Cream skimming and elitism in state/municipality-regulated enrolment: A case study of two elementary schools in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Cream skimming and elitism in public elementary education is closely related to the question of selection criteria used by the schools in their selection procedure. Although equity in access seems to be important part of any education policy, individual school's practices are often selective. In the Slovenian context, state and municipalities seemingly regulate admission and selection criteria by catchment areas, yet the case study of two Ljubljana schools reveals different practice for undersubscribed schools. The paper, therefore, describes, discusses and analyses how schools in the state regulated system and defined catchment areas choose students and, thus, operate on a quasi-market.