The EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Reports
Croatia

LITERACY IN ADULTS

The goal of this survey is to reduce adult illiteracy, especially among the younger age group of the population able for work.

The adult literacy survey included the population at age from 15 and older. Special attention was paid to the age group from 15 to 24 year olds. In these two groups, the focus is on the literacy of women.

The main source of data for the survey was the "1995 Statistical Almanac" of the State Institute of Statistics whose data were based on the 1991 census. Other indicators are incomplete because of major demographic changes in some parts of the Republic of Croatia caused by the war.

For the purpose of this survey, an illiterate person is the one who did not attend school or finished only one to three grades of the primary education.

The initial indicator: Illiterate population at age 10 or more years, as to the 1991 census.

Out of all in this age group (4,189,512) there were 127,438 illiterates or 3,04 percent, of which 0,51 percent were male and 2,49 percent were female.

In this age group of illiterates, 113,450 or 2,70 percents belong to the age group above 50 year olds. It is apparent from this data that the illiteracy rate is very low for the most active population able for work.

INDICATOR 16:

Literacy rate of 15 to 24 year olds

Literacy rate of 15 to 24 year olds is 99,62%, which indicates the high primary school enrollment rate and efficiency of the primary education. For this age group, the literacy rate is somewhat higher in urban than in rural areas. The literacy gender parity index is nearly equal. This speaks about the equity of genders in the education system.

For this age group, measures have been taken regularly to include illiterate persons into the process of completion of the primary education and the Croatian Employment Agency takes special care of this because the finished primary education is a prerequisite for employment.

INDICATOR 17:

Adult literacy rate, the population aged 15 and above

Literacy rate for the population aged 15 and above is 96,72%. In this age group of the population active and able for work, 15 to 65 year olds, the literacy rate is high because out of all illiterate persons 12,4 percent are those older than 65 years.

INDICATOR 18:

Literacy gender parity index:ratio of female to male literacy rates

a)

b)

The Literacy Gender Parity Index for the age group 15 and older is 0,96 and for the age group 15 to 24 year olds 0,99, which actually equals 1. Literacy Gender Parity Index for the age group 15 to 24 year olds in rural areas is higher than the index in urban areas, which indicates the change of attitude toward women and their position in rural areas.

From all this, it is apparent that literacy of women is almost equal to the literacy of men, especially in the age group 15 to 24 years, where the index is nearly 1. all this speaks of the equity of genders in acquiring literacy and the level of opportunities offered to women in education and in the community in general.

INSTITUTIONS FOR PRIMARY EDUCATION OF ADULTS

Adults are enabled to acquire the primary basic education in all primary schools (public and private) and open public university extensions.

In 1994, this type of education covered 527 attendants older than 15 years who finished primary education in 26 institutions. Women were 154. In 1996, in 45 institutions, 1,309 attendants finished primary education, and 322 of them were women.

All these indicators show that the Croatian schooling system is efficient and that those who were left illiterate or failed to finish primary school for any reason are paid special attention. This applies especially to the younger age groups.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and Croatian Employment Agency that have been funding this activity extensively provide special care in this category of the population.

TRAINING IN ESSENTIAL SKILLS

Objective: alleviation of the war consequences imposed on children, teachers and the education system as a whole, and learning democratic skills indispensable for the development of the democratic civil society.

In the education system of the Republic of Croatia there are many projects going on as well as actions and contents covering the topic of the human rights, civil education, nonviolent conflict solving, education for peace and tolerance, psychological programs of help to the war traumatized children, etc.

A part of these projects and actions was included in the education system after the democratic changes occurred in the Republic of Croatia in 1991, mainly through the reform of the education system with aim to democratize the education system. The major part of the projects and actions was included during the war aggression against Croatia.

Many international organizations (UNICEF, UNESCO, UN, The Council of Europe, NGOs) provided their assistance and help to the Croatian schools in order to alleviate the aftereffects of the war imposed on children, teachers, and the education system, and to enhance the education for human rights and the democratic development. Out of an exceptionally high number of projects and actions that were or are implemented still, in this presentation we shall show only some of them because of the short time available for this purpose.

