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Croatia: Establishment and implementation of the voucher system for the education of employed and unemployed persons – Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy

Goal of the reform: The establishment and implementation of the voucher system will enable greater participation of unemployed and employed persons in lifelong education with an emphasis on the acquisition of skills related to the green and digital transition.

Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy and the Croatian Employment Service (CES) have established a joint team for the establishment of the voucher system. The team coordinates all activities related to the design of procedures and procedures for the use of vouchers, the training of advisors, a promotional campaign, as well as other activities that will be carried out in the preparation of the system.

  • The entire application procedure for vouchers should be maximally digitalized.
  • The measure is planned to cover 30,000 people, of which at least 12,000 (40%) are long-term unemployed, inactive or young people with NEET status. Vouchers will be used by both employed and unemployed persons.
  • Ration planned is: Green 70%, digital 30%
  • Implementation period for the establishment of the voucher system: 1/2021 – 6/2026.
  • Implementation period for the implementation of the voucher system: 4/2022. – 6/2026.
  • Estimated cost of establishing the voucher system: HRK 200,000
  • Estimated cost of implementing the voucher system: HRK 300,000,000

 

The voucher system has been in operation since April 1, 2022, and is used to finance participation in educational programs developed on the basis of the Croatian Qualification Framework, and is implemented through accredited institutions in accordance with the adopted new Act on Adult Education, and the “Regulations on criteria for selecting competencies required for work, for selecting service providers and for awarding vouchers to participants of formal or informal adult education”.

An IT application for management and allocation of vouchers has been developed and is available at the following link: https://vauceri.hzz.hr/. The application also contains a catalog of skills that shows existing and necessary green and digital skills on the labor market, and is available at the following links: https://vjestine.hzz.hr/ (for education providers) and https://vauceri.hzz.hr /katalog-vestina/ (for voucher users).

 

Currently, in accordance with HKO, 64 educational programs for acquiring green and digital skills have been developed, which are available through the voucher application. These programs are currently offered by 107 accredited educational institutions throughout Croatia, which ensures regional The list of programs and institutions will be continuously updated as new programs are approved and institutions are accredited to implement these programs.