Schools across Slovenia came alive in controlled chaos on 2 September, as nearly 280,000 students returned after their two-month summer break. Meanwhile the primary and secondary education systems, as well as kindergartens, are in growing crisis due to lack of teaching staff.

The new school year started for around 84,000 secondary school students and nearly 193,000 primary school students, among them over 20,000 first graders.

Around 23,440 teenagers have meanwhile enrolled in year one of secondary education, which is around 28% of all enrolled in various types of secondary schools.

Of them, nearly 7,700 enrolled in "gimnazija", which enables those who complete it with the matura exam to study at practically any higher education school.

Several changes will take effect in primary education this year, among them an expansion of the national exam. So far, these tests were taken in sixth and ninth grade, but as of this year, students in third grade will also have to take them. What is more, the result of the exam in year nine will become one of the criteria for secondary education enrolment.

This year legislative changes also usher in the first foreign language - in most cases English - in first grade. However, for many schools this will be nothing new, as many have been offering a foreign language course as part of the curriculum to first graders for years.

Children who are homeschooled - there were 869 in the 2023-2024 school year - will from now on have to take many more exams, which has upset their parents.

Meanwhile, headteachers in virtually all of the country's roughly 800 primary and nearly half as many secondary schools, are facing staff shortages. Overall the system is short of nearly 5,000 teachers and the situation is no better in kindergartens, where staff shortages have become chronic due to poor pay.