The project "Education for Human Rights and Peace in the Primary Schools" is conducted in cooperation of UNESCO and the Government of the Republic of Croatia. The project applies to the scientific research in which all the relevant world models and approaches toward the education for human rights were analyzed so as to detect the best possible approach toward the education for human rights in the Croatian education system. The results of the research were used in the making of the National Program of Education for Human Rights in the Republic of Croatia.

The projects "The Citizen and The Constitution – The Fundaments of Democracy" and the "Project Citizen" are carried out in cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Center for Civil Education from USA. For the initial introduction of these projects were selected the higher grades of the primary school and the first grades of the secondary school (45 schools from all counties, in the beginning, which expanded and included 150 schools, inclusive of schools with national minorities members).

These projects are easily carried out during the class teacher's hours as an extra-curricular activity or as an option. The program for the optional civil education subject was made. The textbooks were ensured for all pupils and students to initialize the implementation of this program.

The focus of these projects is on the education and democracy. The goal of these projects is to familiarize pupils and students with the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia so they can acquire adequate knowledge, skills, and inclinations for implementation of this knowledge in the civil life for the sake of protection of the personal civil rights and the common welfare of the community, to inform the pupils and students, to make them more efficient and responsible citizens who will protect and enhance the development of the constitutional democracy in Croatia, and thus improve and enhance the basic human and civil rights of every person in the country.

The strategy of the teaching rests on the cooperative learning based on conflict solving in small groups, debates, discussions, plays, role playing, etc. the program requires and depends on the use of the interdisciplinary skills: oral expression, writing, researching, statistical data processing, knowledge from the field of the social sciences.

The projects cooperated by the Ministry of Education and Sports and UNICEF have been carried out since 1992 until today and the outcomes of these projects are applied in the entire primary school and preschool education systems because they were incorporated by the Ministry of Education and Sports in the compulsory professional training and improvement of educators in the preschool education system and teachers in the primary schools. These projects are: "Child Rights Promotion", "Education for Development", "Education for Development, Cooperation, and Tolerance in School and Children's Libraries", "Early Childhood Development", "Peaceful Conflict Solving in School - Peer to Peer Help", "Children, Caution! Beware of the Explosive Devices", "Psychosocial Support and Assistance to the Displaced and Refugee Children, Parents, and Educators in the Preschool Education", "Psychosocial Support and Assistance to Teachers in Primary Schools From the War Affected Areas". A few words about each of them.

"Child Rights Promotion" is a project involving professors of the School of Philosophy in Zagreb and the staff of the Ministry of Education and Sports who, in frames of the project, prepare a manual for teachers titled "Child Rights Promotion".

"Education for Development" is a project being implemented at the Academy for teachers as an optional study for students of class teaching, at the fourth year of the studies. Professional training and improvement related to this topic is implemented for professors, educative projects leaders, and for fresh teachers-novices who have already attended the optional study or seminars from the area of education for development. A manual titled "Education for Development" was also published.

"Education for Development, Cooperation, and Tolerance in School and Children's Libraries" is a project implemented for promotion of the education for development, tolerance and cooperation in 31 children's and school libraries. Seminars were organized, a bulleting is published regularly for librarians, the expert literature was purchased for librarians, and several libraries were outfitted with the literature for children, didactic and fine art materials.

"Early Childhood Development" is a project aiming at the improved development of the organized out-of-family education of preschool children. For this reason, the two studies were produced: "The Needs of the Croatian Family For the Organized Out-of-Family Preschool Education" and "The Programs of Care and Promotion of Early Childhood Development in the Republic of Croatia". For this purpose, the centers for parents will be set up and develop to serve as model examples of the offer of comprehensive programs for children and parents.

"Peaceful Problem Solving in School – Peer to Peer Help" is a project aiming at the training of pupils and students and teachers for peacemaking, cooperation, nonviolent conflict solving. Manuals were produced and published for teachers under the name "Peacemaking Class" and "Za Damire i Nemire" (For Peace Makers and Peace Breakers).

