STA, 4 September 2019 - Iran does not see a chance of negotiation with the United States until the US returns to the Iran nuclear deal and until it lifts sanctions against Iran, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told the STA. He believes it is still possible to save the historic 2015 deal, but it will not be easy.

The Iranian diplomat, who talked to the STA on the sidelines of the Bled Strategic Forum, said that saving the deal would require real determination on the part of the remaining signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is officially called.

He explained that when the US decided to leave the JCPOA 18 months ago, the three European signatories - France, Germany and the UK - asked Iran to stay in the deal and they will find practical solutions in order to compensate for the absence of the US and let Iran benefit from the lifting of sanctions.

"There are joint statements at the ministerial level between Iran and foreign ministers of the remaining participants in the JCPOA in which they committed themselves to find those practical solutions in eleven different areas, like banking, trade insurance, transportation, investment.

"But as a matter of fact they have failed to do that in the past 18 months, they have not been able to create even a single banking channel for their own companies to do business with Iran. I don't want to say they don't want it, but they are certainly not able to do that."

Araghchi notes that every deal is based on a balance between takes and gives. "Iran's gives are exactly the same, but Iran's takes are now next to zero because of the reimposition of US sanctions."

He says that a deal like that cannot last. "We need to restore a balance. What we expect from Europeans is to restore the balance ... create an atmosphere and mechanisms to let Iran enjoy from the benefits of the deal."

"Since that has not happened, we have started to reduce our commitments in order to restore the balance from the other way. We gave Europeans a whole year before we did that and we gave them enough chance, we gave diplomacy enough chance but it didn't work.

Iran is now reducing its commitments, but it does that "step by step, two months between each step, so there are still windows for diplomacy. I hope Europeans can use those windows to save the deal."

Araghchi welcomed the latest initiative from French President Emmanuel Macron to solve the situation, which he says has been developed in communication between Macron and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

"Now we have a better understanding of each other, we have made good progress but there are still some differences that we have to overcome," he said, adding that France too still needed to overcome differences with their own partners in and outside Europe.

The Iranian official does not see a possibility for Iran to sit down with the US at the moment, noting that Iran negotiated with the US, Russia, China and the three European countries in good faith.

"We concluded the deal in good faith and we implemented the deal in good faith and there more than 15 reports by the IAEA confirming Iran's full compliance to the deal."

"So what was the result - the US withdrawal from the deal, reimposition of sanctions and the policy of maximum pressure. So why should we negotiate with them any more? Our trust and confidence have been totally lost."

Iran would be willing to re-enter negotiation with the US if the US lifted the sanctions, especially oil and banking sanctions. "If Iran were able to sell its oil and take the money back, then we go back to the full implementation of the JCPOA."

Araghchi does not see a chance of a meeting between President Rouhani and US President Donald Trump as long as the maximum policy pressure is in place and as long as the US is out of the deal.

Commenting on relations with Slovenia, Araghchi said: "Slovenia and Iran enjoy a very good relationship based on mutual interest and mutual respect ... We have good economic relations, they could have been much much better if there were no US sanctions."

He noted untapped opportunities, adding that all channels between the two countries were open and active. He said that President Borut Pahor's successful visit to Tehran in 2016 helped the expansion of relations.

The Iranian official is having bilateral consultation at the Foreign Ministry in Ljubljana today.

In Bled? See our guide on how to spend from 4 to 48 hours there

STA, 4 September 2019 - Abanka Group generated EUR 26.3 million in net profit in the first six months of the year, according to unaudited report, which is 32.3% less than in the same period last year. Net interest revenue was down by 0.5% and net non-interest income by 19.5%, Abanka said on Wednesday.

Net interest reached EUR 29.8 million and net non-interest income stood at EUR 27.3 million, according to a report published on the web site of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

The bank's supervisory board got acquainted with the results on Tuesday.

The total assets of the group, which includes the Abanka bank and real estate company Anepremičnine, amounted to EUR 3.76 billion at the end of June, after standing at EUR 3.73 billion at the end of December.

Anepremičnine contributed EUR 17.4 million or 0.5% to the group's consolidated total assets.

Abanka posted a net profit of EUR 26.2 million in the January-June period, down 35.2% from the same period last year. Its market share reached 9.4% at the end of June.

