Branislav Gröhling (born 6 April 1974 in

Partizánske Partizánske (, meaning “partisan town” formerly: ''Baťovany'', hu, Simony) is a town in Trenčín Region, Slovakia. Geography Partizánske is located in the northern part of the Danubian Hills around from Nitra and from the capital Brat ...

) is a Slovak politician, who has served as an MP of the National Council. Previously, he had served as the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sports between 2020 and 2022.

Early life

Gröhling trained as a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as ''cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen a ...

in his hometown of

, but never practiced the trade. Instead, he became a popular hairdresser and stylist, eventually becoming the owner of hairdressing chain in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% o ...

called Pierot. While running his business, he faced a shortage of skilled labor, which motivated him to start promoting service trades education, in particular in the beauty and gastronomy industries.

Political career

Gröhling was elected MP of the National Council in the 2016 Slovak parlientary election on the

Freedom and Solidarity Freedom and Solidarity ( sk, Sloboda a solidarita, SaS) is a liberal political party in Slovakia. Established in 2009, SaS is led by its founder and economist Richard Sulík, who designed Slovakia's flat tax system. It generally holds libertar ...

party list. After the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election he became the Minister of Education. As a minister he had to cope with the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the influx of children refugees escaping the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...

and the efforts to implement curriculum reform and to reform the underperforming education system. He earned praise for being open to dialogue, but also criticism for a lack of specific results. In September 2022, he resigned along with other SaS ministers due to disagreement with politics of

Igor Matovič Igor Matovič (born May 11, 1973) is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Finance from April 2021 to December 2022 and Prime Minister from March 2020 to March 2021. ...

Plagiarism allegations

In 2009, at the age of 35, Gröhling graduated in law at the

Pan-European University The Pan-European University (PEVŠ) is a private university based in Bratislava. Its founding in 2004 as the Bratislava University of Law was mainly due to its co-founder and co-owner Ján Čarnogurský. The school gradually expanded the number o ...

. Nine years later the daily

Denník N Denník N is a Slovak daily newspaper and a news website which was founded by the former members of the editorial board of SME in 2014. History In 2014, the Namav, a subject subvenced by the Penta Investments group, announced the purchase of ...

reported that Gröhling's final thesis was

plagiarized Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

and moreover when the plagiarism scandal of the Speaker of Slovak parliament broke out, Gröhling had his thesis removed from the Internet. Gröhling refused the calls to resign arguing that his thesis has to be evaluated on the basis on criteria, which were in effect at the

at the time when the thesis was defended. He also refused to give up his academic title. In June 2021, Gröhling fired his Deputy Monika Filipová, who had previously criticized him for his conduct with connection of the plagiarized final theses. Filipová blamed the firing on retribution by Gröhling for the criticism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gröhling, Branislav Living people 1974 births Slovak businesspeople Education ministers of Slovakia Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2016–2020 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023 People from Partizánske Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2023–2027