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1. Career guidance and counselling services
2. Funding
3. Quality assurance

Career guidance and counselling services

The objective of the Strategy for Lifelong Learning Career Guidance in the Republic of Croatia 2016-2020 is to identify the priorities, measures and activities in setting up a lifelong learning guidance system and provide a basis for enabling citizens to have access to quality professional guidance services to develop their lifelong career in accordance with their abilities, interests, personality traits and job market demands.

Professional guidance is provided through legislative work involving the Ministry of Science, Education and the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy.

The main provider of vocational guidance is the Croatian Employment Service (CES), and other institutions conducting professional guidance are:

1. Primary and secondary schools
2. Adult education institutions
3. Universities and polytechnics
4. Croatian Employers' Association
5. Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts
6. Agencies for vocational education and training and adult education
7. Agency for Science and Higher Education
8. Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes

CES provides professional orientation to pupils of final grades of primary school and secondary school students, including professional information and professional counselling, and it is implemented in collaboration with schools and parents through a Survey on Interests and Competences. CES also offers a number of other e-tools for career guidance and career development for young people.

Professional orientation through lifelong career guidance centres is also available to other users who wish to participate in formal education or retraining system, or want to change their profession, and professional rehabilitation programmes are also being implemented.

In Croatia, there is no system of non-formal and informal professional orientation that is in some way co-ordinated or funded by the public bodies.

Funding

The amount of HRK 1,273,938.55 is spent for professional orientation under the supervision of the Croatian Employment Service at the annual level. The costs include the procurement of psychological measuring instruments, the development of new instruments and methods of assessment and counselling, including e-guidance, professional training, etc. Special funds are provided for professional rehabilitation procedures for people with disabilities.

Quality assurance

At the time of writing this report, there was no quality assurance system and evaluation of professional guidance system in Croatia. However, the Croatian Employment Service submits annual reports on its work to the Croatian Parliament.