Net interest was up by around 1% to EUR 29.8 million, while net non-interest income dropped by a quarter to EUR 26.2 million.

The bank said the rise in net interest was due to higher interest income from loans to non-banking clients.

Abanka's cancelled provisions and impairments reached EUR 5.5 million net after topping EUR 13.4 million in the same period last year.

Loans to the non-banking sector reached EUR 2.05 billion at the end of June, which is up EUR 86 million compared to the end of 2018. Loans to legal entities and sole traders increased by EUR 61.9 million and loans to individuals by EUR 24.1 million.

The biggest share of loans, 45.5%, were to individuals, followed by big companies (25.2%) and small and medium sized companies (17.1%).

The state has been Abanka's sole owner since a massive bank bailout at the end of 2013 which also saw the state salvaging NLB, NKBM and Banka Celje. The latter was merged with Abanka in 2014.

In June, a contract was signed on the sale of Abanka, Slovenia's third largest bank, to NKBM bank. The transaction is to be completed by the end of the year.

All our stories on banks in Slovenia are here

STA, 3 September 2019 - The parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services has discussed foreign intelligence services' setting up businesses in Slovenia, establishing that security mechanisms to prevent such companies from operating in the country are not working.

The commission discussed evidence gathered by two investigative journalists about a business model of foreign intelligence services which set up companies for their countries to avoid embargoes and to secure the necessary funds for their own networks, chair Matej Tonin told the press after Tuesday's closed-door session.

He highlighted a number of companies of the Azarov family of former Ukrainian PM Mykola Azarov, who had close ties with Russia, which did business here between 2007 and 2016.

While they were under embargo in other parts of Europe, the companies were not banned in Slovenia, nor were their assets frozen, said Tonin.

He explained they had done business in the country freely until they left in 2016 out of their own accord.

"It is worrying that safety mechanisms are not working in such cases," said Tonin, noting "this is not the first such case".

The commission took several measures to address the issue, but Tonin would not disclose them to the public.

STA, 3 September 2019 - The traditional high-profile panel on the Western Balkans at the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) on Tuesday heard the participants note that it was high time for the countries of the region to join the EU as they were making serious progress, and that the EU should not forget about the region while dealing with internal issues.

The debate initially revolved around the appointment of Matthew Palmer of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs of the US Department of State as a special envoy to the Western Balkans.

Palmer told the panel that what the US had done was "demonstrate responsiveness to the demands by partners and allies who have told us that we are not sufficiently engaged with the Western Balkans".

According to him, the US supports the goals of helping North Macedonia and Albania open EU membership negotiations, facilitate dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, and supporting deep reforms in Bosnia-Herzegovina for the benefit of all its people.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić first half-jokingly said he "expected nothing" from Palmer, but then added that the appointment was a sign that the US wanted to have a clearer presence in the region.

"It is certain that he will have a lot of work and his term should last until the relationship between Belgrade and Prishtina gets resolved," Dačić said, adding that Serbia would try to be efficient and constructive in the talks with Kosovo.

According to him, Serbia supports visa liberalisation for Kosovo and opening of EU accession negotiations for North Macedonia and Albania. He admitted that the leaders in the region should express more solidarity among each other.

This was a good point of reference for Kosovo Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli, who admitted that the responsibility was on the shoulders of the region and that constructive relations with the neighbours should be established.

But he also lamented the fact that Kosovo "remains the only place deprived of the opportunity for its people to travel into the Schengen area without time-consuming, expensive and degrading procedures".

Pacolli also stressed the importance of peace, saying that "Serbia and Kosovo need peace immediately", while adding that "we need someone who knows to talk a little bit loud to us" in reference to Palmer.

From the perspective of a country that has made the biggest progress, Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srđan Darmanović said that "we are clearly frontrunners in the process" but that the region would be a "success story only when all of us get in there".

He hopes that North Macedonia and Albania are given a chance in October and the EU accession talks start as they have worked hard towards this goal. "We also expect from the EU to know what to do in the Western Balkans."

According to Darmanović, it is high time for this as the negotiations had stalled. "We can understand there are some serious issues in the EU, including Brexit and the rise of populist parties", but the EU should not forget about the Western Balkans.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov expressed the frustration for his country "losing almost a generation" while being frozen in the status of a candidate country, while making a huge progress and recently making a name deal with Greece.