"Children, Caution! Beware of the Explosive Devices" is a project included in the National Program for Protection of Children From Lethal Devices. The carriers are the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Police Academy. The project is implemented in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. Modern didactic material was devised and produced that includes a videocassette for teaching about the protection from unexploded devices, and brochures for secondary school students and various leaflets and flyers.

"Psychosocial Support and Assistance to the Displaced and Refugee Children, parents, and Educators in the Preschool Education" (directly involved 500 educators, and indirectly all educators in the preschool education, and 3.000 children directly, and 20.000 children indirectly). Two manuals were printed with the same name as the project for educators and parents of the preschool age children.

"Psychosocial Support and Help to Teachers of Primary Schools From the War Affected Areas" – two manual were printed for primary school teachers under the title "Help the War Victims".

"Psychosocial Support and Help to Children and Teachers from the Croatian Danubian Region (Eastern Slavonia)" is a project initiated by the Ministry of Education and Sports on the base of knowledge and experiences acquired in the previous projects.

The project "Psychosocial Dimensions of Education" is implemented in cooperation with Kulturkontakt from Austria and the Society for Psychological Assistance from Zagreb and it applies to the education of some thirty teachers and expert collaborators in primary schools from the former crisis areas i.e. areas to which the displaced persons return. The goal of this project is to train the educational personnel for recognition and prevention of the psychological problems and behavioral disorders, and the adequate psychosocial support and assistance to children and youth as well as their parents, in the liberated areas.

"Psychological Crisis Interventions" is a project supported by UNICEF and it includes the education of principals of all educational institutions, specialized training of psychologists, pedagogues, and disability teachers from all systems of the basic education, and the formation of teams for psychological crisis interventions in almost all counties of the Republic of Croatia. The goal of the project is to train and widely sensitize the educational workers for timely recognition and respect of the problems of children and youth, as well as the provision of adequate professional help in the crisis situations for all participants in the education.

The project of the Council of Europe "Education for Human Rights and Reintegration of the Education System of the Croatian Danubian Region (Eastern Slavonia)" was organized in the second half of 1997 and in the beginning of 1998. Seminars were held in Strasbourg, Opatija, and Budapest. Participants in the seminars were representatives of the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, teachers and school heads of schools in the Croatian Danubian Region (Eastern Slavonia), member of the majority nation, Croats, and members of the Serb minority. Seminars and workshops helped in establishing contacts between teachers and acquiring the initial mutual trust.

The project "Europe in School" is implemented under the auspice of the Council of Europe, the European Commission, European Parliament, and the European Cultural Foundation. The project includes 350 schools in Croatia. The Republic of Croatia is one of 32 countries that have been involved and sharing experiences in the project for the young between 7 and 21 years old, for the past 46 years. The young people of Europe participate in contests of the drama, fine art and music expression, and lately, they have been creating web pages on the required theme. Pupils and students over 16 years old whose results are made known on the Europe Day participate in the international seminars organized by member countries for purpose of getting acquainted and making friends.

The project "Education for Democracy" is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Pedagogic-Literary Union, the German Institute of Remote Education, and the Council of Europe. It started back in 1988 and covers 35 schools.

The UNESCO ASP Schools project is related to the development of the network of primary schools and secondary schools, which are committed to encourage the creation of the atmosphere of tolerance, peace, protection, and promotion of human rights, responsibility and democracy in the everyday work and life. The ideas are promoted in other schools in Croatia and in Europe through meetings and bringing pupils together.

The project "Controlling Conflicts and Nonviolent Conflict Solving" was initiated by the Austrian Kulturkontakt (Cultural Liaison) in the Republic of Croatia. The Ministry of Education and Sports accepted and financially and organizationally supported the Project for Professional Improvement of teachers and school heads from Eastern Slavonia and Baranja, and then from other areas of Croatia. The first seminar was held in February 1998 in Stadsleining, Austria, for 20 teachers. The professional improvement continued later in Crikvenica, Croatia, and in the beginning of 1999 also in Šibenik and Osijek, Croatia.

