Croatia has a very strong and established education system.

The
education system began in the 10th century, when most schools were linked
to the Church. In 1774, Maria Theresa issued an Edict on the General School
Order, which began a reform in education (Croatia.eu, 2015). Since then,
every community with a parish church was/is required to open a school. In
1945, compulsory education, meaning education is required by law,
expanded to seven years, from the previous five. This compulsory education
fits with the first priority of the Global Education First Initiative created by the
UN, being that every child be enrolled in school (Global Education First
Initiative, 2015).
The earliest form in Croatia can begin when kids are as young as one
years old. This education normally consists of the pre-schools and
kindergartens. There are over 450 individual kindergartens in Croatia, and
most of them are state-run, and do not include the private ones that are
spread throughout the country (Education in Croatia, 2011). Along with
the Preschool Education Act, it is the states duty to provide children with
early childhood care and education. With this being said, using information
from a study conducted in 2010, 58% of pre-school aged children attended
pre-school, while 99% of children attended the year before they started
primary, or elementary school (Education in Croatia, 2011). This
percentage is quite high, compared to the U.S.s 46% of 3 and 4 year olds
enrolled in preschool (Population Reference Bureau, 2015). The reason why

Croatia has such a strong education system is because it has been well
established since the early 10th century.
Primary education in Croatia is split into two separate groups. The first
is 1st through 8th grade, which focus on the basic subjects. In 5th to 8th
grades, students are introduced to new, more complex subjects such as
chemistry, physics, and history (Education in Croatia, 2011). This is very
similar to the ways of the American education system. Since primary school
is compulsory in Croatia, the literacy level rate is at 98.1%, which is very
high compared to other countries.

This graph shows the

literacy rates in Croatia
between the 1990s and
2010. We can see that
the literacy rate has
improved, which may be
because of the Preschool
Education Act, which was
established in 1997.

Secondary education provides students with the primary subjects that

are needed for the workplace in Croatia. The secondary education program

is split into two types of schools, with the first being gymnasiums. These are
four year secondary schools that focus on math and sciences, and require at
least three foreign languages (Education in Croatia, 2011). The second is
vocational schools, which are much more popular throughout Croatia,
compared to the gymnasiums. These schools are examples of the UNs
Global Education Initiative, going along with the second priority of improving
the quality of learning, which is displayed through the different options of
schooling for Croatian children
After secondary education, people can attend polytechnic or
universities. With a secondary education, a large percentage of students are
able to get into these schools. These schools provide an education to equip
students for work in the business world, and in society (Croatia.eu, 2015).
Higher education in Croatia relates to the global citizenship aspect of the
Global Education First Initiative. People are able to learn subjects that go
along with what they want to do after school, and help them become more
aware of what is going on in the world around them.

This chart provides a visual of the amount

of people that are using the
education system in Croatia. I
would have expected the
Postgraduate degree percentage
to be higher, which may be
something that the UN Global
Education First Initiative may
want to look into, as the Vocational
secondary education percentage is
very high.

Education System. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2015.

UN Global Education First Initiative. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2015.