conference

conference
Under the
auspices of
Dušan Čaplovič,
Minister of
Education,
Science,
Research and
Sport.
Štefan Chudoba
State Secretary, Ministry of Education,
Science, Research and Sport of the SR
Beáta Brestenská
AmCham Leader of 2012:
Year of Education
František Jakab
AmCham Leader of 2012:
Year of Education
Branislav Ondruš
State Secretary of Ministry of Labor,
Social Affairs and Family of the SR
Marcel Rebroš
Board Sponsor of AmCham BusinessAcademic Cooperation Committee
From its announcement in
December, 2011, AmCham has
devoted its energy and focus
to making 2012 the “Year of
Education.” The Main goals of
this initiative include efforts to:
• Contribute to effective
implementation of Education
Reform in Slovakia;
• Foster regular dialogue
with key decision-makers
(the Ministry of Education
and Government Office;
Universities and Research
Institutions);
• Contribute to better conditions
for R&D, Innovation and
Technology Transfer;
• Provide a platform for sharing
best practices among
AmCham members;
• Long-term support of
enterpreneurship for
enhancing Slovakia’s
competitiveness;
• Contribute to better vocational
education and thus contribute
to preparation of a qualified
labor force.
Infoware, Denník Pravda, Slovak
Spectator, Rádio Express and
Revue Priemyslu.
Jake Slegers, the Executive
Director of AmCham Slovakia,
opened the conference by
highlighting the fact that more
than 50% of potential foreign
investors complain about the
lack of a qualified workforce in
Slovakia. Education in this sense
is a top priority for AmCham.
Improving the state of Slovak
education is considered a
crucial step within AmCham’s
FDI Strategy that - Slovakia
becomes the favored investment
destination in Europe by 2020.
The fruits of that effort were in
evidence at the October 30th
Conference titled “Future of
Education in Slovakia.”
The goal of this conference, as
expressed by the State Secretary
of Ministry of Education, Science,
Research and Sport of the Slovak
Republic Štefan Chudoba in the
Opening Keynote Address, was
to discuss how to increase the
efficiency of the Slovak education
system. Mr. Chudoba provided
alarming statistics related to
graduate unemployment and
employer satisfaction.
The event was held at the Crowne
Plaza Hotel in Bratislava and
sponsored by CISCO Slovakia,
Hewlett-Packard Slovakia, IBM
Slovakia, T-Systems Slovakia,
Adecco, GlaxoSmithKline
Slovakia, and Microsoft Slovakia.
Media partners included
Other keynote speeches were
given by:
• Beáta Brestenská, AmCham
Leader of 2012: Year of
Education and President of
API
• František Jakab, AmCham
Leader of 2012: Year of
Education, Chair of AmCham
Business-Academic
Cooperation Committee and
CISCO Networking Academy
Program Manager
The conference consisted of
three panel discussions.
Panel 1 - “Where is Slovak
Education Headed?” was
moderated by Beáta Brestenská,
Leader of 2012: Year of Education
Initiative and President of API.
Participants included:
• Branislav Kleskeň, Preparatory
Committee for a New
Educational Foundation
Slovakia
• Stanislav Boledovič, Education
Consultant
• Kristiina Volmari, Finnish
National Board of Education
This first panel focused on the
basics of education. Of central
importance to this panel were
raising the quality, caliber, and
status of the teaching profession,
rethinking curriculum, and
addressing and streamlining
the management structure from
Ministry to Headmaster. The
general consensus was that
without addressing these key
Photo: Andrej Kližan
34
november/december 2012
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factors, Slovak Education would
not be headed anywhere.
Panel 2 - “What are the Current
Problems in the Education
System?” was moderated by
Marcela Havrilová from Microsoft
Slovakia.The Keynote Speech
was given by Branislav Ondruš,
State Secretary of Ministry of
Labor, Social Affairs and Family
of the SR.
Participants included:
• Pavol Sadloň, Gymnázium
Ladislava Sáru
• Robert Redhammer, Slovak
University of Technology in
Bratislava
• Vladislav Mitický,Tatranská
Akadémia, Poprad
• Ladislav Chudý, Vice President
Human Resources T-Systems
Slovakia
• Stuart Ashford, HP
• Milan Polča, U. S. Steel Košice
The second panel took a more
macro-level perspective, focusing
on issues of investment in education from the state and practical
corporate cooperation. The panel
suggested that the structure
of the school system results in
poorly prepared qualified and
unemployed graduates. The consensus of the panel was that ties
between business knowledge, industry skills, and education need
to be strengthened to produce
more graduates relevant to the
needs of the market.
PANEL1:
From left: Beáta Brestenská, Leader of 2012: Year of Education Initiative and President of API; Stanislav Boledovič, Education
Consultant; Kristiina Volmari, Finnish National Board of Education; and Branislav Kleskeň, Preparatory Committee for a New
Educational Foundation Slovakia
PANEL2:
From left: Marcela Havrilová, Microsoft; Stuart Ashford, HP; Milan Polča, U. S. Steel Košice; Ladislav Chudý, T-Systems Slovakia;
Robert Redhammer, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava; Vladislav Mitický, Tatranská Akadémia, Poprad; and Pavol
Sadloň, Gymnázium Ladislava Sáru
Panel 3 - “What are the Solutions
of the 2012: Year of Education
Initiative?” was moderated by
Lucia Kleštincová from the
Economic Policy Institute. The
Keynote Speech was given by
Marcel Rebroš, Board Member
and Board Sponsor of AmCham
Business-Academic Cooperation
Committee and Country Manager
of CISCO.
Participants included:
• Štefan Chudoba, Ministry of
Education, Science, Research
and Sport of the SR
• Peter Petrík, University of
Texas at Dallas
• Anton Čižmár, The Technical
University of Košice
• Dušan Meško, Comenius
University in Bratislava
• Branislav Šebo, IBM Slovakia
• František Jakab, CISCO
The final panel discussed
improving best practices at all
levels brought up in previous
panels, from raising the stature
of the teacher to encouraging
corporate participation in the
classroom. Members of this panel
strongly urged mutually beneficial
cooperation between business
and the necessity of raising
Slovakia to a higher economic
level.
Closing remarks were made by
Pavel Sibyla from TREND. He
reminded participants to remain
goal oriented and not to get lost
in contradictory solutions.
Ideas expressed in this
conference centered on the
idea that we live in a globalized
society with a knowledge-based
economy. The keys to unlocking
the future of education in
Slovakia hide in the re-valuation
of the teacher, creating corporate
and academic R&D partnerships,
and preparing graduates to meet
the demands of an ever-changing
market.
AmCham would like to thank all
participants and attendees of this
conference.
PANEL3:
From left: Lucia Kleštincová, Economic Policy Institute; Štefan Chudoba, Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of
the SR; Peter Petrík, University of Texas at Dallas; Anton Čižmár, The Technical University of Košice; Dušan Meško, Comenius
University in Bratislava; Branislav Šebo, IBM; and František Jakab, CISCO
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