International Youth Day

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In youth we learn; in age we understand.
Marie Ebner von Eschenbach (1830-1916), Austrian writer

August 12 is International Youth Day, declared by the United Nations General Assembly with the purpose to give young people a special day within which they would be able to draw attention to their place in modern society and speak about problems they face in everyday life.

Youth – people aged 15 to 29

To define youth and other youth-related concepts would first of all mean to determine an age limit. In statistics this age limit is 15-29 years.
In its resolution on youth adopted in 2000 the UN General Assembly determined ten priority areas: education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, leisure-time activities, girls and young women, and full and effective participation of youth in the life of society and in decision-making.

In its World Youth Report 2005 the UN pointed out that the number of young people completing elementary education continues to increase; in the past 10 years it has grown from 56% to 78%. The share of young people with tertiary education has increased by 27.5%. However, the trends are not favourable all over the world: in some countries the share increased at a much slower rate and in some developing countries elementary education is regressing, which analysts link to socioeconomic circumstances of their populations. The main barrier to young people attending education is poverty, which in addition to lowering the number of people in education increases the difference in enrolment of men and women; when poor parents have to make a choice, they tend to decide that sons and not daughters will be schooled. Therefore the UN recommends that national policies should focus on providing equal opportunities for education for both sexes.

What is the situation in Slovenia?

Most of the 23,182 upper secondary school pupils who completed education at the end of the school year 2006/2007 graduated from gymnasium (8,836) and slightly fewer (6,579) from technical and professional programmes. Because the number of young people enrolled in vocational programmes has been decreasing, fewer pupils have been graduating from these schools. In the school year 2003/2004 the share of pupils completing vocational programmes was 26.3%, while in the school year 2006/2007 it was 21.8%. More than half of pupils completed upper secondary general studies or economics studies.

Interest in vocational programmes continues to fall

In the beginning of the school year 2007/2008 91,623 pupils were enrolled in upper secondary schools for youth; again most of them attended gymnasium programmes and technical and professional programmes. Enrolment in vocational programmes continues to fall.

Half of girls are enrolled in gymnasium programmes. Even though the gender ratio in upper secondary education is almost 50/50 – actually 51% boys and 49% girls – girls and boys differ considerably in the selection of their fields of study. Thus we can speak of “male” and “female” fields of study. In practically no field the two genders are equally represented. Distinctly male fields are metallurgy and mechanical engineering, electronics and computer science, wood processing, construction and mining, while distinctly female fields are textiles, teacher training, health care, culture and personal services.

The share of people enrolled in tertiary education is growing

For the first time in years the number of people enrolled in vocational colleges and higher education institutions did not exceed the previous academic year. The number is actually lower by 500. This is not the result of lack of interest to continue studies after completing upper secondary education but of a less numerous generation. The share of the generation studying at tertiary level is namely still growing. This year almost half of people aged 19-23 studied in vocational colleges and higher education institutions, while ten years ago the share of people aged 19-23 studying at tertiary level was below a third.

More students in vocational colleges and fewer in higher education institutions

In the academic year 2007/08 over 50 vocational colleges offered 25 study programmes which were attended by 16,424 students. Almost two thirds of students studies part time.

In this academic year the so-called old and updated higher education and university programmes are attended by 89,558 students, almost 2,000 fewer than in the previous academic year. However, the number of students who decide to continue their studies after graduating from higher education institutions continues to grow; this year 9,463 students are enrolled in such programmes, almost 1,000 more than last year.

61.8% of graduates are women

Compared to 2006, the number of graduates in 2007 slightly increased only in vocational colleges (to 2,874). On the other hand, the number of students who completed their studies at higher education institutions fell by 500 (to 13,806). The number of graduates from higher undergraduate education studies fell to 11,895, while the number of graduates from post-graduate education studies – specialisation, master’s and doctoral degree programmes – (1,911) is similar to 2006. 10,153 graduates were younger than 30, among them 63.8% women.

Among graduates from higher undergraduate education studies, almost two thirds (61.8%) are women. As regards vocational colleges and post-graduate education studies, about half of graduates are women.
Almost half of all graduates from higher undergraduate education studies graduated in social sciences, business and law (69.7% of them women). Most graduates from post-graduate education studies (almost two thirds) graduated in social sciences, business and law (more than half of them women).

In the eyes of young people lifelong learning is gaining importance

In the school year 2006/2007, 348 providers of continuing education registered 268,754 participants. Most of them (205,101) participated in non-verified programmes, of whom 80% in professional programmes for the needs of performing an occupation and 17.1% in programmes for general needs and leisure time. According to collected data on the age of participants, we estimate that young people represent around 34% of people attending educational programmes that do not provide a higher level of education. Except for language courses, which account for 25% of participants and where the two genders are equally represented, men more often decide to participate in informal education; and 39% of them are 15-29 years old. The share of women participating in informal education aged 15-29 is 30%.

The UN General Assembly report about the situation in education recommends that governments stimulate the wish of young people to educate themselves and to recognise the value of both formal and informal learning and knowledge that could be used in their professional and social lives.