"The Project for Inclusion of Roma Children into the Education System of the Republic of Croatia" started in 1988 for the sake of training of educators, teachers and assistants for conducting the integration of Roma children into the regular school system and special forms of work with Roma children and their parents.

The Croatian schools are included in the "Globe" network. In these schools, the pupils conduct researches on the environment on which they live and send the results of their measurement, observations and monitoring to the "Globe" network.

"The Project of Additional Education for Entrepreneurs" is implemented as an experimental program of supplementary education of pupils in some ten primary and secondary schools. The project comprises the programs of the international organization Junior Achievement applied in over 100 countries in the world. The goal of implementation of this program is to encourage the young people to respect and understand the free enterprising and the free market economy as to improve and enhance the quality of their living.

Through programs adjusted to their age, the pupils will get familiar with the idea of the free enterprising, global economy and the local economy in the county they live in, saving, preserving the economic goods and resources, and the environment, as well as the rational use of the natural resources. Beside the programs that explain the basic terms, the pupils will be able to recognize the economic role of an individual and their own role, the role of the family in the economy, and the responsibility of an individual and citizen for the economic development in their own environment and globally. The pupils are expected to become familiar with terms and procedures of a business undertaking within the system of the free market economy, with risks and consequences, and all what comes after the business success.

The program will be experimentally implemented for one whole year and during that year the effects of the program will be monitored. It is assumed that the effects are to be positive which depends on several factors. Should the forecasts come true, we would recommend the program for implementation in the majority of schools in the Republic of Croatia as an additional program, along with the regular programs (curricula).

EDUCATION FOR BETTER LIVING

Objective: increasing the amount of knowledge, skills, artisanship, and values needed for the healthier and higher quality living and the sustainable development of individuals and families.

The National Program of Education for Human Rights

Parallel to the implementation of numerous projects and actions in primary and secondary schools of the Republic of Croatia was made the National Program of Education for Human Rights. The Government of the Republic of Croatia initiated the making of the National Program. Involved in the making of the program were numerous experts with intention to systematically work out the existing experiences acquired in the education system and devise and create a systematic approach toward education for human rights using the mentioned scientific research. The National Program should start in the school year 1999/2000. The basic characteristic of the National Program is its comprehensiveness. It covers all levels of education, from the Pre-Primary School to the Secondary education and all aspects of educational activities, from the scheduled regular ones to the optional subjects and extra-curricular and out-of-school activities. Creativity school

Novigrad springtime

The strategies to be applied for successful realization of the National Program are:

• Professional improvement of teachers through the system of the compulsory professional training and improvement
• Establishing the network of coordinating teachers on the regional and national levels with the assignment to transfer the positive experiences and provide support and stimulation to other teachers
• Creation of the teachers' database with information about teachers who were trained in frames of projects implemented in the Croatian educational institutions to teach other teachers
• Development of the network for exchange of the positive educational models achieved by some teachers, schools, classes, and communities, for all schools and all teachers
• Supplies of the necessary didactic materials for schools
• Setting up CROSNET electronic network to interconnect all schools will allow the exchange of experiences between schools and teachers in Croatia and the world. Croatian Union of "OUR CHILDREN" Associations

The project "Health Promoting Schools" is carried out in cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Sports with UNESCO and UNICEF. In the beginning, only ten schools were included and now the project encompasses more than 40 schools. These schools represent a model of a special approach in the education for healthy lifestyles where the term healthy lifestyle applies to the comprehensiveness of the human living and the relation to oneself and the environment in which a person lives. Each school has its own project with some special forms of healthy lifestyles promoted within it (ecology projects, prevention of addiction, development of social skills, provision of psychological assistance to the war traumatized children, etc). In frames of the project is the extensive work on the professional improvement of teachers.

