Fachhochschule Campus Wien Trnava University, Slovakia

Europäisches Master-Studium
SOWOSEC

Abschlussbericht zum Modul Final report

Interkulturelles Projektmanagement Intercultural Project Management

Studienaufenthalt in der Slowakei Study visit to Slovakia

Wintersemester 2009/10 Winter term 2009/10

Magdalena Berger

Wien und Trnava, 10.02.2010

2 Slovakia

Table of content

1 Introduction..................................................................................................................3
2 Social welfare in Slovakia and in Austria...................................................................3
2.1 General overview.........................................................................................................3
2.2 Social security system.................................................................................................4
2.2.1 Sed vestibulum......................................................................................................................................7
2.2.2 Donec rhoncus......................................................................................................................................7
2.3 Etiam eu elit.................................................................................................................7
3 Situation of homeless people in Austria and Slovakia..............................................7
3.1 Homelessness..............................................................................................................7
3.2 Unemployement..........................................................................................................7
3.3 Donec non nisi non......................................................................................................8
4 Intercultural experience...............................................................................................8
4.1 Definitions of Culture..................................................................................................8
There are literally hundreds of different definitions as writers have attempted to provide
a definition of culture. A few important ones…................................................................8
4.2 Intercutural learning....................................................................................................9
4.3 Meeting the „others“..................................................................................................10
5 Literaturverzeichnis...................................................................................................11
6 Abbildungsverzeichnis...............................................................................................11
7 Tabellenverzeichnis....................................................................................................12
8 Abkürzungsverzeichnis..............................................................................................12
9 Anhang ........................................................................................................................12
9.1 Gesprächsleitfaden....................................................................................................12
9.2 …...............................................................................................................................12
Slovakia 3

1 Introduction

2 Social welfare in Slovakia and in Austria

2.1 General overview

Austria is a federalistic state with about 8.3 million of inhabtitants

(http://stats.oecd.org). The population oft the capital vienna is about 1.6 million of
inhabtitants. Wheras in Slovakia the population is about 5.4 million. Slovakia became
an indipendent state on jannuary first, after a peaceful dissolution from the Czech
Republic. Slovakia is divided into 8 regions and furthermore 79 districts. Regions have
gained a certain autonomy since 2002. They are self governing regions. As a federal
state Austria can be devided in 9 provinces. The provinces are diveded into districts and
municipalities. Provinces also have some legislative authority distinct from the federal
governement f.e in matters of social care or youth protection. Austria has a well
developed social market economy and a high standard of living. The country belongs to
the 12 richest country in the world (according to the GDP – Gross domestic product).
Slovakia is a high income advanced economy with one oft he fastest groth rates in the
EU. Since 2002 the Euro is the local currency in Austria, the Eu accession has been
since january the first 1995. The officially language is german, locally it is hungarian or
slovene and croation. The life expectancy is 82,1 years for women and 76,4 for man.
Austria has a land surface of 84.000 square kilometers. The majority of the inhabitants
of Slovakia are ethnically Slovak (85.8%). Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority
(9.5%). Other ethnic groups, as of the 2001 census, include Roma with 1.7%, Rusyns or
Ukrainians with 1%, and other or unspecified, 1.8%.Unofficial estimates on the number
of Roma population are much higher, around 9% Before World War II,135,000 Jews
lived in Slovakia.
The official language is Slovak, a member of the Slavic language family. Hungarian is
widely spoken in the southern regions. Since Jannuary first Slovakia has adopted the
Euro currency.
4 Slovakia

2.2 Social security system

The term of social security can be understood in a narrower and wider senses
as social policy. In a narrower meaning, social security is meant as security in
case of old age or illness. I In a broader sense it is quite near the term social
welfare as a set of institutions facilities and activities to prevent, mitigate and
remove hard social conditions of inhabitants who need such assistance
because of social situations recognised by the state. Social security is defined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights where in Article 22 it is stated that
every member of society has the right to social security, has the right to its
implementation by means of the state effort and international cooperation in
accordance with the organisation and sources of each state and is entitled to
economic, social and cultural rights necessary for his/her dignity preservation
and free development of his/her personality. In a negative way, social security
can be defined as an absence of factors which cause inability of individuals or
families to undertake fundamental duties on their shoulders and use their rights.

