National youth program

1.3. Informatization of education
Informatization of education is one of priorities in the educational system development, 
and it assumes ensuring IT equipment for all educational institutions and promotion of IT 
literacy by introduction and continuous modernization of IT classes and training teachers 
and other education professionals for using IT facilities in their work. Accordingly, all schools 
and academic institutions in Croatia are equipped with computer hardware and appropriate 
software. Full equipping with projectors and laptops is in progress, which will improve 
significantly the educational process and expand teaching and learning possibilities outside 
classrooms and institutions. All elementary and high schools, as well as academic institutions 

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have their e-mail addresses, and the great majority of them have web pages. All educational 
institutions, including schools on islands, are connected to the Internet over the Croatian 
Academic and Research Network CARNet, and the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport 
recently made available on-line interactive lessons in mathematics, physics and biology to 
high school students, with the plan to extend it to other subjects. In academic education, 
the information system of academic institutions ISVU has been established and smart pages 
SmartX and e–INDEKS have been introduced, and student dormitories are connected to the 
stuDOM network.
A significant contribution to the informatization of education has been made by three 
special projects by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport. The project of information 
technology application (iProjects) stimulate the development and application of information 
and communication technology in education process and scientific and research activities, 
the NISKA project ensures the construction of a unified national information system of 
libraries, and the „Net in School“project promotes faster internetization of schools and IT 
education of teachers and students.
Although appropriate steps in this direction have already been taken, in the following 
period attention should be paid more to teacher training for using new information-
communication technologies in planning, preparing and realization of classes, especially 
for the purpose of exchanging experiences with other teachers in the country and in the 
world, improving teaching methods and encouraging students for a research or project 
and cooperative learning. The digitalization of lessons and other sources for independent 
learning should be continued, through the development of interactive programs. Teachers 
and pupils, i.e. students should also be enabled to access the appropriate databases, 
and in academic education, existing choices should be expanded. In relation to this, it is 
essential to establish a central documentation base with reliable statistical and analytical 
data, through which professional and wider public would be informed about the process, 
difficulties and achievements of the implementation of strategic development documents 
on all levels of the education system.
1.4. Goals
•
to ensure all necessary conditions in order to enable youth associations to conduct 
non-formal education programs in co-operation with formal education institutions 
and other civil society organizations 
•
to establish a system of professional counselling and directing youth as an integral part 
of formal education, with the special emphasis on additional training and retraining
•
to create clear education quality standards and criteria for certification of non-formal 
education programs for the purpose of their inclusion into formal education 
•
to ensure the serviceability of educational system and pupil and student mobility 
through non-formal and formal education systems on the national and international 
levels 

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•
to ensure conditions for the implementation of programs that promote active 
citizenship, human rights, cultural diversity, non-violent conflict resolution, social 
engagement, ecological awareness and first aid knowledge into the formal education 
system and in partnership with certified civil society organizations 
•
to establish mechanisms of equal participation of youth in decision-making processes 
in the overall educational system, with special emphasis on high school and academic 
education 
•
to ensure full inclusion of vulnerable youth groups (disabled, materially and socially 
excluded, gender, ethnic and religious minorities) into all levels and all forms of 
education
•
to invest continually in IT services and services for youth and to ensure their accessibility 
to all young people by raising the level of IT literacy and introducing the appropriate 
infrastructure into formal and non-formal education systems