Author
According to the LITP, beneficiaries of international protection have the right to elementary, secondary and higher education under the same conditions as Croatian citizens, pursuant to separate regulations.[1]
Asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection shall exercise the right to adult education pursuant to the regulations on adult education as well as the right to recognition of foreign qualifications, both under the same conditions as Croatian citizens.
For asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection, who for justified reasons are not able to provide the necessary documentation to prove their foreign qualifications, an assessment of their prior learning shall be conducted. The assessment of the prior learning of beneficiaries of international protection shall be conducted by a competent body, pursuant to the regulations governing regulated professions and recognition of foreign vocational qualifications.
A decision to refuse an application for recognition of foreign vocational qualifications cannot be based exclusively on the fact that no official documents exist to prove a specific foreign vocational qualification.
If an asylee or foreigner under subsidiary protection does not have sufficient financial resources available, the translation of foreign documents for the purpose of recognition of foreign qualifications shall be provided from the State Budget under the item of the Ministry competent for education.
During 2022, the Ministry of Science and Education organized 23 courses of Croatian language, history and culture for asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection with the aim of their inclusion in Croatian society. In the same period, documentation (diplomas and certificates) were translated for 15 asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection. Five persons under international protection were enrolled at the following universities: Faculty of Law, Faculty of Political Sciences, Faculty of Mining and Geology, Faculty of Architecture and Faculty of Civil Engineering, while only one refugee student is the beneficiary of a stipend.[2]
However, in September 2022, the Ministry of Interior took the decision to terminate the agreement with the Ministry of Science and Education, among other things, due to the fact that Croatian language courses were not held.[3]
At the local level, during 2023, the City of Zagreb organized a certified Croatian language course, which was initially aimed at persons granted international or temporary protection, and was then expanded to foreign workers. The city of Zagreb announced the organization of a Croatian language course to be conducted by foreign language schools and CSOs, and similar initiatives were announced by the cities of Split and Varaždin.[4]
Centre for Peace Studies (CPS) reported several problems in the educational system: problems with preparatory classes for children; lack of preparedness of schools; insufficient number of teaching assistants; problems in realizing the right to higher education; problems in exercising the majority of rights enjoyed by regular students, such as the right to subsidized accommodation and food and the possibility of receiving a scholarship; difficulties with the recognition of qualifications and nostrification of diplomas when persons have documents proving their education, as well as a lack of customised procedures for recognition of qualifications when they do not have documents.[5]
For students who have insufficient knowledge of the Croatian language, the school is obliged to organise preparatory classes, but according to AYS, practice has shown that the process of organising preparatory classes is extremely long and children often wait several months before such classes are approved. Also, some children have to go to another school for preparatory classes, and as a result, they are not attending part of their classes at their own school. AYS also reported that children are, due to non-standardized tests, often enrolled in lower classes than their peers and are often victims of violence and social isolation.[6]
According to the Children Ombudswoman’s report for 2023, there are differences in the start of implementation of preparatory classes for the Croatian language for children under international protection which sometimes takes months, compared to the preparatory classes that are organized for children displaced from Ukraine, which are organized much faster.
The Ombudswomen for Children, also underlined that sometimes children have preparatory classes in another schools, therefore losing part of the classes in their schools. She further stressed that 140 hours of Croatian language classes are not sufficient for a child to independently participate in education, In addition, there are still no textbooks that are adapted to children from other speaking areas.[7]
In 2022, the new Law on Recognition and Evaluation of Foreign Educational Qualifications entered into force.[8] The Law prescribes the possibility of evaluating foreign educational qualifications for the purpose of continuing education at the same or higher level of education and for the purpose of accessing the labour market for beneficiaries of international and temporary protection and their family members.
At the end of June 2023, the Ordinance on conditions and methods of exercising the right of students in regular status to subsidized housing entered into force.[9] Although the Ombudswoman proposed that students who are granted international protection should be included in the category of students who exercise the direct right to subsidized housing, such a proposal was not accepted. However, the Ordinance prescribes that an additional 750 points will be given to students under international protection, due to their specific situation.[10]
In October 2023, the Ordinance on the conditions and method of exercising the right to a State scholarship based on socio-economic status entered into force.[11]
To be included into the education system, beneficiaries must have a certificate of their status in Croatia, a certificate of residence, an identity document (e.g., birth certificate, identity card, passport or relevant document of the Ministry of Interior) and a document proving previous education. If it is not possible to enclose a document on previous education, it is necessary to give a statement before a notary public, which is then presented to the school’s professional service to organise an enrolment test in order to determine the class that the candidate can attend.
AYS reported that in the course of 2023, they continued to provide educational support to children granted international protection, i.e., 43 volunteers provided 1,647 hours of educational support to 42 children from 23 families.[12] The support programme included support in language learning, mastering school materials, building independence in academic context, expanding the social network, cooperation with schools and mediation in communication between parents and the school. Volunteers had the obligation to spend a minimum of 2 hours a week working with children.
CPS also reported that in practice, obstacles in the access of beneficiaries granted international protection to higher education continued in 2023.[13] Although, they have the right to higher education equally as Croatian citizens, there is no specific category for enrolling persons granted international protection to faculties, so they are enrolled either as other foreigners, which means they have to pay high tuition fees, or as Croatian citizens – which means that they have to take state graduation exam and have Croatian citizenship. In addition, as refugee students are enrolled in colleges in the quota for foreigners – they do not have access to all the majors, because not all faculties provide all majors for foreigners as well. There is also the problem of non-recognition of foreign educational qualifications in cases where beneficiaries have documents to prove their previous education as well as very high prices for beneficiaries of international protection who have to take different subjects which are not provided free of charge to them. In addition, problems arise in the exercise of most of the rights enjoyed by full-time students.
[1] Article 70 LITP.
[2] Croatian Law Centre, The Croatian Asylum System in 2022 – National Report. The report was prepared as part of the project “Legal Assistance and Capacity Building for Access to Territory and Asylum in Croatia“, with financial support of the UNHCR Croatia: available in English at: https://bit.ly/434T7RL.
[3] Ministry of Interior: Decision on the cancellation of the Decision on the allocation of financial resources for the implementation of the project “Integration of asylees and foreigners under subsidiary protection into Croatian society, education and preparation for inclusion in the labor market“; available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3lzxqtk.
[4] Ombudswoman, Report of the Ombudswoman for 2023, available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/4crt2kR.
[5] Information provided by Centre for Peace Studies, 30 January 2024.
[6] Information provided by Are You Syrious, 29 January 2024.
[7] Ombudswoman for Children: Report on the work of the Ombudswoman for Children in 2023, available in Croatian: https://bit.ly/3zeXcJw.
[8] Law on Recognition and Evaluation of Foreign Educational Qualifications, Official Gazette 69/2022, available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3OPwI79.
[9] Ordinance on conditions and methods of exercising the right of students in regular status to subsidized housing, Official Gazette 68/2023, available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3RySVHc.
[10] Ombudswoman, Report of the Ombudswoman 2023, available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/4crt2kR.
[11] Ordinance on the conditions and method of exercising the right to a state scholarship based on socio-economic status, Official Gazette 114/2023, available in Croatian at: https://bit.ly/3xlkixM.
[12] Information provided by Are you Syrious, 29 January 2024.
[13] Information provided by Centre for Peace Studies,30 January 2024.