ZAGREB, November 26, 2018 – Croatia welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to double the amount of funding for the Erasmus student exchange programme in the next Multiannual Financial Framework for the 2021-2027 period, Science and Education Minister Blaženka Divjak said in Brussels on Monday.
“That is a very important programme for us, not only because of mobility, but also because of reforms in the area of education,” Divjak told reporters before a meeting of the Education Council.
The Commission has recommended in the proposed Multiannual Financial Framework that funding for the Erasmus+ programme be increased from the present 14.7 billion euro to 30 billion euro in the next seven-year period.
The EU education ministers also discussed automatic mutual recognition of higher education and upper secondary education diplomas.
Before the Education Council meeting, Divjak met with the EU director-general for education, sport and culture, the education ministers of Germany and Finland, and Romania’s state secretary for education to discuss the presidency of the Council of the EU. These countries will hold the EU rotating presidency over the next two years; Croatia is due to assume the EU presidency in the first half of 2020.
During a working lunch, the ministers also discussed prevention of anti-Semitism in education systems.
Divjak said that in the new history curriculum in Croatia only two topics were obligatory: the 1991-1995 Homeland War and the Holocaust.
“It is very important that these are obligatory topics, and it is even more important that we have cross-subject topics, for example in civic education which enables critical consideration of major topics, not just those relating to history but also those having a great impact on society today. In this regard, I have pointed out that we must find a way, not just as the state, but also as the EU, to fight against fake news being spread via social media, to which young people are very much exposed today. We must ensure an appropriate and secure environment for discussion on these topics, not just with students but with parents as well,” the minister said.
For more on Croatia’s education system, click here.
