The ETF intervention ETF is supporting the government of Croatia on the way to accession to the European Union and in particular in sustaining the reform process in education and training. While continuing to support the EU external assistance policies through input to Commission sector programming as well as ensuring general compliance of the country’s initiatives with the Bruges process, the ETF's work in 2012 will focus on supporting capacity development in the area of evidence based policy making (EBPM) paying particular attention to skill needs assessment and matching. In doing so, ETF will build on main results accomplished in 2011, most notably on: - the survey conducted on EBPM in education and training and the work done with the EBPM focus group led by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports. - the report on “Skills mismatches and anticipation of the future labour market needs: the Case of Croatia” and the cooperation established with the Intergovernmental Body for labour market monitoring. The ETF will also continue in close cooperation with the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports to participate in the ongoing development of the Croatian Qualification Framework (CROQF) to comply with the European Qualification Framework. Following the specific request of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities an in-depth country Human Resources Development (HRD) review focusing on education and training in a life-long learning perspective, employment and social inclusion was finalised in 2011. The review will be disseminated at national level in 2012 and should inform the HRD programming 2012-2013 and beyond. The guiding principle for ETF within Croatia will be policy learning through supporting the debate among stakeholders, facilitating exchange of good practice and assisting the Croatian partners in developing their own methodologies and approaches in the areas of education and training, employment, qualification and evidence based policy making. The country activities also benefit from the ETF’s Regional project on Social inclusion through education and training and from the ETF’s initiatives on Matching skills and labour market needs and Torinet.
The Croatian context One of the key challenges of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports in 2012 would be the evaluation of the “Education Sector Development Plan 2005-2010” (ESDP) as well as follow-up activities resulting in a new strategic plan(s) for the educational sector based on the more extensive use of the evidence-based policy making approaches. Moreover, pursuant to the relevant priorities of the 2010 Economic Recovery Program, an Intergovernmental Body for Labour Market Monitoring was launched by the Croatian Agency for Science and Higher Education with a view to developing a coherent and strategic approach for matching supply and demand of skills. In parallel, the Agency for VET and Adult Education has developed relevant methodology based on the deployment of a strategic tool entitled “Sector Profiles”, which is intended to be an analytical basis for harmonization of labour marked needs and VET provision that therefore would allow for better informed and more relevant planning of the VET system provision by the key stakeholders. Human resource development in Croatia is one of the driving factors in the country’s endeavour to become the next new EU member. It is a dynamic area with many innovations and challenges, sharpened by the economic crisis and its impact on jobs, skill needs and social policies. The country has made progress in tackling these issues and is mobilising capacities to utilise the opportunity of the coming EU funds for significant investments in human resource development, which can bring Croatia closer to economic competitiveness, sustainable development and inclusive society. For Croatia the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020), contributing substantially to the 'Europe 2020' strategy for jobs and growth, provides a reference for country's policies of human resource development. Thanks to the efforts of the Croatian government the initial setting for these strategies is in place.