"We have reached a compromise, something very European, and something that is very rare in the region," he said, adding that it was thus high time to start the accession talks instead of discussing historical disputes as the young people were leaving the country.

"If Europe fails us this year, then I'm afraid there is no European perspective any more," Dimitrov added, arguing that the message from the people would be that "we should not bother resolving difficult issues".

Speaking on behalf of Albania as a former minister and MP, Majlinda Bregu of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) said in reference to the Western Balkans' progress in EU accession that "I feel that we are mired in gloom every time we try to take a step forward".

She believes that the "EU will not be enlarged with the Western Balkans, but be completed with the Western Balkans", and that "nobody has the luxury to lose time any more", as people are leaving the region.

The point that the region was approaching a critical moment was also stressed by Foreign Minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina Igor Crnadak, who said that the EU needed to "understand that this process needs to be completed; it is so natural, so normal".

"It's high time that we understand that we are at a some kind of a turning point," he said, while expressing the frustration that his country had not been able to form a government ten months after the election.

But Crnadak nevertheless noted that there was one positive thing, with the European idea being very much alive among the people, who believe that the rule of law as well as security would be enhanced with the country's EU accession.

STA, 1 September 2019 - Slovenia's national system for instant peer-to-peer money transfers will be up and running by the end of 2019 or early 2020. Most of the banks have developed a special mobile app for the purpose.

The system, called Flik, is being developed by Slovenian banks in cooperation with the national payment processor Bankart, based on its exiting Bips IP infrastructure.

Transfers will be processed within seconds round the clock and every day of the week, unlike now when transactions are settled every two hours, and even than only until 4:30pm and only on weekdays.

The system involves all 15 Slovenian commercial banks and savings banks, which own it, Paul-Alexandre Raveleau from SKB bank and Tatjana Bole Pirc from DBS bank, have told the STA.

The pair, who head the inter-bank board for Flik, say that the rules and procedures have been established and that the central-bank Banka Slovenije will act as a major catalyst.

They say the banks decided to develop the system in order to provide a simple channel for fast and safe instant money transfers.

Currently, various technical solutions are being tested with the plan that 13 out of the 15 banks launch the Flik system at the end of 2019 or right at the beginning of 2020.

By mid-2020, another bank will make the service available, while another of the participating banks is yet to announce the launch date.

Eleven of the 15 banks have decided to develop a special app, while the remaining banks will include the new feature in their existing mobile bank or digital wallet solutions.

Further on, the banks will be able to opt for various solutions together, depending on the response and desire of the customers, Raveleau and Bole Pirc say.

The app will be accessed by the PIN code or fingerprint or some other biometric code allowed by smart phones, with transactions conducted using contacts in the phone, that is without time-consuming typing of payer and recipient account numbers and other data required on payment orders.

Raveleau and Bole Pirc say that the system is fully compliant with the EU's general data protection regulation, because it has been developed in cooperation with Slovenia's information commissioner.

The system will initially allow transfers of up to EUR 15,000 between the accounts of physical persons, but the banks would like to expand the system to in-store payments as early as next year.

This will require upgrading the existing POS terminals (there are between 35,000 and 40,000 of those in Slovenia at the moment) and educating cashiers. The timeline will thus also depend on retailers.

The customer experience will be similar to using contactless payment cards. For the smaller shops, bars or restaurants that do not use POS terminals special mobile apps are being tested QR code scan payments.

At later stages, the banks would like to expand instant transfers to online shopping, transactions between businesses and between customers and businesses and some transactions with the state.

Ideally, the users should get the chance to make instant transfers for the whole range of various payment transactions. The ambition is that Flik becomes a national payment standard.

The amount of transfer, now capped at EUR 15,000, may be raised or lowered in the future, depending on the users' response.

Raveleau and Bole Pirc say that this is a mayor investment for Slovenian banks, but they would not specify as each bank invests in development of its own technical solutions, based on common rules.

So are the fees for the customers up to the bank's business policies, while Raveleau and Bole Pirc expect transfers between physical persons and in-store payments to remain free for physical persons.

