Education System in Croatia

Grad Age Ag
e Grad Fro e Year
Education School/Level From e To m To s Notes

Primary-
Primary 1 8 6 14 8
Osnovna škola

Certificate/diplom
Secondar Secondary- a awarded:
9 12 14 18 4
y Gimnazija Svjedodžba o
maturi

Specialized Certificate/diplom
Secondar Secondary- a awarded:
9 12 14 18 4
y Umjetnička škola Svjedodžba o
(Art School) završnom ispitu

Republic of
Croatia is
currently
undergoing a
comprehensive
Post- reform in order to
Certificate- 180
secondar 3 be part of the
ECTS credits
y European Higher
Education Area
by 2010 and
implement the
Bologna
Declaration

Vocational Certificate/diplom
Vocationa
Secondary- 9 12 14 18 4 a awarded:
l
Strukovna škola Svjedodžba o
 Grad Age Ag
e Grad Fro e Year
Education School/Level From e To m To s Notes

(Vocational završnom ispitu

School) and a vocational
qualification.

Undergraduate
Tertiary 4
Studies

Doctor in
Medicine is
Graduate
Tertiary 2 awarded after six
Studies
years and 360
credit points

Specialist Degree
is awarded after
one to two years
of postgraduate
Postgraduate
Tertiary 2 studies, the
Studies
Doctor of
Sciences and the
Doctor of Arts
after three years

Primary Education

Education in Croatia is a constitutional right in terms of which primary education is free and all other
education is available to all. Elementary education lasts for 8 years of which the first 4 are
characterized by unitary class teachers. Thereafter the curriculum widens to include specialist
teachers and additional scientific subjects.

Secondary Education

There are two main types of secondary schools in Croatia, namely gymnasiums and vocational
schools. The former schools offer 4 separate four-year tracks, namely maths / informatics / science,
languages, classics and general education, while the latter focus on producing entry-level employees.
Vocational Education

The Croatian government has introduced a program to align vocational training with the european
union model that includes occupational standards and listed qualifications. Progress is being made
with mutual recognition too. This should soon see the nation’s youth free to develop their careers in
the wider European context which can only be good for national development.

Tertiary Education

There are two broad types of tertiary institutions, namely

universities and polytechnic schools. These days distinctions
are blurring although university graduates are still regarded as
superior. At university level, individual faculties form separate
colleges with own administrative facilities, and may be located some distance apart or even in
different towns.

The University of Zagreb was established as a Jesuit Academy in 1669. Its faculties include sciences,
engineering, bio-medical sciences, bio-technology, social sciences, humanities and arts.