What’s wrong with Slovak schools?

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A full year of complex reporting on the individual levels of the Slovak education system and the challenges it is facing. A 7 part series starting from inclusion all the way to universities and the position of Slovak teachers.

for Radio Slovakia International (RTVS), 2015

Education in the spotlight!
Here is a teaser of the coming series on Slovak education. We look at all the positives and negatives, all the tricks and perks, all the black and white and gray areas in between – of the Slovak educational system.
The System in a Nutshell
When do kids start the whole process of waking up in the morning, doing homework and passing tests? Press Play to find out.
Do you know the Pythagorean Theorem?
A lawyer or a doctor? – What do you want your children to become and what do they themselves want to be when they grow up? In this part of the series we talk about kindergartens and primary schools. What is school good for? What should it give kids? And why should we all know the Pythagorean Theorem or a Shakespearean sonnet?
Is School Making Us Better People?
At the age of 7 all Slovak kids brush their teeth, put on their shirts and shiny shoes and off they go – to the world of school. However, can they all be placed in the same kind of classroom? Do we need special schools for ‘special kids’? Allegedly, the way children are separated or included into classrooms can effect whether we’ll be discrimination among them, their future unemployment and can even make us all better people? How?
Forget skills, Information is the New Silver Bullet!
At the age of 15 most Slovak kids have to make new friends, get to know new teachers and figure out their new daily routine as they end primary and start attending a new, secondary school. But which one should they choose? Are crafts still the “golden egg”, or is information the new silver bullet? Listen to the fears, joys and dilemmas of secondary school students .
“It’s complicated” at Slovak universities
High aspirations, dreams and visions meet the reality of Slovak universities. Are Slovak Uni’s like Harvard and why is it “complicated”?
Becoming a teacher – NO thank you!
Teachers are the last piece of the puzzle RSI tries to piece together in the year 2014. Who are they? What should they be like? Why becoming a teacher is not a dream job in Slovakia and why do so many teachers protest so often these days? Press Play for the last part of the series “Education in the Spotlight”.

The individual shows were produced and reported by Katarina Richterova in English and Elena Seeber in the German language and three of the shows were also done in Slovak by Martina Šimkovičová.

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