Safety expresses a certain state, security is a process of achieving that state,

which allows a sufficient room for activity of an individual of his/her own.
According to international documents, social security provides protection and
assistance to people in cases of:

· threats to health and diseases

· unemployment
· disability and invalidity
· work-related injuries
· old age
· maternity
· parenthood
· death of a family member

Social security is provided by means of social insurance, social support and

social assisstance.

In Slovakia social insurance is:

a) medical insurance as insurance in cases of losses or income decrease from

earnings activies
and for income ensurance due to temporary working inability, pregnancy and
maternity,
b) pension insurance, which means
1. old age insurance as insurance to ensure income in old age or in case of a
death,
Slovakia 5

2. invalidity insurance as insurance in case of disability to pursue earnings

activities due to long-term unfavourable health state of an insurer and in case of
death,
c) emergency insurance as insurance for the case of health damage and death
due to workrelated injury, service-related injury (further only work-related injury)
and diseases and illnesses due to profession,
d) guarantee insurance as insurance for cases of inability to cover payments by
an employee to satisfy needs of employees and to cover contributions for old
age pension savings being not paid by the employer to the basic fund of
contributions for old age pension savings,
e) insurance in unemployment as insurance in cases of income loss from the
activities of an employer due to unemployment and to provide incomes due to
unemployment.16

Social support

It deals with family allowances and benefits financed from the state budget,
through which the state directly participates in solving some life situations, e.g.
birth, feeding and educating a kid, death of a family member and so on. A claim
to get family benefits is not determined by payment of contributions, or by the
incomes of authorized persons.17 It is typical that an individual does not need
to prove his neccesity or reliance to start his/her claim for a benefit from the
system of social support. In our system, for a relatively long time, the
benefits of social support included also for instance a living benefit which did not
meet the criteria of social support benefits and therefore it was removed from
the system and included into the system of social assistance.

Social assistance in contrast with social support is characterized by proving a

neccessity. It represents a system of compensatory sources, most frequently in
the situations of material necessity of the most vulnerable groups of inhabitants,
as well as in cases of unfavourable or difficult social situations. A citizen, who is
without income has a claim for being supported by the state, being given
benefits in material need.. Those cannot be permanent, but only temporary
compensation of an income.18 A citizen, who is in an infavourable social
situation or difficult social situation has a claim for social services in the sense
of the Act No.448/2008.
Social assistance in Slovakia is regulated by two main acts, Act No. 599/2003
on assistance in material need as amended by later regulations and Act No.
448/2008 on social services as amended by later regulations.
Another expression is social welfare, which has been mentioned in relation with
social security. This expression came into existence during World War II and
with the expression welfare state is a key word of social policy, indicating a
certain state of social security execution/condut/implemention as a complex
system of asserting human rights.19 It is an
unclear expression, which is used in three fundamental meanings:
· Welfare generally means ‘well-being’, which can be translated as ‘to be fine’,
and is usually used as a synonym of life quality. It is understood in the sense of
usefulness of human comfort and interests being based on things we made
decicions ourselves for.
6 Slovakia

· It can be understood as a range of services which are provided to protect

people in various tough life situations, e.g. in childhood, illness, old age and so
on. In this meaning the expression social protection is used in the European
Union.

The Austrian social security system is contribution-based and the payment of

social insurance contributions is compulsory. Austria also offers non-
contributory welfare supplements.

Austria's contributory benefits

The Austrian contributory benefits payable are:
• Austrian retirement pension,
• Austrian early retirement pension,
• Austrian disability pension,
• Austrian surviving spouse's pension,
• Austrian orphan's pension,
• Austrian Personal care benefit (Pflegegeld), and
• Austrian additional amounts for dependent children.

Austria's non-contributory benefits

Austrian non-contributory compensatory supplement (Ausgleichszulage) may
be paid to pensioners who receive small pensions and have little or no other
income. This payment is income tested and cannot legally be paid outside
Austria. Austria also pays a number of other welfare payments of a
compensatory nature to war victims and victims of war crimes.

