Slavko Gaber Minister of Education, Science and Sport Slavko Gaber has been Minister for Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia since 2002. Dr. Gaber holds a PhD in Sociology and had been Lecturer of Sociology of Education at Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana until he was appointed Minister for Education and Sports in 1992 and remained Minister until 1999. From 2000 to 2002 he was MP, Chairman of the Slovenian Delegation to the JPC EU-Slovenia, member of the Commission for European Affairs, Constitutional Commission, Committee for Finance and Monetary Policy, Committee on Culture, Education, Youth, Science and Sport. In February 2002 he was elected representative of the Slovenian National Assembly to the European Convention.

It is not possible to refer to modern society without referring to knowledge. Knowledge has a social and an individual dimension. In the globalized society of today, knowledge has become a focal point of the development of society. Thanks to knowledge, the individual is able to act and be the subject of social activities. That is why the four Delors pillars are still the guiding light in the creation of a modern education system. They must all be present, if education is to meet its objectives at the level of the individual and the society.

Slovenia is one of those countries which have significantly changed their education system in the last decade and expanded the concept of knowledge. It is one of the countries which have set the goal to establish the conditions for the development of a society of knowledge. We are certain that this is the only viable perspective. The creation of a society of knowledge is the fundamental objective of the Development Strategy of Slovenia.

In achieving this objective - the creation of a society of knowledge - the education system has a particularly important role. If in the last decade our attention has mostly been placed on the establishment of an education system taking into account tradition as well as international comparability, we have in the last two or three years moved away from the issues of organisation and establishment of conditions for the implementation of the education process and embraced the issues of the assurance of quality educational work.

The quality of educational work certainly encompasses a variety of aspects. One of the basic aspects which we wish to attain is the creation of inclusive schools and of ensuring quality education for all, i.e., for all groups included in the educational process, with particular emphasis on ethnic groups, the inclusion of socially excluded, and pupils with special needs.

At the same time, we have been developing concepts relating to the improvement of quality of the pedagogic work. Our goal is not to determine quality per se, nor to develop quality control which would ensure quality of the “result” (labour, students enrolling in a university, and similar). The latter are both part of the process, or rather the result of quality assurance. Whilst developing a systematic, well thought-out and stable quality assurance, we are particularly intent on developing a quality system of education, which is largely aware of its integration into economic flows and the general social activities. The system should be able to adhere to its own criteria of quality and thus co-create the quality of life in Slovenia.

The ‘education system’ in Slovenia does not, however, begin to institute the mechanisms of quality assurance. Using a systematic approach, we wish to preserve the relatively high quality of education in individual areas and further improve this level in certain fields.

The concept of self-evaluation provides the basis for determination and quality assurance. Thus one of the more important objectives of curricular reform is being implemented, namely: the development of autonomy and professional responsibility of schools and professional workers.

I am convinced that the ASP network of schools, co-ordinated by Ciril Kosmač Primary School in Piran, is at the forefront of the implementation of UNESCO objectives in Slovenia.