All children living in Slovenia have the right to compulsory elementary school education under equal and non-discriminatory conditions. Compulsory elementary school education lasts for 9 years and begins when the child reaches the age of 6 and ends when he/she successfully completes the education programme or after 9 years of schooling. If a pupil fails to complete the programme in 9 years, he/she can continue with the elementary school programme for another 2 years or the school can issue a certificate stating that the student has fulfilled their compulsory school attendance requirement. Parents can choose between the elementary education programmes provided by public nine-year elementary schools, private elementary schools or home-schooling. In practice almost 100 % of children attend public nine-year single structure elementary schools.

Parents have a right to enrol their child in elementary education programmes at a public or a private school within the school district of their residence. They may also enrol their child in an elementary education programme provided by a school in another school district if they have the target school's written consent. There are no special admission criteria. The procedure establishing whether a child is prepared to enter a school can be started  following a parents' request or following a  request from the  medical services.

The objectives of elementary education are: to encourage the balanced emotional, spiritual and social development of pupils; to develop literacy skills, a national identity and general cultural values based on European traditions; and to prepare children for a life in an equal and democratic society. The elementary school curriculum is designed to encourage pupils and teachers to achieve internationally comparable educational standards. It provides all school-age children with basic knowledge and skills for the continuation of education and motivates them for lifelong learning. Elementary schools adapt the learning environment to the needs of children with learning difficulties, special needs children and to gifted children.

Compulsory education is free. This includes health insurance and medical examinations. Younger children and children with special needs are entitled to free transportation. All children are entitled to free school transportation if their school is located more than 4 km from their place of residence. The schools are required to provide school meals. Children from socially and economically deprived families are entitled to school meals at a reduced price.

The geographical distribution of schools gives the opportunity for all children in Slovenia to receive elementary education as close to their home as possible. This is the duty of municipalities which are responsible for foundation of public elementary schools in the form of single institutions or in the form of organisational units of other institutions.  The most common combination is an institution that comprises both, the elementary school and a pre-school unit.

Apart from the Waldorf elementary school which is private, all other elementary schools are public.

Single and central elementary schools usually organise all grades (1-9) in the same building. Smaller branch units in local, usually more remote locations, where there are less children, provide education for the first three or the first six grades in smaller buildings.

The size of schools varies: in larger cities the central school has between 900 pupils and 1100 pupils (including those coming from branch . On the other hand, small branch units can enrol less than 30 pupils.

The teaching language of education in elementary schools is Slovenian. Italian is used in schools of the minority community, while Hungarian and Slovenian are used in bilingual schools. For children whose mother tongue is not Slovenian, additional lessons of Slovenian and their own mother tongue and culture can be organised. Special arrangements exist for the education of: children of the members of the Roma people, children of foreign citizens and people without citizenship. All schools are coeducational.

Some elementary schools organise special units and classes for children with special needs, who need specialised provision based on the educational content or teaching methods. Elementary education is also provided for children with long-term illness who are spending  a long period of time in hospitals.

Organization of the school

The school year starts on 1 September each year and ends on 31 August the following calendar year. It is divided into two terms. Lessons are provided for up to 38 weeks per year and 5 days per week. The school year comprises a maximum of 188 school days for pupils of grade 1-8 and a maximum of 183 school days for pupils of the final grade. The exact number of school days can decrease by a couple of days, depending on the distribution of national holidays.

In general, lessons are 45 minutes long. The maximum total number of hours of instruction per week is: 16.5 hours (22 lessons) for pupils of the first cycle, 19.5 hours (26 lessons) for pupils of the second cycle and 22.5 hours (30 lessons) for pupils of the third cycle. Every school year the Minister for education issues a school calendar, specifying the distribution of school days, school free days and school holidays. Apart from summer holiday which  lasts approximately 10 weeks, pupils also have the autumn holidays, Christmas / New Year Holidays, winter holidays and the first of May holiday. National holidays are also school free days.

Elementary school activities include the compulsory curriculum and also extra curriculum activities. Involvement in the latter is voluntary and optional. The compulsory curriculum comprises compulsory subjects and compulsory subject options along with discussion periods, during which pupils discuss with their class teacher different issues that concern their life and work. The extra curriculum activities consist of before- and after-school classes and other forms of pupils' care, supplementary lessons, additional lessons, interest activities and out-of-school classes. In after-school classes pupils study, complete their homework and participate in cultural or artistic activities and sports.

