Education and Training Monitor 2023

1. The teaching profession

While Croatia has no shortage of teachers overall, demand for teachers in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is high. According to the national recovery and resilience plan (RRP), 5 658 additional ECEC teachers would be needed to reach the target of providing ECEC to 96% of children from the age of 3 to compulsory primary education by 2030 (RRP, 2021). To address the shortage, primary school teachers can be recruited as ECEC teachers as long as they complete a re-qualification programme at a higher education institution (HEI) within 2 years (ZID ZPOO, 2022). The development of such programmes at universities waits for the establishment of the appropriate CROQF qualification standard. Over the long term, the government intends to increase the number of study places for ECEC. Salaries of ECEC teachers are determined and paid at local level. The ECEC Act stipulates that their salaries should be at least the same as those of primary school teachers (ZID ZPOO, 2022). In 2021, salaries of education staff in ECEC reached on average only 80% of the salaries in primary education (CBS, 2023a). This, together with the high proportion of temporary contracts (19.7%) (Ivšić, Jaklin, 2020) reduces the attractiveness of profession.

To address the shortage of STEM teachers, the government has introduced scholarships. According to the 2020 Employment Service survey, Croatia was lacking 294 maths teachers. Almost 15% of primary school maths teachers and, according to the survey of primary school principals, 14% of physics teachers are qualified for subjects other than the ones they teach (Erceg et al., 2022). The number of maths and physics students studying to become teachers is low. To address this, in October 2022 new scholarships (supported by the RRP) were established for students studying to be STEM teachers. To address regional differences, these scholarships are conditional on the receiver working as a STEM teacher in their region of origin after they graduate. The teaching obligation lasts the same number of years as the length of the scholarship. The scholarship (EUR 600) is twice as high as that for non-teaching STEM scholarships ¹, and nearly four times higher than earlier STEM scholarships ². In the 2022/2023, 456 such scholarships were awarded.

Teachers in Croatia are highly educated. Teachers working in ECEC need to have at least a bachelor’s degree, and teachers working in schools at least a master’s degree. The initial education of lower secondary school teachers is one of the longest in the EU (360 ECTS), with 60 ECTS in pedagogical education (European Commission, 2021). After their studies, teachers must undergo a one-year in-service training, including mentoring, and take a state licensing exam ³. They have the right and obligation to follow continuous professional development, which is provided by the appropriate government agencies.

School teachers have a multi-level career structure with a high level of permanent employment. Teachers are civil servants, and the percentage of permanently employed teachers (in lower secondary education) is among the highest in the EU: 90.9% vs the EU-23 average of 82.4% (OECD, 2020). Career levels and titles, the conditions for promotion and manner of promotion are determined by national legislation (Pravilnik, 2019).

Teachers’ salaries rise by the years of service and career level. The average net salary in the education sector (for those with tertiary degree) in 2021 stood at 81.9% of that of all people with tertiary education in Croatia (CBS, 2023b). Teachers’ starting salary is about 64% of the abovementioned average for the education sector (Erceg, N. et al., 2022). The salary rises by 0.5 percentage points per year of service (European Commission, 2022), with significant difference between the highest and the lowest salary levels within the same type of school.

Teachers enjoy their work even though they consider that their profession is undervalued in society. According to TALIS 2018, 90.8% of teachers feel that the teaching profession is not valued, and the percentage rises with experience: those with 5 years or less of teaching experience are twice as likely to view the profession as valued as those with more experience (15.4% vs 7.6%) (OECD, 2020). Many pupils in the final year of secondary school (60.5%) agree that teachers are not appreciated enough, and that opinion is highest among the most successful students. Nevertheless, 82.8% of teachers enjoy their work and 78.4% still feel enthusiasm for it. Teachers state that their work has become more complex compared to the pre-pandemic situation (61.8% of teachers). Furthermore, 64.1% complain about too many administrative tasks and 9.4% about threats or derogatory statements by pupils. Finally, teachers do not feel that they can influence the educational policy (88.8%) or that politicians appreciate their opinions (95.8%) (Jokić et al., 2022). Recent amendments to pedagogical documentation and reporting obligations aim to reduce the administrative burden on teachers.

2. Early childhood education and care

Participation in ECEC is low. In 2022, the participation of children under 3 in formal childcare stood at 27.5%, 5.8 pps lower than in 2021 but 16.5 pps higher than in 2015. Despite projects to build and refurbish ECEC infrastructure, the participation rate of children between the age of 3 and the beginning of compulsory primary education stands at only 77.8%, one of the lowest in the EU. This is 1 pp. lower than in 2020 but 10.2 pps higher than in 2013. Participation is low until the age of 4 (70.9% vs EU 93.5%) but the rate rises as from the age of 5 (86.8% vs 96.3%) ⁴.

