in the philosophy of international co-operation in Slovenia in the last decade. It has been marked by two following changes: more gravity is being given to inter- institutional rather than to individual co-operation, and to multilateral rather than to bilateral co-operation in Europe and elsewhere in the last decade. A priority of multilateral co-operation is co-operation with the European Union. Since 1999, when the minister responsible for higher education signed the Bologna Declaration, Slovenia has set the Bologna process as a priority in this field. The Ministry actively co- operates also with various international organisations (UNDP, EMBC, ICTP, ICS, ICGEB, CIESM, GBIF, IIR).7 At the same time, Slovenia has placed special significance on co- operation with neighbouring countries, in particular on the education of "Slovenians abroad", that is, members of the Slovenian national minority in the neighbouring countries, Slovenian emigrants, and migrant workers. At the same time, at the regional level, which is becoming an indispensable and complementary part of bilateral as well as multilateral co-operation, school links and exchanges should be singled out, in particular CEEPUS, a successful Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies, promoting academic mobility, which Slovenia joined at its very inception (1995). Slovenia is foreseeing an increase in the number of scholarships specifically intended for citizens of West Balkan citizens. By way of appropriate amendments to relevant rules, Slovenia intends to abolish school fees for any student from the Western Balkan countries on the principle of reciprocity. The relevant agreements were already signed with Croatia and Montenegro (applicable for academic year 2010/11). The signing of the same agreements with Serbia, FYROM and BIH are also foreseen in 2010. 2 MAIN ACTORS INVOLVED AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES Key actors There are four key actors, which are involved in the process of internationalisation of Slovenia higher education. These include: the Slovenian Human Resources and Development Fund, the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education and Sports. Established at the end of 2006, the Slovenian Human Resources and Development Fund seems to be the most important actor in the field, especially for long-term mobility. It is a central public interest institution through which the state can fund studies undertaken by Slovenians abroad and by foreigners in Slovenia and it is an umbrella institution for financial and informational support of international mobility of students and researchers from and to Slovenia. Among the main objectives of the Fund the following should be mentioned: . providing scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate study for Slovene citizens abroad and to foreign citizens in Slovenia; . offering financial support to Slovene citizens conducting research projects abroad and to foreign researchers participating in research projects in Slovenia; 6 Slovenian Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology http://www.mvzt.gov.si/en/areas_of_work/international_co_operation/bilateral_co_operation/ 7 Ministry of Education and Sport, http://www.mss.gov.si/en/areas_of_work/international_co_operation/ 3 External Education Policies - Slovenia . facilitating the participation of Slovene researchers in the international research network as well as facilitating the return of Slovene research personnel; . offering student loans for studies abroad. Next, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology pays considerable attention to international exchange of students and teachers in higher education. Worth mentioning is the Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies (CEEPUS) which has been running since 1995 and supports exchange within the networks of at least three partner institutions from one of the nine participating countries. It also offers exchange programmes under the Centre for Mobility and European Education and Training