Most classes are single-grade classes and include children of the same age. In smaller schools there are also multi-grade classes that combine pupils of different age. Pupils of one or several classes can be divided into smaller study groups. When selecting teaching methods in relation to the organisation of work, teachers can differentiate their work according to the ability of their pupils. The most common is internal differentiation, although some subjects allow flexible differentiation. Teachers have a statutory right to, upon parents' consent, organise a part of their lessons by: dividing their pupils into various study groups; applying a team teaching approach; applying ability grouping; or by a combination of all these forms.
 
The size of classes and groups is specified in the Standards and norms for the provision of elementary education. The upper limit stands at 28 pupils per class. The requirements for classes which include children with special needs or Roma pupils are lower.

In the first cycle (grades 1-3) all or most of the subjects are taught by general class teachers. Half of the lessons in the first grade of the elementary school are assisted by the pre-school teacher.

During the second cycle (grades 4-6) specialist teachers become more and more involved in the teaching process.

In the third cycle (grades 7-9) lessons are taught solely by specialist teachers. Where deemed necessary, teachers specialised for work with children with special needs and language specialists may also take part in teaching.

Curriculum

The compulsory elementary school curriculum is based on several national curricular documents which were prepared and adopted by the National Curricular Council and the Council of Experts for general education of the Republic of Slovenia (1998-2006) and were launched by Ministerial decrees, and issued in accordance with the Elementary school Act. The Act specifies which school subjects are compulsory.

Elementary schools have a statutory duty to offer a list of subjects as options pupils must choose in the higher grades. Schools are autonomous only to some extent in the selection of optional subjects. There is a statutory requirement that a certain number of social sciences / humanistic subjects and natural sciences / technical subjects, a second foreign language, non-confessional religious education and rhetoric lessons must be on offer. Pupils must take at least two of the optional subjects.

National curricular documents consist of the syllabus for the 9-year elementary school, national subject curriculum for compulsory and optional subjects along with the definitions of cross curricular content (e.g. how to use libraries and information technologies), extra-curricular activities, after-school classes and other forms of day-care, out of school classes, as well as lists of approved text books and learning materials and other documents concerning the protection of rights of pupils, parents and teachers. The National subject curricula include general aims, objectives and core contents of the subject, didactic principles and recommendations and knowledge standards. The basic knowledge standards specify what pupils should be able to demonstrate, know, understand and be able to evaluate at the end of  the lessons.

The national core curriculum is open and specifies first of all the objectives and standards of knowledge, defined as core contents. Within the framework of the national core curriculum, teachers are free to adjust the content to specific learning environments. The curriculum stresses the process of learning and development of the skills of learners and promotes the contents and teaching methods which take into account the individual pupil's potential. The education process is defined as an interactive communication between the pupil and the teacher. Therefore, one of the basic principles of the curriculum is also the pupils' active involvement in the education process. It is demonstrated through pupils' participation in lessons, the understanding of newly taught topics, problem-solving, developing a capability for critical judgement and more complex learning styles.

The pupils' influence on the achievement of curricular objectives in elementary schools gradually increases with their age. In the third cycle (grades 7-9) pupils select optional subjects according to their own wishes, interests and talents. They can also participate in extra-curricular activities and school projects. Thus, they should gradually attain the main objectives of the elementary school curriculum, which is the development of a critical approach, independent thinking and creativity.

The aim of the teaching process is also to provide pupils with the learning to learn skills and thus provide them with a tool for a lifelong learning Skrajšujem! Moreover, elementary schools enhance pupils' awareness about integrity of individuals, their national identity, overall cultural and civilisation values. Pupils are raised in the spirit of equality, tolerance, respect of inter-personal differences and human rights. They develop their own culture and traditions, while studying other cultures and learning foreign languages. Elementary education also encourages personal health-care and environmental care.

Municipalities have no powers over the implementation of the compulsory curriculum. However, they may participate in the formulation and implementation of the extended curriculum and extra-standard quality of education provision.

Distribution of lessons

WEEKLY TIMETABLE OF THE 9-YEAR COMPULSORY SCHOOL