Meeting with the Ministry of Science and Education

The American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia organized a meeting with Mr. Božo Pavičin, Chief Adviser to the Minister of Science and Education, Mr. Nino Buić, Assistant Director of the Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Ms. Vesna Šerepac, Director of the Directorate for Education at the Ministry of Education and Science. Some of the topics discussed at the meeting included the challenges of companies in finding skilled workforce; what companies are doing to overcome those challenges; cooperation between representatives of industry and the education system; and plans and activities of the Ministry of Science and Education in this area.

At the meeting members presented some of the challenges that include the system of education that is not in line with the needs of the labor market, insufficient number of available labor force, problems of practical work programs, lack of strategy for the future labor market and skills. A cooperation with educational institutions and re-accreditation procedures were also discussed.

One of the ways to quickly replace an appropriately qualified workforce is adult education, where the introduction of new programs takes much shorter time than that in secondary vocational schools. It was also said that vouchers for the education of employed and unemployed people in the next three years will be available soon.

One of the issues discussed was also the evaluating schools and the competencies of students who graduate from them, which is of great importance to employers.

Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science expressed their willingness for future cooperation and invited AmCham members to submit a detailed proposal of the present and future profile of workers they need.