Slovak deputy PM wants obligatory pre-school education

Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Dusan Caplovic wants five-year-old children to attend kindergartens obligatorily as a measure to help solve problems with Romanies’ education, he told reporters today.

"I insist on the introduction of obligatory pre-school attendance for five-year-old children in Slovakia, naturally with a perspective for four-year-old kids as well," said Caplovic, recalling that a similar measure works well in other countries, such as Britain and Germany.

Caplovic, who is in charge of minorities and educated society, pointed out that the obligatory pre-school attendance would play a significant role not only for Romanies, but also for the development of other children.

Caplovic said he is discussing the measure with the Education Ministry.

The ministry headed by Jan Mikolaj (junior ruling Slovak National Party, SNS) was originally considering introducing obligatory attendance to pre-school facilities, but it dropped the plan at the beginning of this year since it would be too costly.

At present over 90 percent of Slovak children attend the last year of kindergarten. The Education Ministry motivates parents to send their children to pre-school facilities by covering part of monthly fees.