State Vocational Education Institute (ŠIOV) is an agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic responsible for vocational education and training (VET) in Slovakia. It is in charge of methodological, pedagogical guidance and coordination tasks in the national vocational education and training in Slovakia. It is the only professional and educational guarantor of VET throughout the network of secondary vocational schools in the Slovak Republic. It provides:

• development, validation of new and innovation of current State Curricula,  concepts and projects for VET;

• analyses, forecasts of the developments in secondary vocational education, development of system tools,

• development of projects, models and methodologies for curriculum development and standards,

• continuing education for VET teachers in response to the needs and trends of VET and labour market.

ŠIOV develops and maintains the Slovak Qualifications Framework and National Qualifications Register. ŠIOV is the national contact point for the European initiatives - European Qualifications Framework, EUROPASS, EQAVET, ECVET, EPALE and the National coordinator for adultlearning. ŠIOV has a vast experience in implementation of the EU-funded projects (ESF, Erasmus+, etc.).

ŠIOV´s staff consists of permanent internal staff of 45 employees as well as numerous part-time staff involved in the project implementation, working groups and other expert assignments.