Structure of the chapter 

This chapter provides a thematic and chronological overview of national reforms and policy developments since 2022. 

The web pages that follow group reforms in the following broad thematic areas: 

• Early childhood education and care
• General school education  
• Vocational education and training  
• Higher education  
• Adult education and training.

Inside each thematic area, reforms are organised chronologically. The most recent reforms are described first.

Government’s key objectives for education 

The Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted the National Plan for the Development of the Education System until 2027 and the accompanying Action Plan for the implementation of the National Plan for the Period until 2024 in March 2023. The National Plan defines the implementation of the strategic goal and priority areas of public policies for the education sector from the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030. The umbrella strategic document within the strategic goal "Educated and employed people" lists the accessibility of early and preschool education, the acquisition and development of basic and professional competences, the improvement of higher education and the prospective labor market as priority areas of public policies.

The thematic areas of the National Plan include early and preschool, primary school education and secondary school general and artistic education, vocational education and training and adult education, higher education, education of students with special educational needs, members of national minorities and members of the Croatian nation outside of the Republic of Croatia and the application of digital technologies in the education system.

A total of more than EUR 2 billion is planned for the implementation of the measures of the National Plan, and the main source of funding for projects in the field of education will be European Union funds for the period from 2021 to 2027, as well as the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The foreseen financial resources represent a significant step forward in investments in the field of early and general education and care and enable the implementation of key reform processes in the system.

National Plan for the Development of Education and Training until 2027 defines 10 goals to achieve till year 2027:

1. Provide accessibility to the preschool education for every child
2. Improve the educational outcomes of students by improving quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of the primary and general secondary education system
3. Ensure a higher level of employability of persons with qualifications by increasing the quality and relevance of vocational education and training
4. Increase the share of the adult population in lifelong learning processes by improving the quality and relevance of adult education programmes
5. Improve and ensure the quality, relevance, and accessibility of higher education
6. Ensure access to education for students with developmental disabilities and students with disabilities
7. Increase the availability of identification, educational paths, monitoring and support for gifted children and students by establishing a coherent system
8. Improve education of children and students of national minorities
9. Improve education of children and students of Croatian nationality outside Republic of Croatia
10. Continue of introducing ICT (Information and Communication Technology) across the education at all levels.

In the area of digitalisation, National Plan for the Development of Education and Training until 2027 has a special goal dedicated to the digitalisation of education system. Furthermore, at the end of 2022, the Croatian Parliament adopted Digital Croatia Strategy 2032. One of the strategic goals - developed digital competences for life and work in the digital age - encompasses digital transition as support for the development of the educational and research system.

Croatian Qualifications Framework (CROQF)

The revised CROQF Act (2021) describes different types of qualifications (partial and full), their scope (e.g. CSVET or ECTS credits) and allocation within the levels of CROQF. These make up a foundation for the establishment of the validation system. The revised Act also defines a procedure for recognition and validation of units of learning outcomes.

Key challenges and opportunities for Croatia’s education system

The National Plan for the Development of Education and Training until 2027 identifies key challenges in the system. Main challenges are systemic weaknesses (funding arrangements, system quality management and monitoring capacity), insufficient support to institutions (infrastructural, material and personnel capacities of institutions) and insufficient support to learners (access to the system, transit through the system and successful completion). 

At a specific level of the system, the challenges are:

• Preschool Education: Lack of capacity and staff qualifications, inefficient financing model, and inadequate quality.
• Primary Education: Low number of teaching hours, weaker achievements, insufficient teacher preparedness, and inadequate use of evaluation tools.
• Vocational Education: Decreased interest in three-year programs, insufficient employer training, and slow adaptation of programs to labor market needs.
• Adult Education: Low participation, lack of quality programs, and mechanisms for recognizing prior learning.
• Higher Education: Low graduation rates, poor connection with the labor market, and weak internationalization.

The Whole-Day School

In 2023, Croatia started the most substantial revamping of its primary education system in the past thirty years. The project – bearing the name Whole-Day School - will be implemented in the first phase as a four-year pilot project in 62 schools. During its pilot stage all programmes, elements and activities will be prepared, implemented and externally evaluated. The full implementation of the project is envisaged for the 2027/2028 school year.

Adult Education

With the entry into force of the Adult Education Act in December 2021, the system of adult education has been fully harmonised with the Act on the Croatian Qualifications Framework and the methodology of creating the adult education programmes is based on the regulations governing the Croatian qualifications framework. New legislative framework of adult education has introduced novelties that have not been implemented in the Croatian education system so far: formal programmes for acquiring micro-credentials (micro-qualifications in Croatia) and recognition of prior non-formal and informal learning.

National Curriculum 

National curricula for all education levels define the goals, content, and teaching methodology and include interdisciplinary themes such as personal and social development, health, sustainable development, and digital competence.

The new National Curriculum for preschool education plans to extend the preschool program from at least 250 hours, according to the current curriculum, to 700 hours during one academic year. As before, the program will be mandatory for all children in the year before starting primary school. Additionally, children aged four to six will be included in the preschool program adapted to new circumstances, in a different annual program.