STA, 15 July 2021 - There are six private primary schools with state-certified curricula in Slovenia that are entitled to state funding. Under the new rules passed today, their obligatory programmes, such as regular classes including maths or physical education, will be fully funded by the state, up from currently 85%.
The state's annual cost per primary school pupil is now EUR 4,129 - EUR 3,328 in private and EUR 4,136 in public primary schools, government data shows.
The government estimates the new legislation will increase the overall spending on primary education by over EUR 500,000 a year.
The six schools entitled to 100% state funding for mandatory programmes are the Ljubljana Waldorf School, which has another four units around the country; the Maribor Waldorf School; the catholic Alojzij Šuštar Primary School in Ljubljana; the Montessori Institute in Ljubljana; the Montessori Primary School in Maribor; and the LILA Institute in Ljubljana.
The schools had 1,793 pupils in the 2020/21 school year, the bulk of whom went to the Waldorf schools (771), followed by the Alojzij Šuštarj Primary School (475).
The Montessori Institute in Ljubljana was the only other schools with more than 200 pupils, namely 205.
The six schools employed 303 staff, of whom 251 teachers or other experts, with the bulk working at the Waldorf School in Ljubljana and the Alojzij Šuštar Primary School.
There are several other private primary schools in Slovenia, which are however not publicly funded.
They are accredited abroad and teach in foreign languages, the government said as it replied a question from opposition National Party (SNS) MP Dušan Šiško.
Members of the Italian and Hungarian ethnic minorities are meanwhile entitled to education in their respective language, so there are also eight bilingual schools.
