BRATISLAVA, March 15, (WEBNOVINY) – The Ministry of Education is analyzing the possibility of introducing tuition fees to full-time university studies, Minister of Education Eugen Jurzyca admitted to members of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science, Youth and Sports. Jurzyca asserts that if the analysis shows that it would be appropriate for Slovak education to introduce tuition fees under some specific circumstances and in some specific form, they will communicate it even if the concept lacks political support, and inform the public, so that people know, what will help the education sector. He intends to elaborate on further steps only after the results of the analysis are available.
The minister presented a schedule of tasks for his ministry for the years 2010 to 2014. The opposition MPs have criticized him for the plans being too general. Former Education Minister Jan Mikolaj (SNS) was surprised by the plan to discuss the fees, and the Committee’s head Dusan Caplovic (Smer-SD) disapproved of the fact that the minister failed to inform the committee on his plans in advance.
Caplovic was shocked by the concept of tuition fees for full-time students. He considers having the first university study for free a much better solution, regardless of whether it’s a full-time or external study. If the student decides to study at more universities, he/she could pay for the other programs.
Full-time students pay fees if they exceed the standard length of studies or attend more universities. “In this situation, I consider introducing fees for full-time study a non-sense and a step back,” said Caplovic. He has questioned whether Slovak universities will be able to offer appropriate quality to students if these have to pay for their study.
Nowadays, only external students pay for their education, which was made possible by the Robert Fico Cabinet in 2007. In 2010, the Constitutional Court declared it unconstitutional if some external students pay for their education and some do not. The Court also canceled the quota for universities, which limited the maximum number of external students. According to the Slovak Rectors’ Conference President Libor Vozar, universities would lose 25 million euro annually, if tuition fees for part-time students were completely abolished. However, according to the ministry, some sections in the applicable act anchor tuition fees and thus, part-time students will have to pay tuition even if the Parliament fails to pass the draft amendment, which should mainly specify the current law’s provisions.
SITA