Bips is intended for domestic money transfers, while later instant cross-border transfers will be made possible based on the Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS), which became operational in late 2018.

Slovenian banks will join TIPS on their own or via Bankart gradually, and so they enter the Sepa Instant Payments system.

For cross-border transfers to become as simple as those in Slovenia and some other countries that have introduced national instant payment systems, a common EU solution will be needed or at least integration of the national systems.

Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.

A schedule of all the main events involving Slovenia this week can be found here

This summary is provided by the STA:

BSF panel told NATO strong due to shared values

BLED - The Bled Strategic Forum, the two-day event which attracted some 1,000 participants from 60 countries, discussed the future of NATO, looking at the challenges facing the alliance 70 years after it was established. The need for internal transformation was highlighted, as was the need to look beyond immediate military threats if NATO is to be fit to address increasingly complex challenges. The speakers, including Slovenian Defence Minister Karl Erjavec, agreed NATO remained vital as a political and security alliance, not only as a guarantor of security for its members but mostly due to their shared values.

BSF panel predicts possible Brexit scenarios

BLED - The participants in a BSF panel on Brexit were not in agreement on what would happen on 31 October, when the UK is expected to leave the EU. They said the deadline could bring about a no-deal Brexit or the UK could exit with a mildly amended current agreement. Gisela Stuart, a former British Labour MP, said that the UK would leave on 31 October without a deal, but the two sides would reach smaller agreements immediately afterwards. The option of such deals was ruled out by Stefaan De Rynck, one of the key advisers to Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit.

BSF panel says it's high time for W Balkans to join EU

BLED - The traditional high-profile panel on the Western Balkans at the Bled Strategic Forum heard participants note that it was high time for the countries of the region to join the EU as they were making serious progress, and that the EU should not forget about the region while dealing with internal issues. The debate initially revolved around the appointment of Matthew Palmer from the US Department of State as a special envoy to the Western Balkans. Palmer said what the US had done was "demonstrate responsiveness to the demands by partners and allies who have told us that we are not sufficiently engaged with the Western Balkans".

Pahor meets several high-profile BSF guests

BLED - President Borut Pahor met a number of foreign senior officials on the sidelines of the Bled Strategic Forum, including Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Matthew Palmer from the US Department of State. "EU enlargement is of strategic and vital importance for the EU, whereas the region needs an active, responsible and credible EU," was a view shared by Pahor and Haavisto. In meeting Deputy Assistant Secretary Palmer, the US's new special envoy to the Western Balkans, Pahor said efforts should be made to keep dialogue with all Western Balkan countries going. He also announced an extraordinary summit of the Brdo-Brijoni Process, a regional initiative aimed at EU-Western Balkan cooperation, would be held in Slovenia in November.

FM Cerar discussing EU issues with Spanish counterpart

BLED - Foreign Minister Miro Cerar met his Spanish counterpart Josep Borrell, the candidate for the EU's next foreign policy chief, on the margins of the Bled Strategic Forum for talks focusing on current EU issues. Cerar expressed satisfaction over the excellent bilateral relations. The pair talked about migrations, control over the EU's external borders, EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans and the situation in the region. Cerar also held meetings with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean Nasser Kamel and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

AmCham panel agrees change welcomed by successful companies

BLED - The debate as part of the AmCham Reinvention Breakfast at the BSF concluded that what made companies successful was their willingness to cope with the challenge of reinventing themselves and adjusting to constant change brought by digitalisation and the rise of artificial intelligence. Marten Kaevats, a digital advisor for the Estonian government, said digitalisation was actually about cultural change. Joško Mrndze, Google's manager for the Adriatic region, argued that constant change and disruption was a good thing, as it encouraged companies to be resilient, fast and adaptable.

NSi not to endorse confidence vote-tied budget

LJUBLJANA - In the wake of a rift between the minority government and its opposition partner the Left, there have been speculations about the coalition turning to New Slovenia (NSi) for cooperation, but the conservative NSi dispelled any doubts by saying it did not support the government and that there had been no talks about possible cooperation. Moreover, NSi leader Matej Tonin said the party would not back the 2020 and 2021 budgets if Prime Minister Marjan Šarec opted to peg them to a confidence vote.

