Bratislava, Feb 19 (CTK) – Slovakia has been failing to attract its experts abroad to return home, despite a special programme of incentives, the Education Ministry says in a report, adding that only 13 positions have been created since the programme’s launch two years ago and the sum earmarked for it has not been spent.
The ministry has proposed changes to make the programme more effective.
The programme of subsidies to young experts who completed their studies abroad and for experts who have worked abroad for ten years at least was approved by the previous cabinet in 2015.
Young experts can receive subsidies worth up to 10,000 euros and the latter category of experts up to 50,000 euros if they move to Slovakia and take up a job in the public sector.
The average monthly wage in Slovakia, which lags behind the advanced West European countries, is 935 euros.
Last year, Slovak authorities planned to create a total of 33 work positions for young specialists and experts coming from abroad, but finally they created only five, all of them at universities.
In 2016, Slovak institutions acquired eight experts this way.
Apart from subsidising the returning experts, the programme also offers subsidies to their projects.
Of the one million euros earmarked for the programme in 2017, only nearly a half was spent.
To make the programme more effective, it is necessary to change its parameters such as the criteria for allotting the subsidies, an increase in the sum provided or the programme’s extension also to include multi-year grants pursued by teams under the leadership of experts, the ministry said.