ZAGREB October 23, 2020 – Croatian professor Dejan Nemcic is the best geography teacher in the world. He was awarded the status in the annual Global Teacher Awards for the vivid and imaginative way he engages students

Croatia has the best geography teacher in the world. Dejan Nemcic from Ivo Andrić Elementary School in Sopot, Zagreb was on Thursday 22 October named as the winner in his class by the annual Global Teacher Awards. He is one of the few winners this year from this part of Europe.

After he was named a recipient of the award, Dejan Nemcic was interviewed by Croatian media outlet 24sata. In the interview, he dedicated the award to his students.

Dejan Nemcic, who is originally from Garešnica in the south of Bjelovar-Bilogora County, was nominated because of the vivid and imaginative way he engages students in geography. Using online communications and multi-media he places students directly within the environments they're learning about.

Ivo Andrić Elementary School in Sopot, Zagreb, where Dejan Nemcic teaches his inspired geography lessons © Ivo Andrić Elementary School

“I tell sixth-graders about the disappearance of the Amazon rainforest,” Dejan Nemcic detailed to 24sata as an example of his methods. “Then, my colleague Ana is waiting for us in a boat on the Amazon and we see everything as it really is. It’s the same with the favelas in Rio de Janeiro.” Using such collaborations and techniques he has allowed his students to travel the world from their classroom. He teaches everything that is included in the official curriculum but, with the blessing of the school administration, is free to teach it in his own inspiring way.

Around 150 members of the Croatian diaspora, located in the four corners of the earth, assist as part of the extended network of collaborators Dejan Nemcic has built over the last decade.

Educators from all over the world are included in the annual Global Teacher Awards. Teachers are nominated for inclusion by those who respect and admire their work. Dejan Nemcic was nominated by the EduBalkan platform.

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July 16, 2020 - Young Croats have the best digital skills in Europe

Figures released by the European Union show that young Croats have the best digital skills in Europe. 97% of 16 to 24-year-olds in Croatia have basic or above basic digital skills.

The amazing result by young Croats is notably superior to their closest competitors Estonia, Lithuania and the Netherlands (all three 93%). By contrast, some neighbouring countries in south-east Europe observed the lowest shares; Romania (56%), Bulgaria (58%), Italy (65%), Hungary (68%).

Education in Europe was moved entirely online in recent months in response to the closure of schools. It seems Croatian students were the best-placed to deal with the switch to digital.


Croatia's 16 to 24-year-olds lead in digital skills across the whole of Europe

To obtain the figures, European authorities assessed young people in four specific areas of internet and software use; information, communication, problem solving and software skills.

Information skills include the ability to identify, locate, retrieve, store, organise and analyse digital information. Communication skills include using emails, social networks, online communication software such as video calls and uploading content online. Problem-solving skills included transferring files between devices and the installation and management of software and apps. Software skills are considered the ability to use and manipulate content such as spreadsheets, photo, video or audio files and the use of word processing software.

Not all of the proficiency displayed by young Croatians can be attributed solely to studious work at their home PCs or laptops; many of the skills young Croatians possess are accessible on and learned from mobile phones. However, education in Croatia does play a significant role in the country's amazing digital literacy.

In addition to the good standard of digital education available in Croatian schools, one contributing asset is the Croatian Makers programme run by Nenad Bakic. It is the largest non-governmental educational programme in the EU, has assisted in the digital education of over 200,000 children in Croatia and has educated over 3,000 teachers in Croatia for free so that they may pass on vital digital skills to future generations. The programme has been so successful it has extended beyond Croatia's borders and now also educates young people and their teachers in countries like Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

October 29, 2019 - The topic of AI has become very popular recently, both in academic papers and in popular media. This topic is discussed from many different viewpoints and in different areas.  What everybody seems to agree on is that the field of AI has changed significantly in the past couple of years and will likely continue to do so. During the AI conferences I attended as a participant or a lecturer, I identified an area of the Education System as one very interesting for the application of AI. To estimate if this out of many areas could make the most significant impact, if upgraded by AI, I asked a question: Do we have a crisis in education? 

There are some facts regarding the school system that cannot be ignored: Even after several years in school, millions of children cannot read, write, or do basic math. This learning crisis is widening social gaps instead of narrowing them. Young students who are already disadvantaged by poverty, conflict, gender, or disability reach young adulthood without even the most basic life skills. Worldwide numbers are staggering – out of around 650 million children that are in primary school, 130 million didn’t learn the basics, and an additional 120 million didn’t complete four years of primary school.  In this context, AI-based educations could be a solution to social and economic problems. 

