Programmes of talent identification and talent management in

Programmes of talent identification and talent management in Slovenia Eda Patru, lecturer Lara Kobal, assistant University of Primorska, Faculty of Education Koper, Slovenija

The school system • Mandatory school age in Slovenia is from 6 to 15 years. There is no mandatory preparatory year at kindergarten before school. • The 9 -grade primary school is divided into 3 cycles.

Organisation of the initial education and training system

• The structure of the Slovenian education system in 2009/10: Pre-primary education (ages 1 -5) provided by autonomous public pre-school institutions, organisational units of pre-school units at basic schools or private pre-school institutions; • Basic education; single structure of primary and lower secondary education (ages 6 -14) provided by basic schools; • Upper secondary education (ages 15 -18) consisting of: short vocational education (120 ECTS) provided by upper secondary vocational schools (vocational schools), vocational education provided by upper secondary vocational and technical schools (vocational schools and secondary professional and technical schools), technical education provided by upper secondary technical schools (secondary professional and technical schools, vocational and technical education provided by upper secondary vocational and technical schools (vocational schools and secondary professional and technical schools), general education (four years) provided by general upper secondary schools Grammar Schools;

• Short tertiary (higher vocational) education (120 ECTS) provided by higher vocational colleges; • Higher education provided by public and private universities, faculties, art academies and professional colleges. It consists of three cycles: First-cycle professional or academic (180 -240 ECTS), • Second-cycle master’s studies (60 -120 ECTS), • Third-cycle doctoral studies (180 ECTS). • Alongside, there are sub-systems:

Guidelines of education-policy in our days • Since it became independent from Yugoslavia, Slovenia has placed its legislation on new foundations. • The compilation of the Constitution was followed by Acts on Education in the mid 1990 s.

• The problem of recognising and work with gifted pupils has in Slovenia been in the last decade in line with the legal provisions more systematic as in the past. • Namely, for primary schools on the basis of the document Concept: detection and work with gifted pupils in nine-year primary schools (1999) and in the last three years also at the level of secondary education.

• Both documents envisage the process of recognition and work with talented pupils in line with : • Law on Primary Schools • Law on Organisation and Financing of Education, • Law on Grammar Schools • Law on Vocational and Professional Training and Education

• First the White Paper (1993 -1995), then the legislation (1996) and after that the reworking of the curriculum. Such was the order of events envisaged at the start of the systematic changing of the education system in Slovenia

• I. The White Paper on Education in Slovenia presents a comparative review of the situation in the field of education in the country and derives from it proposals for necessary changes to the system. It compares education in Slovenia with systems of education selected from the countries of central and western Europe.

• In the preparation of proposals for new solutions, the authors tried to find answers to pressing issues related to the operation of the school system, such as: • the transition from the ancien regime to parlamentary democracy and thus to a plural system of values;

• efforts to join processes of European integration; • the development of production processes and scientific disciplines, which also requires changes in the field of education.

• It is underlined that all children including those with special educational needs, the talented and the disabled alike, have a right to receive education corresponding to their abilities. • The interactive relationships of students, teachers and parents are in focus, as well as the promotion of student activity.

NATIONWIDE IDENTIFICATION OF TALENTS AND TALENT SUPPORT IN SLOVENIAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS • Talent identification and talent support to be applied in the whole of public education is the most acclaimed best practice of talent support in Slovenia. • It was launched as an exciting experiment in 1996, and an impact analysis of the programme, which became nationwide almost 10 years ago, was closed in spring 2011. 450 primary schools take part in everyday work.

• The objective of the programme is to ensure that special talent support at schools should start as soon as possible at primary schools, in accordance with a well-built system. • The Concept was adopted in 1999: A document entitled ‘Tasks of talent identification and talent management’ for the students of 9 -grade primary schools (hereinafter: Primary School Concept) creates an opportunity for each student to be selected as a talent at any time.

• In accordance with the Act on Education, talented students are considered being in need of special education, so educational institutions have to provide them with individual development plans and matching teaching.

• The National Council of Curricula set up a committee in 1996 with the objective to prepare a primary school concept for the work to be done with talented students at primary schools. • A draft was compiled in cooperation with five primary schools in the course of four years, which was adopted at the 25 th session of the Special Council of Public Education of the Slovenian Republic on February 11, 1999. • In line with the Act on Education, it provides the legislative background for talent support in Slovenia (Primary School Concept, 1999).

• The concept ‘Education and teaching of talented secondary school students’ is the next component of the system built step-bystep. It was adopted by the General Educational Council of the Slovenian Republic in 2007 (Secondary School Concept, 2007)