Graduates of Slovak higher education institutions will be able to choose how they finish their studies. A new law on higher education takes effect on September 1. This law will allow graduates to graduate without writing a traditional thesis. Instead, students can choose a final internship at a real workplace. This decision by the Ministry of Education aims to better prepare young people for the job market and respond to the challenges of artificial intelligence.
The new law gives universities freedom to choose: they can make this practice mandatory or leave it as an option for specific programs. The internship process will be supervised by both an advisor from the university and a mentor from the company. The final step will be a project defense based on the work results, which is officially equal to a state exam. Students can even suggest their own employers if the university approves such cooperation.
Leading higher education institutions, such as the Technical University of Košice (TUKE) and Comenius University, are already preparing new instructions. Although this form of study increases student motivation, teachers emphasize that internships will require more independence. The main challenge is to ensure the same high academic quality and critical thinking as when writing a research paper.
Universities in Trnava, Žilina, and Nitra are currently developing rules and looking for business partners. It is expected that the number of internship places may be limited. Therefore, students will be allowed to suggest their own employers, provided they sign an official agreement with the university.