So on one side, we have very bold predictions of widespread future use of AI – for example, 7 out of 10 companies plan to replace some of the positions with technological solutions. On the other side, we have data about investments in AI in different sectors. And unlike Retail, Media, Automotive or Health areas, in which investments are significant, an area of education is lagging with a shallow level of investments, together with Telecommunication, Travel, Tourism, etc. In addition, regardless of the level of investments, every area has a level of adaptation of AI, where the biggest adoption is among strong digital adopters. An area of Education is in this segment also in the group of low adopters. 

What can we hope for in case this investment/adoption issue changes for the best? More than a few challenges could be connected with the education solutions: promoting a fair and knowledge-based society, promoting lifelong learning (which www.mba-croatia.com is promoting), education that is equally available for everyone, and education that is accessible and global, to name a few.  

Those challenges are recognized on the political level, at least nominally. UNESCO states that “there is no doubt that AI will revolutionize the delivery and management of education and learning” and point out that we will need a dynamic review of how AI will transform teacher’s roles. Teachers are already facing some challenges explicitly connected to their roles: moving from a knowledge owner approach to a knowledge self-search and learn guide approach, how to use collective work and distance-based educational methods or to produce, re-use and share educational resources. In general, AI is expected to assist them in the future, both in student teaching and student support, but also in the field of teacher support and system support. 

With a large amount of data that is or will be available and with proper AI software, education institutions and teachers will be able to: 

do behavioral-based analysis to know the speed and depth of student learning; 

discover the student’s preferences and reuse that data to improve education & technology

discover emotions and feelings about education and the technology use

give trainers more accurate data about students and their learning processes

show students their own learning data to improve self-direct learning

discover the further learning needs of the students based on their behavior

This could be very important in planning our next steps. If we define our best teachers, as somebody with the nuanced understanding of students and also an appreciation for both content and the context in which it is delivered, it is clear that to build an intelligent and personalized system that can scale to every student, Student Intelligence and Content Intelligence is needed.

Possibly the biggest advantage of AI use could be for the students with problems (remember those 250 million children from the beginning of the article?). Students all learn differently, and a good teacher must attempt to deliver lessons in a way that resonates with every child in the classroom. Some students may have behavioral or psychological problems that inhibit or complicate that process. Others may have parents who are not involved enough in their education. Effective teachers must be able to navigate these many hurdles while satisfying often-changing curriculum requirements. 

Mid-term benefits for the students, and teachers could be education at any time, education platform adapted to their personal needs, virtual mentors, automatic curriculum formation, ability to detect weakness much better and deeper involvement into the education process. 

One USA college already created an AI teaching assistant and students didn’t recognize it was not a human. 

Considering all that, and current plans to advance AI agenda on the EU level, it seems it would be the right time for Croatia to address this potential, or even (let’s be optimistic) lead those changes on the EU political level. What needs to be defined and followed by regulations is the following:

1. Comprehensive public policy on AI for sustainable development
2. Ensuring inclusion and equity in AI in education
3. Preparing teachers for AI-powered education and developing AI to understand education

In the best-case scenario with proper use of AI in education we could be able to achieve:

1. Personalization - remedial students, advanced students, ESL students and the disabled all need to have the same access to learning. AI systems easily adapt to each student’s individual learning needs and can target students with teaching instructions based on their strengths and weaknesses
2. Course Improvement - Teachers may not always be aware of gaps in their lectures and educational materials that can leave students confused about certain concepts. Artificial intelligence offers a way to solve that problem. (Coursera, a massive open online course provider, is already putting this into practice. When a large number of students are found to submit the wrong answer to a homework assignment, the system alerts the teacher and gives future students a customized message that offers hints to the correct answer.) 
3. Trial and Error Learning made easier - Trial and error is a critical part of learning, but for many students, the idea of failing, or even not knowing the answer, is paralyzing. Some simply don’t like being put on the spot in front of their peers or authority figures like a teacher. An intelligent computer system, designed to help students learn, is a much less daunting way to deal with trial and error. Artificial intelligence could offer students a way to experiment and learn in a relatively judgment-free environment, especially when AI tutors can offer solutions for improvement.

