Through the improvement of education through vocational training and the Whole Day School, Croatia has managed a steady poverty index. While Croatia’s relative poverty index has remained relatively stable since 2018,  certain demographics within the country are more likely to live in poverty than others.

These demographics include the unemployed and the undereducated. Although some Croatians struggle with poverty and income, vocational training has become a steady remedy for these struggles. The most significant remedy is changes in education—both among students and teachers.

Programs Benefit Teachers and Students

Implementing programs that better the classroom for both students and teachers is a positive addition to communities in more ways than one. Education not only improves job opportunities but also makes a society more employable overall. Empowering individuals to become more involved in political and economic decisions, increasing income and productivity and fostering cohesion in social aspects are all the ways that education helps to eliminate poverty.

While Croatia has had its dips and changes in the poverty index, it has been relatively stable in the past couple of years because of the implementation of educational changes in both its vocational training and early childhood development years.

Whole Day School and SEE

In 2021, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, H.E. Zdravko Marić and the World Bank’s Country Manager for Croatia, Mr. Jehan Arulpragasam, approved a Loan Agreement for Croatia: Towards Sustainable, Equitable and Efficient Education Project (SEE Education). This project aims to strategically strengthen school infrastructures, improving learning environments for Croatian students. The project will do this through Whole Day School, which improves students’ learning outcomes.

Whole Day School supports the reform of the schoolroom, which is necessary for both the teachers and the students. Teachers are required to have “increased instructional hours and improved teacher training.” Fine-tuning the credibility of this ensures that students are learning in a productive environment and that teachers are receiving the most they can out of their jobs.

In addition, the Whole Day School has set the school day to align with the windows of the work day. Parents whose students are now going to school can alleviate the stress of their labor market demands as their children are safely in school while they are working.

Vocational Educations

While there have been improvements in the educational sector for children, teachers are also reaping the benefits of these reforms. Croatia is making sure that “vocational education training is more relevant to the labor market.” According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), teaching is a first-choice career for 67% of teachers in Croatia. Many of these teachers (at least 91%) “cite the opportunity to influence children’s development or contribute to society as a major motivation” to entering this labor market.

Final Remark

With a combination of increased instructional hours and a system such as the Whole Day School model that benefits not only the students but also the parents, Croatia has seen a remarkable change in its educational institutions in the last 30 years.

– Hailey Nurry

Hailey is based in Pennsylvania, USA and focuses on Business and Good News for The Borgen Project

Photo: Flickr