According to the Law on the Education System Foundations, education staff involved in monitoring educational quality includes national education inspectors and education advisers. Their work is monitored by the Ministry of Education.
Requirements for Appointment
Education inspectors may be persons with either a law degree or a degree required for teachers and other non-teaching professionals. The requirements in the first case are as follows:
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a master’s degree in law or an equivalent;
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a professional exam for work in state administration;
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at least 5 years of work experience in state bodies.
The requirements for those already working in the education sector are as follows:
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a relevant university degree (the same as for teachers, see Teachers and Education Staff);
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a work licence for teachers or non-teaching professionals;
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at least 5 years of work experience in the education sector.
In order to become an education adviser, a person has to meet the following conditions:
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to have a relevant university degree (the same as for teachers, see Teachers and Education Staff);
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to have a work licence for teachers or non-teaching professionals;
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to have at least 8 years of work experience in the education sector;
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to have significant professional achievements in education development;
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to have published papers in international/national journals or to be an author of approved textbooks, handbooks or other teaching material;
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to have passed a professional exam for educational advisers.
The Ministry of Education and district school authorities coordinate the staff involved in monitoring the quality of early childhood and school education.
The staff’s responsibilities include external evaluation and pedagogical supervision. The aim of pedagogical supervision is to support the improvement of activities of core practitioners in ECEC institutions and teachers in schools, as well as of these institutions in general. The Ministry and district school authorities annually prepare a pedagogical supervision plan.
Pedagogical supervision is performed by an educational adviser, who has the following tasks:
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evaluating the quality of the institution's work and the implementation of the development plan and education guidelines;
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providing help and support in the institution's self-evaluation process;
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evaluating the implementation of general principles and achievement of the general goals of education;
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providing advice and professional assistance for core practitioners, teachers, non-teaching professionals and heads in order to improve the quality of their work and the work of the institution as a whole;
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providing advice and professional assistance for the institution to ensure the protection of children/students and staff from discrimination, violence, abuse and neglect in the institution;
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monitoring the work of institutions, educators, non-teaching professionals and heads;
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attending activities with children/students;
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evaluating staff’s qualifications;
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proposing the introduction of necessary measures to the institution, minister and competent authorities to eliminate deficiencies and improve the quality of educational activities.
In the process of external evaluation of the institution, staff involved in monitoring have an interview or a discussion with core practitioners in ECEC institutions and teachers in schools, observe teaching and classroom activities, read core practitioners’/teachers’ self-evaluation reports etc. Their appraisal can also include a review of pedagogical documentation (e.g. lesson plans), the results of internal evaluation, school development plan, annual work plan, evaluator’s interviews with parents, head of school / ECEC institution, and other analytical activities.
Conditions of Service
All conditions of service for educational advisers and education inspectors, including work programme, professional development, dismissal, licence and other important aspects of work, are regulated by the Ministry of Education in accordance with the Bylaw on Professional Educational Supervision.
Teachers can be promoted to pedagogical advisers, independent pedagogical advisers, senior pedagogical advisers or high-level pedagogical advisers.
First, teachers submit an application which includes the description and proof of their key competencies that recommend them for promotion. Within 8 days, the school head forwards the application to an internal board of professionals (stručno veće / stručni aktiv) comprising teachers of the same subject if the applicant is a subject teacher, or those teaching the same age group if the applicant is a generalist teacher (grades 1 to 4).
Subsequently, this board offers the school head their professional opinion on the applicant within 30 days. If the professional opinion, formed based on peer evaluation, is positive, the school head sends the application to a higher-level internal body, board of teachers (nastavničko veće), comprising all teachers employed in the school, and to the parent board. Within 15 days, the boards give their opinion on the teacher’s promotion. If this opinion is positive as well, the school head sends the application to the educational adviser from the district school authority. The adviser then carries out special pedagogical supervision of the teacher’s work. Their professional opinion on the teacher’s application should be given to the school head within 90 days.
In the end, if their opinion is positive, the school head passes the information to the Institute for the Advancement of Education, a top-level authority. The Institute notifies the school head of their professional opinion within 30 days. If it is positive, the applicant is promoted to a higher position.