Borut Rončević announces major Slovenian education reform

Slovenian Minister of Education, Science, and Youth, Borut Rončević, has announced the first comprehensive reform of the national education system in 25 years. Presenting the outlines of this reform at an informal EU ministers' meeting in Dublin, Rončević cited the 2025 PISA results as a “wake-up call” regarding the quality of knowledge and academic achievement in Slovenia.

The proposed reform is built upon ten key principles aimed at placing knowledge at the center of schooling. Objectives include restoring high standards and fair assessment, fostering professional autonomy for teachers, reducing administrative burdens, and promoting ideological neutrality and intellectual pluralism. The reform also seeks to better align education with future labor market needs.

Addressing political opposition, Rončević stated that efforts to maintain the status quo would not prevent these changes. He also announced plans to relocate the Ministry to Novo mesto as part of a broader decentralization effort and emphasized a strict limitation on remote work to ensure ministry efficiency.