Tuition fees for ECEC vary locally and can be an obstacle to participation. According to the 2020 UNICEF study, 69% of children live in areas where tuition fees are not linked to household income, and 47% in areas where even recipients of social assistance have to pay the full fees. However, some areas (mostly cities) do link tuition fees to household income, which makes ECEC more accessible. In 2018, only 0.6% of children lived in areas with free access to ECEC facilities (UNICEF, 2020). Free access has slightly increased in the meantime, as 5 additional municipalities enabled this. With the help of Child Guarantee funding, UNICEF has developed a calculator that can be used to adjust tuition fees to household income ⁵.

The number of facilities and of children attending ECEC is slowly increasing, due to infrastructure investments. Between the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, the number of areas providing ECEC increased by 11 and ECEC facilities by 24, and nearly 5000 more children were enrolled. Most children attended regular ECEC programmes (91.5%), while the rest attended pre-school programmes or other shorter programmes. Of the children covered by the ECEC programmes, 41.1% were aged 5-7 or older, 37.2% were aged 3-5 and 21.7% were aged below 3 (CBS, 2021 and CBS, 2022). In 2022/2023, 8.5% of all children in ECEC had developmental difficulties. More than a quarter of all children attending ECEC live in the City of Zagreb ⁶, where the participation is also the highest. Participation in ECEC differs significantly between regions (see Figure 1).

Large-scale investments are financed under the RRP. Infrastructure projects currently under way aim to create 22 500 additional places in ECEC and to increase the participation rate of children from the age of 3 up to school age to 90% by Q2 2026. Implementation is just starting; a mapping of ECEC facilities shows that 55 municipalities lacked any ECEC facility in 2022, with the distance to the nearest one ranging from 0.5 to 11.5 km ⁷.

Figure 1: Participation of children from age 3 to the starting age of compulsory primary education by NUTS2 region, 2021

Reforms planned in the RRP are also progressing. Work has commenced on a new curriculum for ECEC ⁸ . A new model for the financing of ECEC is being developed to ensure the sustainability of ECEC facilities in municipalities and towns with lower financial capacity. The government will co-finance their operating costs, based on the number of children in ECEC facilities and the development category of municipalities (going up to 50% for the least developed ones) ⁹ . Funding is scheduled to commence from October 1, 2023.

3. School education

Early leaving from education and training is low and reading skills are good. At 2.3% in 2022, the rate of early leavers from education and training is the lowest in the EU and far below the EU-level target of less than 9%. Since 2012, the rate has decreased by 2.8 pps. The gender gap is also low at 1.3 pps and stable, with girls being less likely to leave education early. Pupils from rural areas are slightly more likely to leave education early (3.2%) than those living in towns (2.2%) ¹⁰. According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021 data, average reading performance is the second highest among the countries where it was measured in the fifth grade, at 557 points. In addition, Croatia is one of the two participating countries where the percentage of top performers in reading is actually higher than that of low performers (15% vs 12%) ¹¹.

A new strategic document for education has been adopted. The National Plan for Development of the Education System running until 2027 and the related action plan running until 2024 were adopted in March 2023. The plan seeks to make ECEC accessible, to ease the development of basic and vocational skills and competences and to improve higher education (HE). It also addresses the use of digital technologies in education and the education of children and pupils with special educational needs. More than EUR 2 billion have been earmarked for the plan, and most projects will be financed from the 2021-2027 EU cohesion policy funds and the RRP ¹².

Preparations for the whole-day school reform are under way. The biggest school reform in Croatia in the coming years is the transition to single-shift schools and whole-day schooling. With this, Croatia aims to increase the number of instruction hours and improve educational outcomes. In spring 2023, 62 single-shift schools were selected for a whole-day school pilot project that will test the proposed new teaching model. The pilot project has started in September 2023, and will last 4 years, covering pupils from first to eighth grade. The pilot will include the professional development of teachers, professional associates and principals, exchange of experiences, and an infrastructure investment of EUR150 000 to more than 500 000 per school. It will be monitored and evaluated externally by the National Centre for External Evaluation of Education. The model is planned to be extended to all schools from 2027/2028 ¹³. Schools in cities are less represented in the pilot ¹⁴ since most of them still work in two or even three shifts. The proposed whole-day school model was published in April 2023. It comprises the obligatory part (encompassing classes, assisted learning and homework components in the morning) and the voluntary part (consisting of additional assisted learning and homework, or extracurricular activities organised by school or external providers in the afternoon). Nearly all subject areas will benefit from the extension of the school day. Instruction time will increase for Croatian language and maths as well as for art, physical education, technical training and science subjects. Information technology, which is an elective subject in lower grades, will become obligatory for 1 hour a week in all grades. All teachers participating in the pilot project receive a fixed 5% supplement to their salary, and their additional work for learning support and extracurricular activities will be remunerated. The total salary increase can be up to 25%. For the next 4 years, EUR 36.8 million are earmarked in the State budget for these salary increases (MZO, 2023b).

