Vzdelanie – základná podmienka rozvoja ekonomiky Slovenskej republiky
EDUCATION – A BASIC CONDITION FOR THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT

Summary/Abstract: The educational level of the population and a permanent growth of it skills is one of the basic preconditions of a successful development of a modern national economy. This is a necessary condition for innovation on higher degrees, for the ability to absorb the outcomes of the world science and of a know-how into the domestic environment. The educational level determines also the level of adaptability of a society to quickly changing development conditions both on a domestic level and worldwide. It is an in-evitable condition for sustainable economic growth and for a favourable employment deve-lopment. A polarization based on a spiritual property, i. e. polarization based on education, knowledge and skills, is working much faster and with higher intensity to compare the polarization based on physical property. This process is running not only between countries, but also inside them. Population with not sufficient education is pushed out on a periphery of the labour market. The data about the SR also supported this statement. While in 1999 the rate of unemploy-ment with university educated workers represented 5.9 %, high school graduates with A Levels/ school leaving certificate 15.2 %, without A Levels 20.4 % and with workers having just basic education 35.3 %. Regarding the above facts as well as the world development trends we cannot mark the current situation in the as favourable. The reflection are found in a decreasing qual-ity of education and in decline in the research potential of the SR. One of the major factors of that decline is the lack of funds. Total costs of education in the SR for the purpose of international comparison can be evaluated from two basic aspects: according to their share on the GDP, and the absolute value per inhabitant. According to the percentage of the GDP, even if since 1993 up to 1996 we can see a decline from 5.7 % to 4.4 %, this indicator is still comparable with some small econo-mically developed countries like Greece (3.1 %) and Portugal (5 %) during 1990–1992. According to expenditure per one hundred of inhabitants the situation is different. Despite the fact that the value of this indicator from 1993 till 1996 grew from USD 33.2 million (in the purchase power parity – PPP) to 36 million USD (in PPP), Slovakia ranks together with other Vissegrád group countries deeply under the average of small econo-mically developed countries (USD 128.8 million). The only exception out of such countries is Greece with value of USD 20.5 million. Slovakia dramatically legged be-hind in investments. The share of investments on the total expenditures fell from 12.5 % in 1993 to 3 % in 1996.The ratio of investment expenditures in the SR in comparison with an average of small economically developed countries in 1993 represented 45 % and in 1996 it dropped to only 12 %. It means a radical limitation of investment activities, probably in favour common expenditures to keep school institutions operations.

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