Page 45 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 45
of students from developed countries, in terms of the quality of the knowl- 45
edge they demonstrate.’17
A high level of literacy is addressed in the Slovenian Strategy of Lifelong
Learning (Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, 2007: 14), wherein the fol-
lowing is stated as part of one of the goals: ‘An increase in investments is nec-
essary to create stimulative conditions for achieving a higher level of literacy of
all citizens than the current level which is one of the lowest in Europe.’
An improvement in the level of reading literacy is, in the most direct way,
addressed in The National Strategy for Development of Literacy (Ministry of
Education, Science and Sport, 2006: 5, 6): ‘The Government of the Republic of
Slovenia has set itself the goal of devoting special attention to improving the
literacy of the entire population of Slovenia to a level comparable to that of the
most developed EU countries. /…/ The reason for the development of the na-
tional strategy are the findings of international studies, which have revealed
an inadequate level of literacy in Slovenian pupils in lower secondary educa-
tion, and adults, and also pointed out the necessity of a systematic approach
to this field and of development initiatives’.
Although the fundamental documents of the EU (Treaties and develop-
ment strategies) point out that the power of the EU in the field of education
is limited to fostering cooperation among its member states (as part of the
OMC), some authors (e.g. Grek, 2008, 2009) state that the EU has also inter-
fered, to a greater extent, in the content of national educational policies with
the ‘Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 De-
cember 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning’. In Slovenia, the most
recent content changes in the curricula could likewise be attributed to the in-
fluence of the EU. To be specific, the National Education Institute of the Repub-
lic of Slovenia (2011) has named the definition of key competencies in accord-
ance with the European Reference Framework, and the definition of different
types of literacy, as the most essential elements of the updated curricula from
the year 2011. In the report on the progress towards common European objec-
tives, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (2009) highlighted that the
key competencies are to be introduced into the Slovenian educational space
by means of measures adopted at a national level and at a school level. The es-
sential measure at a national level is mostly related to the adoption of new cur-
ricula, extensive teacher training, teachers’ cooperation with other key actors
in the field, and development of new teaching materials.
An observation of the European Commission (2011) about Slovenia is in-
teresting when describing the integration of European guidelines into nation-
al educational policies: that Slovenia (like most other member states) has, in its
17 Although this does not directly imply the significance of reducing the percentage of underachiev-
ers, practice from some other countries (see OECD, 2010) has indicated that measures aimed at im-
proving the performance levels of these underachieving students have contributed to an improve-
ment in the average performance on international comparative scales.
academic (under)achievement of slovenian adolescents within a european context
edge they demonstrate.’17
A high level of literacy is addressed in the Slovenian Strategy of Lifelong
Learning (Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, 2007: 14), wherein the fol-
lowing is stated as part of one of the goals: ‘An increase in investments is nec-
essary to create stimulative conditions for achieving a higher level of literacy of
all citizens than the current level which is one of the lowest in Europe.’
An improvement in the level of reading literacy is, in the most direct way,
addressed in The National Strategy for Development of Literacy (Ministry of
Education, Science and Sport, 2006: 5, 6): ‘The Government of the Republic of
Slovenia has set itself the goal of devoting special attention to improving the
literacy of the entire population of Slovenia to a level comparable to that of the
most developed EU countries. /…/ The reason for the development of the na-
tional strategy are the findings of international studies, which have revealed
an inadequate level of literacy in Slovenian pupils in lower secondary educa-
tion, and adults, and also pointed out the necessity of a systematic approach
to this field and of development initiatives’.
Although the fundamental documents of the EU (Treaties and develop-
ment strategies) point out that the power of the EU in the field of education
is limited to fostering cooperation among its member states (as part of the
OMC), some authors (e.g. Grek, 2008, 2009) state that the EU has also inter-
fered, to a greater extent, in the content of national educational policies with
the ‘Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 De-
cember 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning’. In Slovenia, the most
recent content changes in the curricula could likewise be attributed to the in-
fluence of the EU. To be specific, the National Education Institute of the Repub-
lic of Slovenia (2011) has named the definition of key competencies in accord-
ance with the European Reference Framework, and the definition of different
types of literacy, as the most essential elements of the updated curricula from
the year 2011. In the report on the progress towards common European objec-
tives, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (2009) highlighted that the
key competencies are to be introduced into the Slovenian educational space
by means of measures adopted at a national level and at a school level. The es-
sential measure at a national level is mostly related to the adoption of new cur-
ricula, extensive teacher training, teachers’ cooperation with other key actors
in the field, and development of new teaching materials.
An observation of the European Commission (2011) about Slovenia is in-
teresting when describing the integration of European guidelines into nation-
al educational policies: that Slovenia (like most other member states) has, in its
17 Although this does not directly imply the significance of reducing the percentage of underachiev-
ers, practice from some other countries (see OECD, 2010) has indicated that measures aimed at im-
proving the performance levels of these underachieving students have contributed to an improve-
ment in the average performance on international comparative scales.
academic (under)achievement of slovenian adolescents within a european context
