Science minister says Croatia has started using EU funds intensively

Croatia has finally started using EU funds intensively and it hopes to make the most of the available funding in the education and science sector, Minister Vedran Mornar said after talks with European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Tibor Navracsics 

The two officials discussed, among other things, possibilities of investing in education as part of the European Union Investment Plan. So far, around 130 million euros has been secured to upgrade the accommodation capacity of residence halls.

New student accommodation facilities will be built as part of Rijeka University and 17 student accommodation buildings in Zagreb will be renovated for the European Universities Games, to be held in Rijeka and Zagreb in 2016.

This is our big success, around one billion kuna will be invested and it will mean a lot to domestic construction companies that will be hired to do the job, said Mornar.

A total of 105 million euros has been secured from EU structural funds for student accommodation, and along with the national component of 15%, the amount totals EUR 123 million. Those funds are to be used to expand the accommodation capacity throughout the country by 30% and renovate the existing capacity by 50%.

Mornar warned about the problem of schools operating in shifts, with 16 schools operating in three shifts, and more than 200 in two shifts.

It is our goal to have all schools operate in one shift only, Mornar said.

Navracsics commended Croatia for its very low percentage of students who drop out of school.

The EU's goal is to ensure, by 2020, that that figure is 10%, and Croatia is already now the best with only 3.7% of students who drop out of high school, he said.

The EU official said that Croatia did not have any specific problems in the field of education, but rather problems common in other EU countries, such as school curricula not being aligned with labour market needs.

Mornar said that Croatia was working to resolve that problem, primarily through a reform of the school curriculum and a programme aimed at developing vocational training towards a new model of education for broader competencies, while the curriculum would be sector- and not profession-oriented.

(Text: Hina)

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