Bratislava, May 6, 2020 - Although the state entrusted part of education and health care to the administration of the Higher Territorial Units  (HTUs) almost twenty years ago, the cannot relieve itself from responsibility for the implementation of these two key public policies.

Self-governing regions do not have enough competencies to be able to influence, for example, the establishment of schools, as the key word in this matter belongs to the Ministry. The funds the regions receive from the State cover only the necessary running of schools and do not allow their development.

Similarly, in health care, HTUs cannot decide on the location of outpatient clinics, as the health insurance companies have the key position. The State does not directly contribute to the HTUs for the administration of competencies in health care. The auditors also found shortcomings in the self-governing regions, which did not have clear strategies, e.g. in what fields of study are required by the labour market or how to develop a network of hospitals.

The full text of the press release about this audit in Slovak language is available here. Use the Google icon in the top bar for automatic translation into the desired language.