The Youth Vocational Education Institute operated from 1/2/1991 to 31/11/1994. Its subject matter was changing during this time. According to the Foundation Charter, the main activities of the organization consisted in performing methodological management of secondary vocational schools and vocational training centers established by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Slovak Republic. The Institute cooperated with all ministries and their educational institutions in designing the conception of youth preparation for occupation, in organizing the staff for preparation of basic pedagogical documentation for trade and study branches, in the area of further training of educators, in coordinating the cooperation with domestic and foreign stakeholders with the aim to supply technical equipment for schools and to perform current tasks in the field of retraining in particular.
The subject matter of activity of the Youth Vocational Education Institute was extended by methodological ensuring of tasks in the area of secondary vocational education and training on 24/5/1994 by an amendment to the Foundation Charter. It performed tasks related to the pedagogical-organizational provision of education and training at secondary vocational schools, training centers and workplaces. Its activities were focused on the development of backgrounds and statements for the drafts of conceptual documents, acts, standards and basic pedagogical documents in the field of vocational education; furthermore, it was aimed at the development of methodological materials, provision of counseling, tutorial, methodological and information services for practical training and at the performance of activities related to the international agency coordinated and sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter only ME SR).
ME SR changed the corporate name of the Youth Vocational Education Institute to the State Vocational Education Institute (thereinafter “Institute”) in accordance with the Foundation Charter dated 29/1/1991 in the wording of subsequent amendments by issuing the Statutes on 11/11/1994 with effect from 1/12/1994, whereby the scope of its activity and competencies was extended and modified.
European Training Foundation (ETF), seated in Torino, established the Slovak National Observatory (thereinafter „SNO“), hosted by the Institute and supported by ME SR and Ministry of Social Affairs of the SR. SNO’s objective is to collect and analyze the information on vocational education in Slovak Republic and to compare it with the situation in the European Union. Its aim is to gather the incentives and to initiate propositions for decision making domain which could facilitate encompassment the transformation of vocational education in line with the ongoing restructuring of economic domain of SR.