We are going to study in Slovakia!

Avers Express organised an educational tour of Slovak vocational secondary schools and universities for Ukrainian school leavers.

Five cities, more than ten institutions, new friends, experiences and language adaptation. Bratislava was first: Vienna lies just sixty kilometres west. The capital offers the Danube, tourist attractions and leading institutions — the Slovak University of Technology, known for IT training, and Comenius University. Applicants and parents saw laboratories, a language centre, sports facilities, canteens and residences, finishing with a walk around the city.

Next came Trnava and Nitra: Trnava University, the University of Saints Cyril and Methodius, and Constantine the Philosopher University. Nitra’s science faculty gave a particularly warm welcome. Visitors toured residences, tried a student lunch and experienced medical training at the faculty educating nurses.

At the Faculty of Mass Media Communication of the University of Saints Cyril and Methodius, participants tried being journalists and sensed the lively student community and close cooperation between teachers and students.

Banská Bystrica welcomed the group with snow and sunshine. Historic churches, seventeenth-century buildings and monuments surrounded a young population at Matej Bel University, known for diplomacy and its philosophy and economics faculties. The source mentions tuition-free economics study in English.

The Technical University in Zvolen impressed visitors with environmental management, environmental forensics, landscape design, alternative energy and a modern campus with nearby teaching buildings, canteens, sports grounds and residences. Its environment and location were further advantages.

The final stop was Košice, Slovakia’s second-largest city. Visitors toured the philosophy and public administration faculties of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University. The dean’s warm welcome helped some participants make their final choice.

The tour also included sightseeing, shopping and local food. Applicants for 2020/2021 gave Slovakia a firm “one” — the highest grade in the education system they were preparing to join.

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