Questions, hypotheses, and methods

In the context of the observed issues we asked the following questions:

1. What is the status of non-formal education in the Czech Republic and Slovakia? 2. Is non-formal education in the Czech Republic comparable with non-formal education in Slovakia?

3. How different is non-formal education in the EU 28 countries from non-formal education in the Czech Republic and Slovakia?

These basic areas of examination were subject to the analysis in the following three contexts:  Participation in non-formal education,

 The average number of hours spent on non-formal education,

 Participation in non-formal education according to the economic situation of the population, which is divided into working people, the unemployed and the economically inactive population.

The aim of the research was to map the status of non-formal education in both of the above mentioned countries. Consequently, we focused on a few selected aspects, and i.e. on the percentage representation of the population in non-formal education, the average number of hours spent on non-formal education and the participation in non-formal education according to the economic status of the population

For the purposes of our research, we have set some working hypotheses:

 H2: The average number of hours of the population aged 25-64 in non-formal education in the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and in the EU 28 countries is different.

 H3: The participation in non-formal education in the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and in the EU28 countries, according to the economic situation of the population aged 25-64 is differentiated according to the economic status of the population and is the highest for working people and the lowest for the economically inactive population.

In the paper we analyzed the Eurostat data from the area of non-formal education. The attention was paid to non-formal education in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and in the EU 28 countries. Analysis methods, synthesis and comparison were used for processing the data.

4 Results

The research results of the total participation in non-formal education of persons aged 25-64 years in the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and in the EU28 countries showed that it is almost comparable in selected countries. The lowest participation in non-formal education is in the Czech Republic, and accounts for only 35%. In Slovakia the participation in non-formal education reached even 38%, which is 3 percent more than in the Czech Republic and even more than is in the EU 28 countries, which is about 1%. The results are listed in the following table.

Table 1:Total participation in non-formal education of persons aged 25-64 in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the EU 28 countries

Country %

Czech Republic 35%

Slovakia 38%

EU28 countries 37%

Source:Eurostat, 2011, own processing

Another area, which is observed is the average number of hours of the population aged 25- 64 spent on non-formal education. The research showed that the population of the Czech Republic devoted 50 hours on average to non-formal education, the population in Slovakia 40 hours, which is about 6 hours less than in the Czech Republic. In comparison with the EU28 countries, in both countries it is less than in the EU28 countries, which amounts to 65 hours. The following table shows achieved values.

Table 2:The average number of hours of the population aged 25-64 spent on non-formal education in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and in the EU28 countries

Country average number of hours

Czech Republic 50

Slovakia 44

EU28 countries 65

Source: Eurostat, 2011, own processing

The last of the monitored area is participation in non-formal education in the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and in the EU28 countries, according to the economic situation of the population aged 25-64. The participation of the population in non-formal education is differentiated according to the economic situation. The largest group of the population involved in non-formal education within the observed locations is always working people. The largest share of working people in non-formal education is in Slovakia and reaches 47, 3%, in the Czech Republic it achieves a share of only 43.1% among working people. The EU28 countries reach values of 45,2%, which is about 2.1% more than in the Czech Republic, but about 2.1% less than in Slovakia.

The second largest group involved in non-formal education are the unemployed. The largest share of the unemployed represents 22.9% in non-formal education in the EU28 counties. In the Czech Republic, the share of the unemployed in non-formal education is close to the value of 22.8% in the EU28 countries. In Slovakia the comparison with the Czech Republic and the EU28 countries is significantly lower, here values reach only 14%, which is about 39% less than in the EU 28 countries.

The lowest participation in non-formal education was found with the economically inactive population. The largest share of the economically active population in the EU28 countries is 15.2%. In the Czech Republic, the economically inactive population contributes just to 10, 3%, in Slovakia it is just 7.0%. The two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia as for this indicator are below the values the EU 28 countries. Comparative data are the subject of table 3.

Table 3: Participation in non-formal education in the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and in the EU 28 countries, according to the economic situation of the population aged 25-64

The economic situation of the population

Czech Republic Slovakia EU 28 countries

Working people 43,1% 47,3% 45,2%

Unemployed 22,8% 14,0% 22,9%

Economically inactive population

10,3% 7,0% 15,2%

Source: Eurostat, 2011, own processing