Portability & rate of Austrian benefits

Austria's contributory pensions and payments are paid abroad. Non-contributory
benefits cannot be paid outside Austria. The rate of the contributory benefits is
tied to the amount of contributions and the final salary before becoming eligible
for benefit. Non-contributory benefits are flat rate and means tested.

Contribution conditions for Austria

Under Austrian law, social insurance is compulsory. Insurance takes effect
automatically when someone begins work. Insurance covers health care,
workers' compensation and pensions. Insurance for pensioners covers health
Slovakia 7

care only. School children and students are insured against accidents.
Employees and their employers pay contributions.

Credited contributions for Austria

Under Austria's laws, some periods can be deemed as accruing social
insurance, even though no contributions were made.
Example: Periods of war service, periods of forced labour during World War ll,
periods spent on benefits (e.g. disability benefit) and periods in higher
education.

Administration - Austrian social security system

The Austrian social security system is administered by a structure that reflects
the various pension schemes available (i.e. civil servants, miners, blue-collar
workers, etc). There are 3 branches of social insurance - health, workers'
compensation and pensions. There are many insurance institutions and some
of them service 2, or all 3, branches of social security insurance

2.2.1 Sed vestibulum

2.2.2 Donec rhoncus

2.3 Etiam eu elit

3 Situation of homeless people in Austria and Slovakia

3.1 Homelessness

3.2 Unemployement
8 Slovakia

3.3 Donec non nisi non

4 Intercultural experience

4.1 Definitions of Culture

There are literally hundreds of different definitions as writers have

attempted to provide a definition of culture. A few important ones…..

According to Unesco General Conference (Article 1/Declaration on cultural

diversity) Culture „takes diverse forms across time and space. This diversity is
embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities of the groups and
societies making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovation and
creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for
nature. In this sense, it is the common heritage of humanity and should be
recognized and affirmed for the benefit of present and future generations“.

The English anthropologist Edward Taylor who wrote Primitive Culture

(1871),means that culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired
by man as a member of society”.

Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and
institutions
of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture
has
been called "the way of life for an entire society." As such, it includes codes of
manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and
morality and systems of belief as well as the art (Williams, R., 1976).

The popular 'Iceberg model' of culture developed by Selfridge and Sokolik, 1975
and W.L. French and C.H. Bell in 1979. Culture can be pictured like an iceberg.
The model identifies a visible area consisting of behaviour or clothing or
symbols and artifacts of some form and a level of values or an invisible level.
The powerfull dimensions like social norms of a cultur are difficult to find out
(becaus they are under the surface). The model shows the difficulty in
understanding other cultures because although it is easy to find out the visible
parts of others, you hardly find out its foundations.
Slovakia 9

4.2 Intercutural learning

Luis Amorim from the European Foundation Centre prepared their future
exchange students (www.efc.be) with the following approaches towards
intercultural learning. On the one hand it can be seen as a individual process of
acquiring knowledge, behavior or attitudes connected with the interaction of
different cultures. On the other hand, seen in a larger context, intercultural
learning is mentioned as a concept of how people with different cultural
backgrounds can live together peacefully. Luis Amorim defines some helpfully
advices in approaching other cultures:

1.) Confidence and respect

Building up confidence is important in order to achieve the openness
necessary for a mutual learning process. One should feel comfortable to
share different point of fews, feelings and perceptions.
2.) Experiencing Identity
The departure point of encounter different cultures is the own culture
(personal backgrounds and experience). First step is to understand oneself
second step is meeting other cultures.
3.) Reality as a construction
In a process of intercultural learning it could be found out, that there are
many ways to understand reality. The challenge is to operate within different
worldviews. It is important to accept other views in equal values.
4.) In dialogue with the “Other”
Intercultural learning opens up the possibility to identify the perspectives of
other cultures. “Walking in each other’s shoes without pretending to live their
lives”
5.) Constant change and questioning
10 Slovakia

In this process, one has to accept, that there will not be always an answer or
the right answer. One should be prepared to question his assumptions and
stereotypes and break away from old beliefs, traditions and ideas.
6.) The potential of conflict
The diversity of different attitudes towards space, time and world views
makes clear, that intercultural learning also consists of conflicts. In an
environment were people feel free to express their opinions, there is also
space to talk about doubts and misunderstandings.

