Slovakia

Quick facts

Course:

Independent ethics course
Compulsory for those students that do not attend religious instruction
15-17 years old
Estimated 5.000 per year
2 years, 80 hours in total, 1 hour per week
Not graded, only verbal assessment
Part of the civics curriculum
Compulsory
17-18 years old
12.000 per year
Less than 1 hour per week; estimated 5-10 hours per course dedicated to ethics
Internally assessed within the civics exam

In Slovakia ethics is part of two subjects, namely (1) ethical education and (2) civics.

Ethical education is compulsory for those students that do not attend religious education. The subject is attended during the first two years of high school by students between 15 and 17 years of age. Around 5000 students attend this subject per year. The subject is taught in one teaching hour per week (approximately 80 hours for the whole course). Ethical education is not graded, students just pass the subject without formal state examination.

Ethical education in Slovakia is based on the concept of prosociality. The most notable authors that formed the subject in the beginning of 1990s are Roberto Roche Olivar and Ladislav Lencz. Their texts are still influential today. As these authors were specialised mostly in psychology and pedagogy, the teaching materials of the subject are oriented not only on philosophical ethics but also on psychological and pedagogical aspects of ethical matters.

The national curriculum (State educational programme, Štátny vzdelávací program) characterises the subject for instance as follows:

“The mission of a compulsory elective course is to educate a personality with its own identity and value orientation, in which respect for human being, to life and to nature, cooperation and prosociality take a prominent place.” (State educational programme, 2015)

Themes of ethical education for high school include Communication, Human dignity, Ethics of sexual life, Family relations, Philosophical generalisation of ethical principles aquired so far, Ethics of work, Ethics and economics, and Healthy lifestyle. (State educational programme, 2015)

The national curriculum (State educational programme, Štátny vzdelávací program) of the subject ethical education is available (in Slovak language) on the website of The National Institute for Education in Slovak Republic (Štátny pedagogický ústav) under the educational field Human and values.

The schools and teachers have certain room for concretisation of the realisation of the course in their school educational programs.

Ethical topics are taught also under the compulsory subject civics. The subject civics is focused on introducing various social sciences and humanities. Therefore, the introduction to ethics is just one part of the subject. This means that less than one hour per week is dedicated to ethics (in total around 5-10 hours per course). Civics is attended by around 12.000 students per year between 17 and 18 years of age. The subject is graded and the final exam is internally assessed.

The national curriculum characterises the subject as “designed to help pupils to orient themselves in social reality and their inclusion into various social relationships and bonds.” (State educational programme, 2015)

The subject civics is focused also on an introduction to philosophy. Therefore, it has the potential to teach students the basics of philosophical ethics too.

The national curriculum (State educational programme, Štátny vzdelávací program) of the subject civics is available (in Slovak language) on the website of The National Institute for Education in Slovak Republic (Štátny pedagogický ústav) under the educational field Human and society.

The schools and teachers have certain room for creating concrete conditions for the realisation of the course in their school educational programs.