April the 17th, 2025 – Foreign workers employed within the Croatian construction industry will undertake an educational programme to improve their language skills and be better integrated.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Mateja Sobak/VL writes, foreign workers who come to work in the Croatian construction industry will be taught how to “improve sustainable construction practices” and develop green skills.
The Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Property has developed their education programme. It is due to be presented soon, so that the education of adult foreigners working in the Croatian construction industry can begin.
The purpose of the programme is to contribute to improving the skills of workers from third countries and their better integration into Croatian society. It is also aimed at increasing the overall level of sustainable development in the construction sector for the purpose of preserving the environment, they revealed from the aforementioned ministry.
They emphasised that the added value of this programme is provided by modules that enable online learning of the Croatian language, the “introduction to rights and obligations in the workplace, work culture and relations in the workplace, and an introduction to customs, life and interpersonal relations in Croatia”.
The theoretical and practical part of this educational programme will be covered during 24 hours of live classes. It will cover six topics; occupational safety, fire protection, materials in the facade profession that are clean and sustainable for the environment or made from recycled raw materials, preparatory work for the construction of facades, building insulation and tools, machines and accessories that can be recycled.
The online part of the education programme, however, is quite different indeed. Throughout eight hours of classes, foreign workers will be able to learn Croatian words, phrases and terms widely used in the construction profession. They’re also free to enrol in an ‘intercultural module’.
As for the first, “during the implementation of the teaching content, participants will acquire basic expressions that serve as introductions through guided conversations, role plays and practical examples”. To simplify, they will practice simple phrases like “good day” (dobar dan), “how are you?” (kako si/ste?) “I am… (name)” (Ja sam…), “I work as… (a painter, carpenter, bricklayer…)” (Radim kao… soboslikar, tesar, zidar…) and similar useful expressions.
They will also learn basic verbs and expressions such as “bring me (a tool, some material)” (donesi (alat, materijal) “give me (a roller, brush, a trowel)” (daj mi (valjak, kist, gleter), “hold (the scaffolding, ladder, board)” (drži (skelu, ljestve, ploču) “move (the scaffolding, this material)” (pomakni (skelu, materijal), “prepare (the paint, plaster, cement)” (pripremi (boju, žbuku, cement), etc.
They will also adopt the knowledge of “the most important safety phrases and signs used on a construction site” in Croatian. If they choose to enrol in the intercultural education model, they will be presented with basic “customs, rules of etiquette and ways of behaving in Croatia” through pictures, short video stories and dialogues.
Foreign workers employed within the Croatian construction industry will also be introduced to the basic forms of greeting and addressing their colleagues and superiors, as well as the rules of conduct in both formal and informal situations. In addition to all of the above, through interactive content, they will learn about common social norms, such as when and how to shake hands, which expressions to use in a business environment, and how to behave in common areas such as the canteen or cloakroom, according to the programme of the Ministry of Construction. At the end, there will be a kind of exam where they will be asked, for example, whether a certain procedure is environmentally friendly or not.
The participant is shown everyday work and life situations (e.g. water use, waste disposal, transportation to work), and the task is to mark those that are in line with sustainable and environmentally friendly behaviour.
