The Position of Nations of Former Yugoslavia in the Slovenian Education System

The article presents the findings of a study conducted among the representatives of cultural associations of former Yugoslavia’s constitutive nations in Slovenia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain insight into the representatives’ views on their nations’ situation in Slovenian education, including their expectations regarding education. The results are interpreted from the perspective of emerging multicultural educational policies categorized according to the different legal statuses of the ethnical groups in Slovenia. The results indicate a lack of clear policy, causing the respondents to express several concerns.
Keywords: multicultural education policy, national communities of former Yugoslavia’s constitutive nations, immigrant students

The article presents the findings of a study conducted among the representatives of cultural associations of former Yugoslavia’s constitutive nations in Slovenia. The associations strive to attain legal acknowledgment of their national communities so that some of their collective rights gain legal protection. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain insight into the representatives’ views on their nations’ situation in Slovenian society and education, including their expectations regarding education. The results are interpreted from the perspective of emerging multicultural policies categorized according to different legal statuses of the ethnic groups in Slovenia: education in ethnically mixed areas (referring to Italian and Hungarian national communities); Roma education; integration of immigrant students (including members of nations of former Yugoslavia) into education. Due to the lack of legal acknowledgment, their collective educational rights are very limited; based on bilateral intergovernmental agreements, their mother tongues can be taught as an extra-curricular activity in schools. Some of the nations’ languages also gained the status of elective subjects in primary schools. 
Additionally, the educational needs of members of nations of former Yugoslavia are addressed within an integration strategy for immigrant students in education, adopted by Slovenian education authorities in 2007. The strategy also refers to those citizens who need support in the Slovenian language learning and social integration. Results of the study indicate the respondents’ strong opposition to tackling the issue of educational rights within the immigrant integration policy. They do not see themselves as immigrants needing support in language learning and integration into Slovenia society. As citizens, they are well integrated, yet they claim collective cultural rights that would provide better opportunities for the teaching of their mother tongues and the recognition of their cultures in the school curricula.