What have we done so far? Ratko Mutavdzic stated in one interview that the AI community in Croatia gathered 4500 people. We have interesting conferences on the topic of AI - http://ai2future.com/ , but nothing significant connected specifically with education. 

The second question that was raised by the FutureHR company (https://www.linkedin.com/company/futurehrconsulting/) was about the current status and level of preparation of our teachers and professors since that is recognized as one obvious factor for future adoption.  Maybe it could be interesting to review some of the survey data, and put it in the context of current negotiations between teachers and the government, where the only topic is their salaries, but not many other factors that are influencing the future of our education in the long term.

1. Around 40% of our education workers (elementary, and high school professors and school directors) state that they have no, or below average general knowledge about the development of AI. An additional 32 percent estimate that they have some knowledge about it. Only 1% is very familiar with the topic and closely monitoring the latest developments.
2. On the question of familiarity with any AI tools that could be used in education, 66% state that they have no or below-average knowledge/awareness of them.
3. As expected, similar to the low level of basic familiarity with the AI tools, 85% state that they don’t use any AI or AI connected tools at all.
4. On the question if the education workers should be educated themselves on the topic of AI – 62% agree that they should be, 4% state they shouldn’t be, and 33% are not sure.
5. And lastly, one very interesting detail – when asked about how many of them applied for any Coursera seminars, answers were: 49% didn’t try Coursera, 20% did use it, and an incredible 31% don’t even know what MOOCs (Mass open online courses) are!

We can only assume that this selected sample is, more or less, representing the average person in Croatia, and that all of us, except the mentioned 4500 people in the AI community, should be educated at least on the basics of the AI and the changes it will inevitably bring. It is encouraging to see that HUP (Croatian Employer’s Association) created a document called “Potencijal umjetne inteligencije za Hrvatsku” and that the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts is also working on some strategies and recommendations, but those are only the first steps. 

Final quote: “We’re headed for a world where you’re either going to be able to write algorithms … or be replaced by algorithms.”  Ray Dalio.

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As Mirela Lilek/Novac writes on the 27th of April, 2019, Croatia's situation still isn't good: the country is continuing to ''produce'' graduates with the third lowest employment rate in the whole of the European Union, and as a result, taxpayers pay more and more money for them. According to new data from Brussels, based on a comparative survey of youth employment among Croats with diplomas earned in the last three years, a third of highly educated people aged between 20 to 34 in Croatia have no jobs. Only Italy and Greece are worse.

Of the 28 countries EU member states, Croatia ranked 26th with a 66 percent employability rate. Four positions above Croatia lies Romania, Bulgaria is six places above, and Slovakia is nine places above. Croatia's neighbour to the north, Slovenia, is eleven places above Croatia, Poland is thirteen places above (impressively right behind Ireland and Denmark), and the Czech Republic, with an 89.9 percent employability rate which has impressed the European Commission's experts - has risen to an enviable fourth place.

Malta is in first place in Europe as an employer of its graduates with diplomas, the employment rate of Maltese students stands at a very impressive 94.5 percent, even better than Germany, which boasts a rate of 90.9 percent, followed then by the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and then Austria. The EU average is on the rise, back in 2014 it stood at 76 percent and in 2018 it stood at 80.2 percent. Unfortunately, the Croats have been close to the bottom for years, more specifically for fifteen years, as it has a below-average rate of employability in relation to the EU. Of course, rather than attempt to fix the problem directly, the Croats are doing what the Croats always do - continuing to debate and argue over who is (more) to blame for such embarrassing conditions.

Economists see the issue as being that the Croats aren't adapting easily to the market, and that Croatia also has an old education system. At Croatia's universities, they argue that the key issue isn't Croatia's higher education institutions, but an underdeveloped labour market, low personal income, and demotivating working conditions. Experts from the European Commission have given a relatively simple answer: Investing in education will benefit everyone in Europe.

Let's see how they explain their theories in some of the country's universities, starting with the largest "producers" of graduates in the entire country, the Faculty of Philosophy and Economics in Zagreb.

''We're aware of the importance of linking study programs and labour market needs. In this regard, the Faculty of Economics makes an effort to make it easier for students to access the labour market by establishing multilateral cooperation with companies and respectable institutions that enable students to perform high-quality professional practices,'' stated Sanja Sever Mališ, who deals with strategic partnerships and projects at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb. The basic message from this particular Zagreb university is that "they connect students and employers so their best students can find work even during their studies." Therefore, there is no concern for them.

