Slovakia

There are two documents regulating youth work in Slovakia: the Act on Youth Work Support and the Conception of Youth Work Development for 2016 - 2020.

The governance of youth work in Slovakia is managed at the state and self-government level (local and regional). The quality of youth work has been discussed for a long time and in 2018, a working group for the final definition of quality standards was set up by the MESRS. IUVENTA- Slovak Youth Institute collects and promotes various research and surveys on youth, youth policy and youth work.

The main youth work providers in Slovakia are children and youth associations (nongovernmental organisations), leisure-time centres/youth clubs (belonging to the official state formal education system) and non-formal groups of young people (working mostly on short-term projects).

In addition to IUVENTA, youth work is promoted and developed by the Association of Information and Counselling Centres for Youth (ZIPCEM). The organisation provides a wide range of information services from various areas (brigades, counselling, education, leisure, participation, etc.). Within ZIPCEM, the network of Information Centres for Youth (ICM) provides information on current opportunities for non-formal education at national as well as regional level.

RMS – the Youth Council of Slovakia (www.mladez.sk) and AKRAM - Association of Regional Youth Councils also play an active role.

Youth information worker is not a profession in Slovakia. The Act on Youth Work Support, nevertheless, defines a youth worker as “a person who supports young people in their personal development and their knowledge, skills and competences; prepares and organises events or programmes in the field of youth work, can be in an employment relationship, conducts business on the basis of a trade license in the field of youth work or carries out voluntary activities in the field of youth work.” Youth worker is also included in the National Qualifications Framework/National System of Professions (hereafter “NSP”). In 2015, the competence profiles of youth workers were defined in the framework of KOMPRAX – Competences for Practice (ESF project, implemented by IUVENTA).