Youth migration in Slovakia. Expert lectures at the Comenius university in Bratislava.
On December 13 and 14, 2017 Branislav Šprocha and Branislav Bleha lectured at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Comenius University in Bratislava about youth migration in Slovakia in the national and local context. The lectures were related to the ongoing YOUMIG project in the Danube Transnational Program.
The project partners in Slovakia are the Institute of Informatics and Statistics – INFOSTAT, and the City district Bratislava – Rača, which is the local project partner. In addition to the main objective of the project, the lecturers devoted their attention to issues related to migration in general and foreign migration in particular, with an emphasis on the migration of young people (15 to 34 years of age) and its impact in the Danube region. The lecturers analyzed the conditions of migration in Slovakia, not only at the national but also at the local level. They presented the main characteristics of migrants concerning their age, gender, marital status and education.
The lectures also included information on main migration routes, the target areas in Slovakia, as well as the impacts of migration on population development, in a longer time frame. In addition there were highlighted some of the important factors of foreign migration, for instance, the increasing number of students from Slovakia abroad. Finally, the concluding segment of the presentation focused on migration situation in the Bratislava - Rača district. In this part the lecturers explained the importance of youth migration for the future population development. Participating students showed an unexpectedly high interest in the presented issues.
The the discussion revolved around the main causes of young people leaving Slovakia, why they are deciding to study abroad, or what might be leading to regional differences in the migration situation. In short, the seminar and the discussion further broadened the awareness of the relevant target group about youth migration and its impacts. As the discussion showed, students after graduation frequently take advantage of the opportunity to continue their studies abroad. Since the current understanding of this phenomenon appears to be inadequate, it seems important to pay more attention to this problem area.