The Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education has signed a Partnership Agreement to collaborate with the Croatian Academic and Research Network – CARNET on the preparation and implementation of the “Support for the Application of Digital Technologies in Education – BrAIn” project. The project is being conducted from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2029, with a total value of EUR 15,000,000. Funding is provided by the European Union and the European Social Fund+, supplemented by national co-financing.

Through the development of curricula, educational programs, and research, the project will continuously guide and monitor the impact of digital technologies on education with the aim of enhancing digital competencies of students and teachers. An intelligent recommendation system will be developed to provide better insight into students’ achievements and contribute to a personalized approach to the development of each student. An automated monitoring and management system will ensure high availability of digitized educational services through more efficient, accessible, and sustainable management of the network and cybersecurity.

Within the project, the curriculum for extracurricular activities and the curriculum for an elective subject were developed with the aim of fostering critical thinking about the impact of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and training for practical work with these technologies. The recommendation is to implement the extracurricular activity in the 7th and 8th grades of primary school, and the elective subject in the 2nd and 3rd grades of secondary school. The experimental implementation of the curricula is planned for the 2024/2025 school year. The curricula will be revised during the 2025/2026 school year based on feedback from participants in their experimental implementation. Regular implementation of the curricula for extracurricular activities and the elective subject is planned from the 2025/2026 school year until the end of the project. The implementation of the curricula for extracurricular activities and the elective subject will be supported by the development of digital educational content, training for educational staff, and research on the impact of digital technologies on students.

Schools’ educational staff  can participate in project activities by applying to the public call for participation in the BrAIn project, which is open until the end of the project, i.e., until August 31, 2029. Details of the public call for educational staff to participate in the BrAIn project are available at: https://www.carnet.hr/projekt/brain/#javni-poziv

A detailed description of the project is available on the CARNET website: https://www.carnet.hr/projekt/brain/

The project is being implemented within the intervention area of Specific Objective ESO4.6: “Promoting equal access to quality and inclusive education and training and its completion, especially for disadvantaged groups, from early and preschool education through general and vocational education and training to tertiary education, as well as adult education and learning, including facilitating learning mobility for all and accessibility for people with disabilities “of the “Effective Human Resources 2021-2027” Program.