Banking sector posts 20% higher H1 profit

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian banks saw their cumulative half-year net profit rise by a fifth year-on-year to EUR 355.9 million due to strong growth in non-interest revenue and cancellation of provisions and impairments, shows a report by the central bank. Banka Slovenije said that the situation in the sector remained favourable, but warned that going forward persisting low interest rates and a slow-down in interest activity could exert pressure on interest revenue and thus the banks' profitability.

Ministry understands Lek's withdrawal from major investment

LJUBLJANA - The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology said it understood a decision by pharmaceutical company Lek, or its parent Novartis, not to complete its EUR 150 million investment in a new production facility in Slovenia's Prevalje, noting companies had to adjust to market trends. Minister Zdravko Počivalšek regretted the decision, but said a serious investor was interested in the building constructed by Lek. Novartis announced on Monday it had aborted the expansion of production in Prevalje, citing lower demand for generics, and the need to introduce a new technology.

Parliamentary commission discusses DCAF report on migrations

LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services will draw up a report on illegal migrations in collaboration with the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) to propose a set of measures, including stricter asylum legislation, its chair Matej Tonin told the press after the commission debated the impact of illegal migrations on organised crime on the basis of a DCAF report. DCAF head Anton Travner pointed to the abuse of asylum procedures in Slovenia, which blocked access to asylum for those who really needed it. Tonin said this should be prevented by limiting the movement of all asylum seekers who come to Slovenia. He also called for changes to the criminal code to introduce harsher penalties for people smugglers.

Vodušek case sent into retrial

MARIBOR - The Maribor Higher Court has annulled a guilty ruling for journalist Vladimir Vodušek, who was sentenced in 2018 to a year and a half in prison for attempted extortion of business executive Gorazd Korošec in 2012. It sent the case back to the Slovenj Gradec District Court, which said it will try Vodušek before a new panel of judges. It became clear the ruling could be annulled in July when a Higher Court judge said major violations of the criminal procedure had been established. The violations are believed to be related to what Vodušek's defence counsels claim was illegal evidence gathering.

Roglič wins Vuelta 10th stage, takes over red jersey

PAU, France - Slovenian cycling star Primož Roglič won the tenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana race, the 36.2-km individual time-trial in France's Pau, taking the race leader's red jersey. The 29-year-old, the favourite for today's victory, has thus become the first Slovenian to have won a stage at all three Grand Tours. His his fellow countrymen Tadej Pogačar finished 11th.

Visiting Ljubljana? Check out what's on this week, while all our stories on Slovenia, from newest to oldest, are here

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

STA, 3 September 2019 - Slovenian cycling star Primož Roglič won on Tuesday the tenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana race, the 36.2-km individual time-trial in France's Pau, taking the race leader's red jersey. The 29-year-old has thus become the first Slovenian to have won a stage at all three Grand Tours.

Roglič, who was the top favourite for today's victory, was ahead of his rivals the whole time during the stage, which started in Jurancon and ended in Pau.

The Jumbo-Visma rider was 21 seconds ahead of his fellow countrymen Tadej Pogačar at the first time measurement and 19 seconds ahead of New Zealand's Patrick Bevin, who took second place, estimating his losses to 25 seconds across the line.

"The time trial was difficult and I tried to beat it as quickly as possible. I'm happy about today's performance. I aimed to ride as fast as possible the whole stage and luckily it was enough for the win," Roglič said after his victory.

He gained a lot of advantage over his rivals at the top, having a minute and 52 seconds before the second-placed Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde, and could be another step closer to winning the Spanish Grand Tour.

"We'll see about that in Madrid. I won today, let's take it one step at a time," Roglič told the press.

He is currently also wearing the green jersey, worn by the leader in the points competition.

Pogačar, who was successful at the start of the dynamic time trial, eventually took the 11th place.

This is Roglič's 20th win in the world series, 10th this year, and 8th in time trial stages.

He won two stages at this year's Giro d'Italia, and won four of the six time trials he took part in this year.

The previous owner of the red jersey, Colombian Nairo Quintana, has 3 minutes and 6 seconds in losses behind Roglič.

Roglič has also become the second Slovenian to be wearing the Vuelta red jersey - before him only Janez Brajkovič managed the feat in 2006 and 2013.