On the other hand, Vesna Vlahović-Štetić, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, admits that Croatia's humiliating placement at the bottom of the employability scale of graduates is still something to be very concerned about and therefore the causes of that need to be looked at.

''I assume that part of the problem lies in insufficient development and the ability of the economy and the public sector to absorb newly graduated students. On the other hand, the question is how many colleges and higher education institutions meet the needs of society with their respective programs. At the state level, in some professions there's hyper-production, and in others there is a lack of experts. Additionally, study programs should be regularly updated and developed to meet not only society's needs but also predict what competences professionals will need in the future,'' the dean says.

Data obtained through the HKO project of the Faculty of Philosophy shows that the employability of their students in the year after graduation is 75 percent. They believe this is the result of "the excellent professional and generic competences of their graduates".

"We're convinced at the Faculty of Philosophy that the study programs need to be further improved, so we have just started the study reform process and I'm sure the future employability of our students will be even better," says the university's dean.

The rector of the University of Rijeka, Snježana Prijić Samaržija, doesn't want to run away from the fact that Croatia's universities do hold a share of the responsibility for this issue but, again, she's convinced that Croatia's higher education institutions are't the key cause of the problem, but the underdeveloped labour market definitely is.

Rijeka University has eleven faculties and four departments. On their official page, they point out that they are a modern European university and a centre of excellence within the region and beyond, and that they are responsible for the social and economic development of the community. Samardžija claims that she doesn't want to relate the worrying data on the high rate of unemployed with higher education, but that "it should be borne in mind that higher education is a better job-finding guarantee, such as landing a permanent position,"

"Of course, it's possible to say that the employment rate would be higher if universities, by some automation, increased their quotas for the job-type deficit and reduced those profiles for which the employment bureaus take care of. In that sense, people often say Croatia's institutions and their enrollment policies aren't adapted to the labour market. However, the situation isn't quite that simple.

For example, the market seeks shipbuilding engineers, we have shipbuilding studies and a corresponding quota at the University of Rijeka, but there's a fall in interest for those studies. We can understand the students' fears about the situation with Croatia's shipyards, but the fact is that the need for this profession is still growing. Similarly, despite the lack of mathematics and physics teachers and the excellent studies we have, the interest doesn't match the employment opportunities,'' she explained.

The University of Rijeka decided to put seven studies ''into retirement'' this year, and isn't accepting students for them. Those are acting and media, dental hygiene, computer science in combination with professional studies of medical-lab diagnostics, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, and electrical engineering.

On the other hand, there's a considerable level of interest in studies that don't guarantee quick and permanent employment at all, such as the arts, cultural studies, and psychology.

''Young people choose studies according to their personal interests, not just employment opportunities. They don't necessarily just want a permanent job, many of them are accustomed to gaining work experience in different institutions, at different places of work, and in different countries. More and more, they prefer to individually define the curriculum through courses and practical competences beyond their study program(s), which will make their expertise comparatively more special and desirable. In the midst of a sluggish and non-ethnological labour market, more and more students enjoy prolonged youthful relationships with their parents or rent apartments,'' says Snježana Prijić Samaržija.

"I don't want to run away from the responsibility of the university, we're constantly thinking about the jobs of the future, we're working on increasing the quota for the deficit professions and improving our students' competences to reduce the unemployment rate. However, time is needed to see the results of these measures because the higher education cycle lasts for at least five years. It should be understood that universities can't just simply increase quotas for occupations for which there's a labour market need because new employment is frozen,'' noted the Rector of the University of Rijeka.

As Croatia's paradoxical situation of having no work but plenty of jobseekers, yet plenty of work and no staff, it's hard to predict the outcome of education system reforms as the market and its needs can alter so rapidly. Will Croatian students simply continue to trickle away on the stream of a proverbial leaking tap out into Western Europe, leaving Croatia with the rather unenviable title of a country that educates its citizens for work abroad? It's likely such a scenario will continue at least for the foreseeable future. Whether or not Croatia will manage to make the necessary alterations to fix that aforementioned ''leaky tap'' in time remains to be seen.

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Click here for the original article by Mirela Lilek for Novac/Jutarnji