The projects of "ecological education". The projects of ecological education respectively the education for healthy environment are initiated by teachers-individuals, pupils, parents, and schools in cooperation with counselors from the Ministry of Education and Sports, representatives of the State Administration for Protection of Nature and Environment, and NGOs engaged in the protection of environment, and this type of education is included in all subject as an interdisciplinary principle. A large number of expert and professional training and improvement was conducted for teacher to enable them to implement such education which is systematically represented at all levels of education, from the preschool to the secondary school level.

The project "Eco School". It is implemented in cooperation with the European Foundation for Education for Environment founded as an agency of the Council of Europe. 105 primary and secondary schools from Croatia are included in the project with aim to provide education for the sustainable development. The task of the "Eco Schools" is to educate young generations to be sensible in regard to the preservation of the environment because it is them who will be the decision makers in the next century.

The action "The Day of the Planet Earth" is applied in all primary and secondary schools of the Republic of Croatia. The action unites humanitarian, peacemaking and ecological activities of pupils, teachers, and parents. Every year, special programs are made and implemented in schools in the time preceding the Day of the Planet Earth. At the same time, this is also the beginning of the school contest of pupils from primary and secondary schools in the form of an "Ecological Quiz - Our Beautiful Homeland" which terminates with the statewide quiz on the occasion of the Word Day of Environmental Protection.

The action "Thanksgiving Days for fruits of the land – Days of Bread" takes place in the end of the autumn and includes a large number of pupils, schools, parents, towns, regions, and the whole country. These are the days of thanksgiving for all people to join by cooperating in their own communities In preparations of the public manifestations and festivities regardless of differences existing among them because these events contribute to the togetherness of all and make all differences disappear and reconcile.

The humanitarian projects. These projects are related to the cooperation of schools an humanitarian organizations dealing with issues of education, and among them, the most significant by the rate of the covered children is the Red Cross organization. This organization has been coming up lately with humanitarian educational programs that allow the children the feeling of self-affirmation and satisfaction for doing a good deed; helping elderly and disabled; recognizing, understanding, and apprehending the reasons of their personal problems and helping each other. Therefore, these projects are accepted by children and teachers with enthusiasm and they join such actions, and the Ministry of Education and Sports supports them.

EDUCATION FOR ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

In the last decade, the sensitization of the population in the area of care for environment has reached the level where the education for environment becomes a significant task, even one of the most important educational tasks.

The process of sensitization in Croatia was slower than in the rich industrial and developed countries because we were spared from more significant devastation of the environment and more serious deterioration of the natural eco-systems due to the weaker economic swings in the postwar period. At the time the Croatian state was created and during the war storm the environmental care was pushed aside but the accelerating effects of the war devastation and activities for renewal made these issues actual again. Contemplations in the preparation stage and the making of the strategy of development of the Republic of Croatia necessary included also the issues of the evaluate protection. Moreover, these issues are classified now as priorities and the sustainable development as the harmony between the economy and the environment is the only option for the future.

The Croatian state is the signer of a series of international agreements and conventions in the domain of the environmental protection and in this line were started many activities. The most important among these activities is the adoption of the basic Law on Protection of Environment and the follow-up rules and regulations, which represent the institutional framework, regulate the basic issues in this area, and define the policy in particular sectors of the Government and the community. Provisions of the law cover the education and informing as well as participation of the public in finding solutions for environmental problems.

In thinking about the strategy which could best direct the education for environment, the methodology which could be the most efficient in achieving the set goals, we come to know that the educational action in the field of the environmental protection cannon be separated from the health education and enlightenment, education for human rights and democratic relations, and education for peace. In other words, the educational action should unite all these guidelines aiming at the development of complete and integral personalities of the young generation, which will contribute actively and creatively to the higher quality of living on the personal and community level.

In accord with the highlighted guidelines, in Croatia we can recognize a series of programs and activities which started during the past decade in frames of the official education system and in the segment of NGOs. As usual in other countries, because of their agility and dynamics, focusing on the local problems and connections with related organizations worldwide, the NGOs are often the starters of activities and those that bring novelties. What is good, and representing a quality shift in relation to the traditional rooted models necessarily reflects on the entire system and the moves and shifts occur later also at the institutional level.

