CRITICAL THINKING
RESISTANCE AGAINST MANIPULATION
MEDIA LITERACY
ABILITY TO SEARCH INFORMATION
MEDIA ENVIRONMENT ORIENTATION
DATA HANDLING
ARGUMENTATION SKILLS
up to 56% of people in Slovakia are prone to believe claims containing lies or conspiracies (GLOBSEC)
only 16% of young people in Slovakia always or almost always verify information from the media (RmS)
as many as 55%of Slovak students stated that they did not learn to recognize unreliable information in school (PISA)
You can now sign up for the 2026/2027 season!
School round10. 12. 2026
from 8:00 to 15:00
Duration: 45 minutes
Regional round23. 3. 2027
from 8:00 to 15:00
Duration: 70 minutes
CTL Finale3.-4. 6. 2027
in-person in Bratislava
Duration: two days
School round7. 12. 2026
from 8:00 to 15:00
Duration: 60 minutes
Regional round16. 3. 2027
from 8:00 to 15:00
Duration: 100 minutes
CTL Finale10.-11. 6. 2027
in-person in Bratislava
Duration: two days
Try out the argumentation simulator!Please note: Both the score and feedback are generated by artificial intelligence, which evaluates the argument based on criteria set by the methodology team. This tool is intended to provide only approximate feedback; its results are not binding for the purposes of the competition.
Listen to an interview with Petra Bujňáková, winner of the first category in 2025/2026 and Viktor Vaškanin, a CTL methodologist.
„The goal of CTL is not to push a particular ideology or tell students what to think. On the contrary, it encourages competitors to form their own opinions, supported by credible information.” You can read the whole article here.
The CTL coordinator Richard Vaško was interviewed as part of the radio show Hosť Nory Gubkovej. You can listen to the recording on Spotify!
What I particularly like about the Critical Thinking League is how many schools and students it has been able to engage. Students will be the best ambassadors of critical thinking in their surroundings if they discuss and question information and its sources together with their peers.
Competitions such as the Critical Thinking League complement what our education system notoriously lacks. The ability to talk about current social topics in a cultured way, to formulate arguments or to be able to appreciate even strong arguments for a position with which one disagrees.
Whenever I have a discussion on social media in which there are absolutely no arguments, I send a small payment to SDA. Its members discuss with arguments, they can look at the problem from both sides, all in three minutes. SDA in every school!
For me, SDA is a hope that someone is interested in cultivating the communication of young people, who will grow up to be a new generation of opinion-forming and naturally self-confident people. It deserves support and attention because it changes our future for the better.
In the time of the so-called post-truth, the role of the SDA is irreplaceable, perhaps much more important than in the past.
I see the work of the SDA as very useful, because it cultivates the ability to listen, but also to argue – both extremely important for today’s world.
Critical Thinking League cleans up and sorts scattered thoughts, teaches how to think and how to perceive important points in quality communication. And it gives instructions on how not to get lost in information confusion and manipulation.
