Decentralisation, Privatisation and Changes in the Financing of Education in Slovenia: Greater Opportunities for Citizens?

This paper has been conducted to explore the major issues and problems in higher education regarding the decentralisation, privatization, accreditation and public financing processes in Slovenia. There is significant political pressure supporting the idea that if Slovenia has regions they should be as busy as possible. The real danger is that the introduction of small regions and 7-10 universities will only strengthen centralisation. Slovenian public expenditure on education has generally been relatively high. However, in recent years the proportion of annual GDP spent on higher education has decreased. There is a need for student protection and regulation. For many public and private universities, however, accreditation is mainly seen as an opportunity to strengthen their image by demonstrating their quality

Introducing New Methods Of Leadership And Fund Management In Public Sector: The Case Of Slovenia

A key factor in efficient operations of public sector units, is not only the establishment of autonomous organisations, but also the promotion of autonomy, professional and financial responsibility as well as supervision in all organisational units in the public sector. It would be normal to expect the direct role of the state to become less important and greater initiative be left to organisational units. With methodical monitoring of public needs, constant evaluation of services, expert management and increasing equal access of citizens to services, the public sector operations could be made more efficient

Transition Countries And New Public Management: The Case Of Slovenia

Globalisation impacts on a country and its administration with a series of economical, technological, cultural and ecological processes. The modern state is seen as a »modest« state. The state must provide the necessary direction without hindering other activities in society. The shift from public administration to new public management involves a shift in the basic design co-ordinates of public sector organisation.  Changes in the operating of public administration require new management policies. Abolishing administrative obstacles confronted by enterprises will reduce their operating costs. An efficient and well-organised public sector is in the interest of the economy. Reorganisation of state administration operations involves setting two important goals in the strategy of reform: greater productivity and better quality of service.  Operating indicators are necessary for internal and external reasons for assessing the past and planning the future.  New rules on public sector operations require a preliminary definition of operational standards, which determine the extent, quality and accessibility of services, measure results and establish mechanisms impacting on both the users and payers of services

Valuational Overhaul of Regulation and Assessing and Maintaining Education Quality in Slovenia

The aim of this article is to present practices for regulating elementary and secondary education from an international perspective. It presents processes needed to introduce a system of external evaluation and takes account of the danger that if not carefully thought out, external evaluation can adhere to procedure to too great an extent, to the detriment of actual improvements in education. An external evaluation model that could be implemented in the Slovenian education system is then proposed. The proposed model stresses schools’ accountability to the public, the dissemination of effective practices, and the delivery of relevant information to those in charge of national school policy. The model upgrades existing mechanisms for assessing and maintaining quality and links them with a legislation proposal to form a coherent whole

The Reduction Of Administrative Burdens And Its Impact On The Competitiveness Of Business

This paper focuses on the reduction of administrative burdens in Slovenia and how these actions can influence the competitiveness of business. The aim of the paper is to study and analyse the current situation in the field of Slovenian regulations and the disadvantages of the regulations for businesses, to study the possibilities for reducing administrative burdens in Slovenia and to analyse the influence of cross-border cooperation on the reduction of administrative burdens. The paper first describes the regulations and their impact on the competitiveness of business using the data from different international studies that include business environment and competitiveness and by using the results of the research carried out in Slovenia on defining the most burdensome areas of legislation. The paper continues by discussing the reduction of administrative burdens, where the Programme for the Elimination of Administrative Barriers and the Reduction of Administrative Burdens by 25% by 2012 is introduced. The third part of the paper describes the possible connection between the reduction of administrative burdens and cross-border cooperation by introducing the results of a cross-national empirical survey of the current situation and future potentials of cross-border cooperation in the Alps-Adriatic region. At the end, the paper gives some conclusions on the reduction of administrative burdens and the resulting impact on business competitiveness in Slovenia

Fiscal Instability in Slovenia during the Economic Crisis

The changed macroeconomic conditions brought about by the global financial and economic crisis are posing an increasing challenge to economic policymakers to achieve the objectives of the planned consolidation. The fiscal situation in Slovenia, as in other EU Member States, remains tight; the current priority is therefore to ensure the sustainability of public finances and to create conditions for stable economic growth. Slovenia faces the challenge of reducing the public finance defi cit below 3% of GDP in 2013. If it does so, it will fulfil its commitment to bring its excessive defi cit under control and re-establish opportunities for fi nancing on international markets. Long-term sustainability of public finances and stable economic growth will be ensured by economic policy measures, structural measures and institutional adjustments. If the economy is to function successfully, appropriate management frameworks are required in which the government plays a key role. Long-term economic success can be achieved with high-quality government institutions. The objective of this paper is to show the current state of public fi nances and to outline the features of the austerity measures being conducted in Slovenia. The need to balance public finances in order to ensure a stable and sustainable macroeconomic environment and meet the requirements of the EU, has led to amendments to legislation in Slovenia that are radically affecting the size and structure of public expenditure. On the other hand, Slovenia is also adopting measures to promote economic activity

European public procurement directives and their implementation in Slovenia

This article presents the results of the research work “Awarding work to external contractors,” carried out with a questionnaire in 2009 and 2010. The research examined the method and scope of public procurement in Slovenian municipalities with more than 8000 inhabitants. The objectives of the research work were: a comparison of public procurement legislation in selected EU countries; determination of the current situation in the field of public procurement in local government in years 2008 and 2009; determination of similarities and differences in the implementation of contracts; determination of the most common open questions in the implementation of contracts; determination of good practices in public procurement and making the recommendations for changes. Public procurement represents a significant proportion of national budget spending. Municipalities allocate around 20% of all expenditures to public procurement. The scope and methods of public procurement vary between municipalities. Small-value public procurement is determined by the municipalities in their internal acts, while large-value public procurement has legally prescribed procedures. New legislation on public procurement has brought innovations in the field of public tender and contract award procedures for procurement, which enables greater flexibility in the implementation and realisation of public procurement. This article presents also the European directives on public procurement and an international comparison of public procurement in selected EU and EEA states

Private And Public Sector Innovation And The Importance Of Cross-Sector Collaboration

Innovation plays a very important role in the private sector in terms of competitiveness, and is the key to success for private businesses, helping to cut costs, improve products and open new markets. Nowadays, innovation is gaining in importance in the public sector as well, as it can improve the quality of service delivery as well as reduce costs. Innovation is an important driver of economic progress and competitiveness in all economies.Collaboration between public and private entities creates better and more effective public and private services and products. Collaboration enables the participants to exchange and share knowledge, experiences, know-how and expertise. Collaboration helps to bring a broader set of skills and talents and a more responsive work culture into public sector organisations, along with innovative thinking and creativity; it also helps private companies to innovate more effectively and to achieve their concrete goals in a more efficient way.The objective of this paper is to outline the differences and similarities between private and public sector innovation in terms of definition, driving factors, barriers and measurement; the paper also aims to examine the importance of cross-sector collaboration for private and public sector innovation, and demonstrate that collaboration can improve innovation