UPDATE: On Friday, 6 September, a deal was reached and the strikes were cancelled (see more details here)

September 3, 2019

The possibility of a series of three-day strikes announced for September by the Traffic Pilots Union of Slovenia (SPPS) is becoming increasingly realistic following another round of unsuccessful contract negotiations between Adria Airways’ leadership and its pilots.

In a recent press release, the Pilots Union explains that a request for the start of negotiations for a new collective agreement has been submitted several times to Adria Airways’ management since the end of the summer 2018. The main reason for the request being made at the time was that the old contract expired at the end of August 2019 and the Union hoped to have enough time to negotiate a new ones. Negotiations, however, only began in May of 2019 and included the union’s demand for the Adria Airways leadership to cease all the violations of the previous work contract.

As the talks apparently proved unsuccessful, on August 15 the union declared a series of strikes for September.

With the end of the old collective agreement and without a new one in sight, the Traffic Pilots Union of Slovenia (SPPS) announced to the media that the series of 3-day strikes are about to begin this Sunday. The dates on which Adria’s pilots will not fly unless an agreement is suddenly reached are as follows:

Strike #1: from September 8, midnight (00:00) till midnight (23:59) September 10, also

Strike #2: from September 18, midnight (00:00) till midnight September 20

Strike #3: from September 30, midnight (00:00) till midnight October 2

Apart from the announced strikes, portal 24UR reports that Adria Airways also faces a growing number of angry passengers whose flights get cancelled or rescheduled.

Adria Airways was the only Slovenian airline with its base in the International Airport Jože Pučnik (also known as Brnik or Ljubljana Airport). The state sold the company in 2016 to 4K Invest, a Luxembourg-based restructuring fund, which has been running the company since.

All our stories about Adria Airways can be found here

Ex-Yu Aviation, your best source for all regional flight news, reports that Adria Airways will replace its flights to Manchester, to be discontinued at the end of the summer schedule, with a twice weekly service to Liverpool.

The flights are set to leave Ljubljana at 06:35 on Wednesdays, and 17:15 on Saturdays. The return trips leave at 08:40 (Wed.) and 19:20 (Sat.). Tickets can already be purchased online.

STA, 3 September 2019 - Some 25,000 teachers teach at Slovenia's primary and secondary schools, many of whom are complaining about excessive paperwork and low trust. Nevertheless, international surveys do not necessarily always corroborate their claims about being overburdened due to time-consuming paperwork.

Nearly 18,360 teachers taught at primary schools and almost another 6,090 in secondary schools in the 2018/19 school year.

There is no lack of teachers in general, but head teachers can have a hard time hiring staff teaching IT and foreign languages, form teachers and special needs teachers.

Primary school teacher Janja Čolić says the public usually assumes a teacher's day at work ends with the last lesson in the classroom, which is far from truth.

"Planning a short lesson and filling in all related forms can take more time than the very lesson in the classroom," the head of the IATEFL Slovenia association of English language teachers, has told the STA.

She explains that apart from teaching, they have many other tasks to do, such as write reports, be on duty, take part in various projects, or accompany students at camps.

Čolić agrees there is a lot of bureaucracy: "We've tuned into administrative staff."

Former teacher Pavlina Ošlak says the problem are the many reports teachers have to write, when it is sometimes not even clear what exactly they should write.

She is convinced many reports are written for the sake of being written, and doubts head teachers really have to time to read all of them.

Čolić adds it should be reconsidered what really improves the quality of teaching and what is a mere formality.

A 2018 survey by the OECD, however, showed that Slovenian teachers use 8% of a lesson for various administrative tasks, which is in line with the OECD average.

But the Teaching and Learning International Survey also showed they use 50 minutes more a week than the OECD average for administrative tasks in general, that is also outside a single lesson.

Teachers have also been complaining about a lack of autonomy, which they see in excessive interference on the part of parents.

For instance, they have to explain the reasons for a certain teaching method, a low grade, or a disciplinary sanction, says Boris Zupančič, a former Education Ministry employee.

This often leads to lengthy procedures in which a teacher has to defend their decision, instead of being trusted that they have acted to the benefit of the student, he says.

Zupančič thus urges doing more to trust teachers. He believes a national document should be adopted expressing trust in the teachers' expertise and competences.

All our stories on education in Slovenia are here