A new university town for Croatia.
Slavonski Brod is celebrating the decision of the Croatian parliament to establish a new public university in Croatia, reports Vecernji List on September 29, 2015.
The mayor of Slavonski Brod Mirko Duspara believes that the establishment of the new university will significantly increase the availability of higher education to young people in Slavonia, since the high costs represented an obstacle for them to receive further education. To create a basis for the new university, the city has allocated more than 50 million kuna for higher education in the last ten years, through various measures, forms of assistance and scholarships for students from Slavonski Brod. “Slavonski Brod is now going to develop into a modern university town. This decision will also lead to faster economic growth”, said Duspara.
Minister of science Vedran Mornar explained that the University of Slavonski Brod will be formed by linking existing higher education institutions, and therefore will not represent an additional burden for the budget. “I personally believe that the principle of integrated university would be the most acceptable one, because it would not cause major additional costs, at least initially”, said the minister. He added that the Brod-Posavina County definitely deserves to have its own university.
The most important reason for the establishment of the university is the fact that it will initiate an increase in the number of people with university diplomas, who currently represent just 15 percent of inhabitants in the Slavonski Brod region, compared to 26 percent in the rest of Croatia. The inhabitants of Slavonski Brod believe that the opportunity to study in this border city will attract students from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina as well.
“We are right next to a country which is not a member of the European Union and whose students would surely like to study in Slavonski Brod, since there is no language barrier and they would receive a European degree”, said Duspara. He added that he was particularly pleased that the establishment of the university happened so quickly.
