YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

Education, training and learning mobility  79 MARKO RADOVAN, MITJA SARDOČ, TOMAŽ DEŽELAN AND KATJA NACEVSKI 2. EDUCATION, TRAINING AND LEARNING MOBILITY 2.1  PUBLIC EDUCATION IN A MODERN PLURAL SOCIETY Modern societies (including Slovenia and the EU) have faced many changes and related challenges and problems in the last few years. Ter- rorist attacks in many European capitals, the problem of radicalisation and violent extremism or security in general [also concerning the so- called “refugee crisis”], the broader socio-political situation, e.g. the rise of populist movements and nationalism [especially in the individual EU Member States and their immediate neighbourhood], the role of the me- dia in transmitting [as well as “generating”] information, e.g. the phe- nomenon of “fake news”, and the rise of digital media and social net- works are just some of the changes that are in the focus of attention of the academic and research communities, policymakers, as well as the media and the public at large. Particularly noteworthy are global economic trends, such as the ‘Great Recession’, and the associated changes in the very notion of public schooling and the education process in general. In addition to providing knowledge, education, and socialisation, public education in modern plural societies also has the role of the so-called “great equaliser”. The provision of equal educational opportunities is con- sidered one of the cornerstones of public education and one of the primary mechanisms for ensuring equity in the distribution of certain social posi- tions. As the authors ofWhite Paper on education in the Republic of Slove- nia pointed out, it is “ a necessary condition for all citizens to have equal oppor- tunities to succeed in life in modern societies based on liberal and democratic