Education Staff indicators for Slovenia

Abstract

Purpose: The paper deals with identifying available indicators to predict future education staff needs in Slovenia. Study design/methodology/approach: We used SORS's secondary data to analyse and provide an overview of indicators that can be used to forecast the education staff numbers in the future. We focused on the current number of education staff at different levels of education, the number of enrolled in formal education, number of enrolled students and graduates of educational sciences and teacher education, number of vacancies for education, and future population projections in certain age groups that education management must consider when planning staffing needs in the future. Findings: Our findings show that enrolled generation in primary (basic) education is expanding in their number which will further increase a demand for upper secondary and tertiary education in the future 3 to 5 years. Number of education staff has followed this trend, and has increased by 5 % in the last 5 years, mostly in primary education sector. The needs for education staff will increase in the near future in Slovenia. Demography outlook indicates that several changes must be implemented in the education and labour market sectors. Originality/value: Education staff needs were not yet addressed by the researchers for the case of Slovenia, however the future trends indicate that it is worth exploring for the purpose of efficient and effective educational planning at the system management level.