4.3 Meeting the „others“

In Trnava we had the possibility to express our attitudes towards certain visible
parts of Austrian culture (in regard of religion, politics, social system, music,
education,,,)and we discovered different (or similar) opinions from the Slovakian
people (teachers, students).

Religion
In Austria according to the census of 2001 73.6% of the population is Roman
Catholic, a further 4.7% Protestant (mainly Augsburg Confession). The number
of muslims has increased to 4.2%, due to immigration in the past decade. Some
3.5% of the population belong to another faith, 12 % are non-denominational,
and 3.5% provided no information. Religious education in Austrian schools is
not restricted to the Roman Catholic confession: children belonging to smaller
churches and religious communities receive religions education in their own
confession. Their teachers are paid by the State.
Among the Religion of Slovakia 68.9% population have an affiliation with
Roman Catholic Church, 6.9% have an affiliation with Evangelic Church of
Augsburg, 4.1% have an affiliation with Greek-Catholic Church, 2.0% have an
affiliation with Reformed Christian Church, and 0.9% has an affiliation with
Orthodox Church. 13% people did not have any religious affiliation.
The numbers are very similar. Within the conversation with students, we found
out, that it is very common for young people to go to church (for celebrating the
messes or only for praying). In former times (during communism) religion was
more or less forbidden. People had to move town another town for not being
seen while celebrating messes.

Education
At present compulsory education in Austria lasts nine years. After four years of
primary school education (ages 6 to 10) pupils may either attend a lower
secondary school or the lower level of a secondary academic school. All those
14-year-olds who choose to complete compulsory education after nine years
attend the pre-vocational year during which pupils are prepared for their
Slovakia 11

transition to vocational life. The attendance of vocational schools is mandatory

for apprentices. Those students who continue their education attend upper
secondary level (ages 14 to 18/19), which includes secondary academic
schools (like classical secondary academic schools, secondary academic
schools emphasising mathematics and science, secondary academic schools
emphasising economics) and a differentiated system of secondary technical
and vocational schools and colleges. Upon completion of the last year of a
secondary academic or a secondary technical and vocational school or college
pupils take a final exam. The school-leaving certificate thus acquired provides
access to university or other higher education. Attendance of public (state-run)
schools is free of charge.

Children start school at the age of six. Compulsory school attendance in

Slovakia is free, and lasts for ten years. The education system is comprised of
public, private and faith schools.
There are four levels of education:

Pre-school education is not compulsory and children may attend pre-school

facilities up to the age of six.
Compulsory primary education begins at the age of six, and is divided into
two levels. Over the first four years, pupils acquire basic knowledge and skills.
Pupils usually continue to the second level (from 10 – 15 years) at primary
school.
Secondary education (15 – 18 years) is provided by a number of types of
schools, according to the pupils' desire for further study or a future career.
Gymnáziá (grammar schools) prepare pupils for study at universities, while
stredné odborné školy and stredné odborné učilištia (technical colleges) and
odborné učilištia (vocational schools) provide professional education and
training. Secondary school students usually finish their studies with maturita
school leaving exam (the equivalent of 'A'-level exams), which form the basis for
acceptance to university.

Within the conversation we found out, that in Austria pupils has the opportunity
to apply for an apprenticeship (Lehrling) at the age of 15. In Slovakia young
people have to go to school to learn for similar jobs. In our opinion it is better
because in Austria we have not enough places for Lehrlinge. It causes big
young-peoples unemployment’s problems.

5 Literaturverzeichnis

6 Abbildungsverzeichnis
12 Slovakia

7 Tabellenverzeichnis

8 Abkürzungsverzeichnis

9 Anhang

9.1 Gesprächsleitfaden

9.2 …