Editorial Can Croatia Join Europe as Competitive Knowledge-based Society by 2010? Mladen Petrovečki1, Vladimir Paar2, Dragan Primorac1 1Ministry of Science, The 21st century has brought important changes in the paradigms of eco- Education and Sports of the nomic development, one of them being a shift toward recognizing knowl- Republic of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia edge and information as the most important factors of today. The European 2Croatian Academy of Union (EU) has been working hard to become the most competitive knowl- Sciences and Arts, edge-based society in the world, and Croatia, an EU candidate country, has Zagreb, Croatia been faced with a similar task. To establish itself as one of the best knowl- edge-based country in the Eastern European region over the next four years, Croatia realized it has to create an education and science system correspon- dent with European standards and sensitive to labor market needs. For that purpose, the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports (MSES) has created and started implementing a complex strategy, consisting of the following key components: the reform of education system in accordance with the Bologna Declaration; stimulation of scientific production by sup- porting national and international research projects; reversing the “brain drain” into “brain gain” and strengthening the links between science and technology; and informatization of the whole education and science sys- tem. In this comprehensive report, we describe the implementation of these > Correspondence to: measures, whose coordination with the EU goals presents a challenge, as well as an opportunity for Croatia to become a knowledge-based society Mladen Petrovečki Assistant Minister for Science by 2010. Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports Trg hrvatskih velikana 6 Zagreb, Croatia [email protected] Not long after facing a devastating war and destruction (1-4), Croatia is striving to establish a knowledge-based society founded on international standards of excellence and openness (5,6). The > Received: November 21, 2006 previous 16 years, in which the country went through a turbulent > Accepted: November 29, 2006 transition from a communist regime to a democratic society and market-driven economy, were not a very productive period in the field of science and research. Less than half of Croatian scientists > Croat Med J. 2006;47:809-24 published their research findings in relevant scientific publications (7). In the 1999-2003 period, only 1745 articles per million pop- www.cmj.hr 809 Croat Med J 2006;47:809-824 ulation were published in internationally visible Box 1. Sixteen indicators of education quality as de- journals indexed in the Web of Science biblio- fined by the European Commission http://ec.europa.( graphic database. This was only one of the indica- eu/education/policies/educ/indic/rapinen.pdf) tors of inadequate management and insufficient Area Indicator Attainment mathematics funding in science and education sector, inher- reading ited from the communist days (8). In 2003, the science reorganization and development of higher edu- information and communication cation, science and technology, and information technologies (ict) foreign languages society were approached in a structured and sys- learning to learn tematic way. civics Success and transition drop out Toward knowledge-based society completion of high school education participation in tertiary education The main strategic goal set by the European Education monitoring evaluation and steering of school Union (EU) member states at the Summit in education Lisbon in 2000 was for Europe “to become the parental Resources and structures education and training of teachers most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based participation in pre-elementary economy in the world, capable of sustainable education economic growth with more and better jobs and number of students greater social cohesion” (9). At the core of the educational strategic reorientation of priorities at the Lisbon Summit was the recognition of education and ment of the education and science system, com- training as essential for development of a knowl- plementarity and interaction between education edge-based economy and full employment. The and science, and informatization of the whole Heads of State and Governments indicated that system. Like many other developed and develop- urgent modernization of education systems was ing countries in the world, the Republic of Croa- the main prerequisite for the EU to by 2010 as- tia has also recognized these segments to be essen- sume the leading position in the world in the tial for development and entrusted the Ministry quality of education and science system. Howev- of Science, Education, and Sports (MSES) with er, carrying out this plan will not be easy, as non- designing and monitoring the implementation EU countries will not stand idly by while Europe of almost all the measures that will “make Cro- is moving toward its Lisbon goals (10). Although atia a knowledge-based society and Croatian sci- the reform process is a joint plan coordinated at ence and education sector the most competitive the EU level through cooperation and shared ef- in this part of Europe by 2010” (12). For this forts of the member states, it respects national purpose, a very complex structure of the MSES differences and tradition of each country where and associated organizations and institutions it is implemented (9,11). The European Coun- had to be developed and staffed with adequate- cil also identified the need to set quantifiable tar- ly trained people (Figure 1). The MSES itself is gets, indicators, and benchmarks, such as 16 indi- the result of merging two separate ministries, the cators on quality of school education (Box 1), as a Ministry of Education and Sports and the Minis- means of comparing the best practice in member try of Science and Technology, which took place states and monitoring and assessing the progress. on December 23, 2003. This was a crucial step Development of a knowledge-based society for establishing previously non-existent vertical depends on the quality and continual improve- integration of education and science, ie, a com- 810 Editorial Figure 1. Organization of higher education, science and technology, and information society system in the Republic of Croatia (12). dition of Croatian education and science sys- Box 2. Priorities in Croatian education system (13): tem – Croatia had for centuries been a part of • Interlinking all levels of education system, from kindergarten to doctoral studies Habsburg Empire, which had a high-quality ed- • Enhancing quality and effectiveness of education ucation system. On the other hand, the chang- • Encouraging continual professional development of teachers es are based on modern educational experience and other education staff • Improving financial status of teachers as well as schools and trends in European countries (20-26). These • Building school, university, science, and sport facilities comprehensive modifications of the Croatian • Education for social cohesion, economic growth, and education and science system include introduc- development ing Croatian National Educational Standard • Aligning education with labor market requirements (15) into 8-year elementary schools (elementa- • Creating student-centered education process ry education in Croatia traditionally consists of prehensive system encompassing an education a 4-year primary plus 4-year lower secondary ed- vertical, ranging from preschool to higher educa- ucation); introducing external evaluation (state tion, doctoral studies, and lifelong learning (Box examinations and high-school and vocational 2), with scientific and technological verticals: ba- school graduation exams) (27); extending com- sic research – applied research – developmental pulsory education from elementary to higher sec- research (13,14). ondary education (11-12 years in total); intro- ducing Bologna principles into higher education Education and science development institutions (28); organizing lifelong learning strategy system; bringing science and technology in closer alignment with European standards; establishing Croatia has set out to close the gap between its vertical education and science system, as well as own education and science system and that of new institutions and bodies for implementation the developed countries by implementing chang- of developmental goals (Figure 1); and enacting es in the entire education system (13,15-19). On or amending relevant legislation (Table 1) (14). the one hand, these changes rely on the long tra- Five polytechnic schools have already been es- 811 Croat Med J 2006;47:809-824 Table 1. Croatian science, technology, education, and information institutions established by the Croatian Government and Croatian Parliament in the 2004-2006 period (in order of establishment)* Institutions and professional bodies Established on Purpose and activities I. Institutions Agency for Science and Higher Education July 15, 2004 Evaluating institutions and programs in the science and higher education system Establishing a national network for ensuring quality in higher education Providing professional help to National Council for Science, National Council for Higher Education, and Science and Higher Education Funding Council Recognition of overseas higher education qualifications Croatian Standards Institute* October 27, 2004 Preparing and accepting Croatian standards and other standardization documents Maintaining