More psychologists, speech therapists and other support staff are needed in school education. The Ombudsman for Children recommended that they should be provided to the schools in need, at least as mobile teams covering several schools. The needs of pupils in smaller, more isolated schools should also be taken into account (Ombudsman, 2023). The Ministry of Science and Education approved the hiring of an additional 285 psychologists, which is an increase of 40%.

National exams were introduced in all primary schools. In March 2023, all eighth grade pupils in Croatia took part in national exams for the first time. Pupils’ results are expressed through four achievement levels: below basic, basic, intermediate and advanced. The results should help pupils evaluate their knowledge and competencies and help schools with their self-evaluation and quality improvement. The results do not affect enrolment in secondary schools. In the same month, national exams were also taken by fourth grade pupils in 81 pilot schools ¹⁵. This pattern of a sample of fourth grade pupils and all eighth grade pupils taking the national tests will be continued in the coming year ¹⁶.

The share of pupils who successfully enrol in higher education institutions after taking the Matura exam is steadily rising. The percentage has risen from 67.1% in 2018 to 74.4% in 2022. This increase is much more pronounced for pupils coming from vocational (VET) schools, where it has increased from 51.0% in 2018 to 62.2% in 2022 ¹⁷. The growing number of enrolments from vocational schools and the high interest of pupils for the VET programmes that are giving access to higher education (Matković, Šabić, 2022) are positive indications for the RRP’s secondary education reform. The reform plans to increase the percentage of pupils in general secondary schools from 30% to 35% by Q2 2026 to increase tertiary attainment (CID Annex, 2021). The high interest of VET pupils to enter higher education points to the potentially higher interest to enter general education as well, also indicated by applications to secondary schools programmes (Matković, Šabić, 2022).

Since January 2023, all primary school pupils have access to free school meals. In the previous school year (2021/2022) only 30% of pupils had them. The state budget has allocated EUR 72.3 million for free meals in the spring semester 2023 ¹⁸. According to PIRLS 2021 data, 44.2% of children reported frequently feeling hungry when arriving at school (one of the highest rates among the participating EU countries), and those on average had reading performance worse by 19.2 points (European Commission, 2023). Providing all pupils with meals during the school day will therefore also improve their learning outcomes.

4. Vocational education and training

Croatia continues to invest in improving the labour market relevance of vocational education and training. The employment rate of recent VET graduates ¹⁹ in 2022 is higher than in 2021 but still lower than the EU average (75.9% vs EU 79.7%). The share of students in upper secondary vocational education ²⁰ on the other hand, is one of the highest in the EU (70.0% vs EU 48.7% in 2021). In addition, the employment rate of low-skilled workers in 2022 (40.4%) lags considerably behind those of medium-skilled and high-skilled workers (69.2% and 84.7% respectively) ²¹. This indicates that skills mismatches are still high among the most vulnerable low-qualified persons. To address this, new qualification and occupation standards are being developed, and VET programmes are being modernised and aligned with the standards at a faster rate. However, a system of skills mapping and forecasting, involving continuous feedback from social partners, still needs to be developed. Four out of 10 VET graduates (ISCED 3-4) benefited from work-based learning during their education and training in 2022 (40% vs EU average 60.1%) ²². The Croatian ESF+ programme will invest in making VET more relevant to labour market needs and incentivising companies to implement work-based learning. The national VET and lifelong learning objectives for the coming years are strengthening the relevance, improving the quality and raising the attractiveness of VET.

5. Higher education

Tertiary education attainment (TEA) is low, with significant gender and regional gaps. In 2022, TEA stood at 35.5%, below the EU average of 42% and the EU-level target of 45% ²³. While it has increased by 11.9 pps (more than the EU average) in the last decade, the last 2 years showed a slight decrease. The gender gap in TEA in favour of women, at 20.1 pps, is one of the highest in the EU (see Figure 2), and has nearly doubled in the last decade (from 11.4 pps in 2012). TEA levels also vary significantly between regions, with the rate in the City of Zagreb (54.6%) being over twice that of the Panonian region (26.1%) ²⁴. The gap between cities and rural areas is nearly as high at 20.8 pps ²⁵.

