Croatia marks a score similar to Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom.

The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) presents the second edition of European Skills Index, which enables targeted measurement of skills efficiency of 27 EU member states, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. Croatia, with a score of 62 points, ranks 18^th out of 31 in the European Skills Index 2020.

The Czech Republic has the highest score (77) and is followed by Finland, Luxemburg and Estonia, which are in the top five countries. Croatia belongs to the countries with mid-range score, such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Italy, Greece and Spain have the lowest index score.

In skills development, Croatia scores 16^th, with an exceptionally high indicator of student percentage in VET (4^th place) and citizens with at least high school education (10^th place), but also with low indicators of adult participation in lifelong learning (29^th place) and high computing skills (27^th place). Despite its’ excellent indicators regarding early drop-out rates (4^th place), Croatia is only 23^rd when it comes to skills activation, and 29^th when it comes to employment rates of recent high school or university graduates, as well as labour force participation rates of 25-54 year-olds (27^th place). In skills matching, Croatia scores 6^th, due to the relatively low rates of part-time employment (7^th place) and highly educated workers with low wages (14^th place). However, in terms of prolonged unemployment rates, it ranks 26^th.

In order to enhance skills development and student transition to the labour market, Agency for VET and Adult Education (AVETAE) is implementing a reform of vocational education, a part of which is the development of new occupational and qualification standards in accordance with labour market needs and the modernisation of VET curricula. AVETAE has also developed a new model of VET teacher’s professional development, as well as a new model of VET students’ competition. With these reforms, AVETAE aims to enhance the quality of teaching and teachers’ professional development, in order to increase the attractiveness of VET and enable the acquisition of VET skills appropriate for the 21^st century.

Successful national skills systems enable an effective transition from education to the labour market and balance skills acquisition with labour market needs. European Skills Index marks the results in three areas that form the skills system of a particular country: skills development, skills activation and skills matching. It is based on fifteen indicators for the three areas of the skills system. Skills development refers to the education and training activities of a particular country, and their immediate effect on skills developed and acquired. This area consists of indicators of pre-tertiary education, VET and lifelong learning. Skills activation refers to indicators of transition from school to the labour market and labour force participation rates. Skills matching refers to the degree of correlation between labour force skills and labour market needs, which is shown in unemployment rates and excess or shortage of labour force of a particular profile.

Skills systems are an important component of economic competitiveness of particular states and the EU as a whole. Key strategic document, such as the European Pillar of Social Rights and New Skills Agenda for Europe, aim to strengthen the EU’s skills system. The chosen indicators of the European Skills Index are in accordance with the policies, strategic priorities and challenges in education and labour market, including the Education and Training Monitor 2020 benchmarks. In spite of diversity of the EU’s skills systems, some common recommendations refer to encouraging lifelong learning and training, enhancing young persons’ participation rates (by raising qualifications’ level) and minimising the discord between labour market offer and demand.

For more information, please visit European Skills Index 2020.