Participation – through co-decision-making, sharing of responsibility and cooperation – provides opportunities for young people to enter the process of realization of sectoral policies (that of the family, employment, housing etc.), giving them a chance to improve the living conditions of young people in Slovakia.
So far, the participatory efforts of young people are visible mainly in the activities of youth civic associations, through which demands are formulated towards governmental and self-government bodies. A majority of young people is still to discover the potential benefits of participation on decision-making and on the realization of projects. This is due on one hand to the lack of information on participation opportunities and relatively few opportunities to get involved in decision-making processes at regional level. On the other hand its also due to the fact that participatory efforts and practices are rarely viewed by young people as tools of civic life that could be used by them. They often choose to remain in the roles of observers, critics or claimants.
National Report – Slovakia
Ladislav Macháček
CERYS FF UCM in Trnava
Introduction
As such, the Slovak Republic is short of a modern history of autonomy, of the existence of plurality and of the processes that arise under the conditions of a market economy. Consequently, it has to deal with new conditions of socialization and,
particularly, with changes in the composition of the ‘youth’ social group – from a homogeneous entity of the socialist social structure into a social aggregate of individuals. A re-thinking of the role of the state, where youth organisations are rooted in civil society rather than in state-party structures, needs to be undertaken. The most obvious dispute that arises here is one of influence, intervention and ownership.
Firstly, there is no place, in a democratic market-oriented society for a paternalist, single-strand base.
Secondly, young people are well aware of where competencies and responsibilities, including their own, lie and so their full and genuine participation in civil society as active citizens cannot be ignored or covertly diminished by any means.
Thirdly, in terms of ‘the universally proclaimed aspiration for an integrated youth policy’, joint ownership of a youth policy is an indispensable ingredient. The implications that emerge here include the level and width (broadness) of competencies and responsibilities. While state influence and intervention, in terms of legal, administrative and financial support are generally accepted, care must be taken to avoid a ‘no-go’ situation where young people do not see the relevance and credibility of a policy which they aspire to co-own.
Report of Slovakia 2007
Ladislav Machacek
Prof. director Centre for European and Regional Youth Studies FF UCM in Trnava
FF UCM in Trnava, Slovakia
CERYS FF UCM in Trnava,
Herdovo nam. 2, PC 91701 Trnava, Slovakia
E-mail: machacek@syrs.org
A representative sociological survey of secondary school and university students that was conducted in October 2005 on a surveyed sample of secondary school (870 respondents) and university students (829 respondents) provided us with some very interesting information regarding their participation in the self-administered life of their schools. Student participation is becoming more typical in terms of its nature – the majority of students know about the existence of a student council at their school (75-80%); significantly less of them participates in its sessions, and an even smaller number of students take part in elections (30%); and the smallest number of students apply for candidacy (11%) and actually work in the self-administration bodies of the school. In fact, this is the essence of a functioning representative democracy. The typology of the students has confirmed the existence of a group of students involved in the development of the youths´ group life. These students represent a kind of “core of organizers”, representing about 8-9% of the overall cohort. Twenty-eight percent of the students within this group were candidates in the elections to the Student School Councils (SSC). In regards to the expectations relating to the activity of SSC, the students mentioned the following: the area o services at school and extracurricular interest activities, but also the need to develop the students´ technical and scientific activity and the task to equip the school with modern didactical technology.
Smolenice 2007 abstracts
