NEWS
Prime Minister attended roundtable entitled "Slovenia and current developments"
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, took part in a round-table discussion "Slovenia and current developments", organised by the Student Club at the Faculty of Social Sciences. The Prime Minister underlined that the Government has made young people a priority and focused on the issues of higher education and on the objectives to improve youth employment, find solutions to housing issues and reform student work.
The conversation started with the Prime Minister answering the question regarding the financial situation of Slovenia and its future course of borrowing. She explained that "if in the long-term we want to reduce the extent of our borrowing, the budget must be adjusted so that our spending is aligned with what we generate". Young people raised the question of financing the Slovenian education system and stressed that funding cuts are eroding academic quality. However, Prime Minister Bratušek was of the opinion that, in comparison with other countries, Slovenia is not so tight-fisted in allocating funds to the entire education system. "However, the share of funding for higher education should be higher and it might be worth considering making minor changes in other segments of education," she added.
The Prime Minister answered questions regarding new arrangements for student work also pointing to the main purpose of the amended legislation, which is to prevent the exploitation of student work by employers while ensuring that later on young people would also receive some benefits of their work-study jobs. In this context, the Prime Minister mentioned measures allowing young families easier access to housing, which the Government is to provide through non-profit housing units. The Government is also considering a guarantee scheme, with the state guaranteeing for housing loans for young people.