Figure 2: Gender gap (women - men) in tertiary attainment rate (25-34 years) in 2022 (percentage points difference)

Increasing the tertiary education attainment rate is an important strategic goal. A key target of the National Plan for the Development of the Education System until 2027 and accompanying action plan is to increase the TEA rate of 25-34 year-olds to 45% by 2027 (MZO, 2023a). Moreover, as the employment rate of recent HE graduates is among the lowest in the EU (80.7% vs EU 86.7%) ²⁶, further investment is needed in the labour market relevance of higher education.

New higher education laws were adopted as part of the reforms supported by the RRP. In October 2022, Croatia adopted the new Higher Education and Science Act that aims to improve the quality of HE, introduces performance agreements with HEIs and the initial accreditation of studies that includes criteria on labour market relevance (ZVOZD, 2022). In December 2022, the new Act on Quality Assurance in science and higher education was adopted. It further regulates internal quality assurance and external quality evaluation of HEIs and scientific institutes. It introduces criteria and procedures for the initial accreditation and re-accreditation of HEIs and the accreditation of studies (including the requirement to submit opinion of the employment service on alignment of studies with labour market needs). It also aims to improve internationalisation, by introducing joint studies with other EU universities and putting in place mechanisms to support student mobility across the European education area. Finally, it regulates the organisation and powers of the Agency for Science and Higher Education and ensures that public universities cannot introduce new studies without the Agency’s approval (ZOKVOZ, 2022). These acts are complemented by the Government Regulation on performance funding of public HEIs and research institutes in Croatia, which sets out detailed rules on the content of performance agreements and the related procedures (Uredba, 2023).

Sustainable development is integrated in some higher education studies. Thirteen courses focus specifically on sustainable development, e.g.: a three-year Sustainable Development study in Čakovec, focusing on sustainable construction, thermotechnical mechanical engineering and eco-engineering ²⁷; a four-year on Sustainable Development Management in Opatija combining economy, tourism, management and sustainable development²⁸, and 'Sustainable development and international relations' studies at the Libertas International University combining policy, energy, economics and environmental protection. Some other HEIs teach sustainable development as part of other courses, generally related to economics and/or technological studies. In Split, 'Upbringing and education for sustainable development' is a compulsory part of ECEC studies (Raditya-Ležaić, et al., 2018). This corresponds with the country specific recommendation issued in 2023 to all Member States to 'Step up policy efforts aimed at the provision and acquisition of skills and competences needed for the green transition'.

6. Adult learning

Thanks to the successful implementation of the learning vouchers system, Croatia is on track to reach the 2030 target. Croatia has one of the EU's lowest adult learning rates, in particular among the low-skilled and long-term unemployed. In 2022, 4.4% of adults had participated in learning in the past 4 weeks, compared to an EU average of 11.9% ²⁹. Croatia aims to raise the participation rate to 5.5% by 2027 and its target for 2030 is 55% of adults in training in a given year, more than double the 2016 rate (31.8%). The implementation of the voucher system for re- and upskilling employed and unemployed people in green and digital skills is well on track, with over 10 000 vouchers used in the first year. A system for skills mapping and forecasting is in its initial stages and more effort will be needed to reach vulnerable groups.

Lack of qualified teaching staff and too few adult learning programmes aligned with the Croatian qualification framework remain obstacles to developing the adult learning system. The shortage of qualified teachers is being addressed through additional training for teachers that are professionals in their specific fields but need to acquire professional competences for teaching adults. The Agency for VET and Adult Education used ESF funding to train over 640 adult teachers and the National Education System Development Plan until 2027 includes a measure to strengthen the capacity building of teachers in the adult education system. However, there is a need for progress in the system of evaluating and strengthening adult education teacher competence and motivation, including the teacher promotion and reward system. Additional measures will be needed to address the lack of quality teaching staff at all educational levels. The development of new CROQF-aligned curricula, going beyond the current offer of green and digital skills programmes, will be financed through national and ESF+ funds. These investments, together with the development of quality assurance mechanisms and a system to recognise prior non-formal and informal learning should enable Croatia to reach its 2030 target. An evaluation of the adult learning system, expected for next year, should assist its continued development in the right direction.