Day care for children

In Slovakia, the pre-primary education is provided until the beginning of the compulsory school attendance. It may be provided in kindergartens, in registered pre-primary education facilities and, under specific conditions, through home education. The institutional form of pre-primary education is provided mainly by kindergartens and special kindergartens.

It is both non‑institutional and institutional. The non‑institutional form of preschool education takes places in the family. The institutional form of preschool education is carried out in preschool establishments represented by kindergartens and special kindergartens. Preschool establishments normally admit children from the age of 3; exceptionally, children may be admitted from the age of 2 if the capacity of the kindergarten allows it. Children who are five years old by 31 August of the relevant year are subject to compulsory pre-primary education. Preschool education in preschool establishments is also provided to children over 6 years of age, whose start of compulsory school attendance was postponed or whose fulfilment of compulsory schooling was additionally postponed.

Pre-primary education is compulsory for every child who reaches the age of five by 31 August preceding the school year in which the child is due to start compulsory school attendance. Preschool establishments are set up with varied lengths of operation such as half‑day, full day, weekly and continuous operation. Many kindergartens operate on a full-day basis, with opening hours determined by the individual kindergarten according to local conditions and the needs of parents (usually from 6:00 to 18:00).

State kindergartens are the norm; however, church and private kindergartens are becoming quite common, too. In most kindergartens, the education is provided in Slovak, though there are several kindergartens (mostly state ones) with Hungarian and Ukrainian as communication languages aimed predominantly at children of those nationalities.

Some private kindergartens provide education in foreign languages. Check sample lists of this kind of establishments:

The list of kindergartens in Slovakia is available at the website of the portal EduWorld (in Slovak only).

Contact phone numbers of kindergartens, primary, secondary schools, and universities can be found at Yellow Pages. 

Are you coming with a child of school age? Take a look at the education system in Slovakia.