Devastating statistics for Croatia’s future.
The Office of Student Standard and Quality, which is part of the Student Council of Polytechnics and Colleges, conducted a public opinion survey among 716 students of universities, polytechnics and colleges in Croatia about the employment issues and integration of the labour market and higher education, report Index.hr and Jutarnji List on April 3, 2016.
Responding to a question whether they were satisfied with the level of information they had about the labour market, 67 percent of respondents said they believed that students should have much more information about the labour market and that businesspeople, entrepreneurs and their associations need to become more involved in the development of educational policies and in the teaching processes themselves.
This is further highlighted by the fact that 35.3 percent of students marked the connection between the labour market and higher education with 2 (on a scale from 1 to 5), while as much as 27.3 percent of students marked it with 1.
As much 70.8 percent of students intend to compete in the labour market beyond the borders of Croatia, due to better opportunities they expect to have there, as well as better living conditions.
“These alarming data clearly show the real situation regarding the integration of the labour market and higher education in Croatia. The Student Council, together with its partners the Ministry of Labour and Pension System, Croatian Employers Association, Croatian Chamber of Economy and the Institute for the Development of Education, will soon offer its vision how to solve this problem”, said Karlo Kolesar, president of the Student Council of Polytechnics and Colleges of Croatia.
Students expect increased interest of employers and businesspeople for professional practice, specialization and training during their education, because one third of students in Croatia gave a mark of 2 to the current situation in this area, while 15 percent of students gave it the lowest possible mark.
The Council, which is a coordinating and representative body of more than 35,000 students of public and private polytechnics and colleges, conducted the research in March among students of public and private universities, polytechnics and colleges.
