International opportunities for Croatian students to study abroad at the University of Rijeka.
More than a hundred exhibitors from 17 countries gathered yesterday at the University of Rijeka where the Institute for Development of Education (IRO) organized the Fair of Scholarships and Higher Education, reports Novi List on October 16, 2015. It was the fourth edition of the fair at the University of Rijeka, while a similar event in Zagreb has been organized for the last eleven years. This year’s partner country was Slovenia.
Stressing that Croatia today has 30 percent more students than four years ago, finance minister Boris Lalovac spoke at the opening ceremony and pointed out that only investments in youth and education can contribute to better economic growth. “The growth we have today cannot be sustained without education and technology-based knowledge. Future budgets should secure more funds for education and science”, the minister said.
Describing the fair as one of the most important events in higher education in South and Southeastern Europe, managing director of IRO Ninoslav Šćukanac pointed out that it was an event which every year achieves impressive results. “Fair of Scholarships and Higher Education presents scholarships, study programs and general education available to Croatian citizens at home and abroad. This year’s partner is Slovenia, which last year had more than 3,600 international students, with more than 800 of them coming from Croatia. One of the aims of the fair is to improve the system of financial aid for students, because we believe that education should be available to everyone, regardless of their status”, Šćukanac said.
Studying abroad, according to Marko Rakovac from the Slovenian embassy, is not only about acquiring new knowledge, but also about getting to know different cultures and gaining new friendships. Saying that Croatian students leave 50 million euros a year at foreign universities, rector of the University of Rijeka Pero Lučin pointed out that Croatia still has a greater outflow than inflow of students. “I believe that every student should spend at least one semester studying at foreign universities, but also that our system should be open for foreign students”, said the rector.
However, one of the stands which attracted the greatest attention of students was the stand of the Croatian Ministry of Defense. “There are lots of queries. They want to know everything, from study programs to their contractual obligations. The greatest interest is for programs for military engineers and for military leadership and management, as well as for military pilots”, said the representatives of the Ministry of Defense.