Out of the numerous NGOs or out-of-institution initiatives in the sense of effectuation of the eco programs, we shall single out only some of them. What must be mentioned here, if we just focus on the enhancement of the education for environment, is the ten-year long acting of the "Young Defenders of the Nature", a branch of the "Croatian Society of Natural Sciences". Further, for almost ten years we have been witnessing the activities of the NGO "Our Beautiful (Homeland)" whose main program tasks are carried out and fulfilled through the work of schools. The above, and some other NGOs operate with support from and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Sport.

Five years ago, the Ministry of Education and Sport became the carrier of an important international program focused on the environmental protection. It is the GLOBE program that was designed originally as the cooperation of the science and the education at the global level and with 80 countries from all over the world included nowadays, all developed and influential countries from all continents. The participation of our schools in the GLOBE program is voluntary and the high response may be explained with the previous lack of well designed environmental programs followed by a multitude of materials and communication infrastructure. GLOBE includes interconnection of all participants via Internet, allows the direct connection with the world and quick feedback regarding the implemented activities, and provides a good insight in what others doo, allowing comparison. It is significant to mention that GLOBE is open to all on the Internet and it is easy to foresee its positive and innovative influence not only on the schools involved in the program but also much wider.

The mentioned programs, the ripening of the social climate, and the ever-clearer demands from the educational institution for a systematic approach to the education for environment motivated the Ministry of Education and Sport to organize the First Croatian Conference on the education for environment, which was held in April 1996, in cooperation with the State Administration for Environmental Protection, the company ZGO, and NGOs. The conclusions drawn at the conference obliged the Ministry of Education and Sport to undertake a series of actions. In order to implement these activities, the Minister appointed the Commission, which made a project for enhancement of education for environment. The project includes seminars for teachers and educators for environment and the making of the follow-up educational materials with monitoring of effects and evaluation. The concept of seminars was devised on the base of recommendations and materials received from the relevant international institutions (UNICEF, UNESCO, UNEP, Council of Europe) and in keeping with our own researches on the specific needs and characteristics of our teaching practice. The accent was put on the introduction and training of such models and forms of work that will activate the pupils, stimulate the development of the emotional relation to the environment, shape the positive views, and prepare the young people for solving the actual problems of living and making decisions.

The project has been implemented for three years now and some 700 teachers and education workers took part in 20 seminars. The number of education workers may be considered a critical mass for achievement of the program in the education for environment, with hope that the acquired cognition and skills can reflect on the achievement of all guidelines related to the progress of the health education, education for human rights and democratization of relations in the school. The success in it is that the Ministry of Development and Renewal and the City of Zagreb joined the project because they recognized their chance in it to achieve their own goals in terms of the education for sustainable development of our country.

In terms of the education and informing of the public about the environmental issues the role of the public media is indisputable, especially the role of television. Here, we can ascertain that the environmental topics are well covered in TV programs and in the press. We emphasize the values of the educational TV program. Yet, in principle, this is not the characteristic of our TV company only, there is often much sensationalistic in the approach of the TV houses, and it might be desirable if the educational approach prevailed, with pointing out to positive examples. Also, there is a noticeable lack of the scientific-popular periodicals. In the new market relations is in question the survival of the "Priroda" (Nature) magazine of the Croatian Society of Natural Sciences, almost the only magazine with reputation, which systematically covered topics from our natural heritage and brought news, explained procedures and regulations, respectively warned about the necessity for protection of the nature and environment. In terms of the spread of information also important is the gazette of the State Administration for Environment Protection called "Environment" yet the concept of the magazine cannot satisfy the needs of the educational practice. Generally, we can say that the harsh material situation in the country reflects substantially in the lack of published materials on all levels. Such materials would be quality templates and patterns for education for environment respectively the actual contents for expansion of the basic school matter.

EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF MEDIA

The education for better living rests also on the use of non-traditional systems based on media. The activities and effects of the educational channels which parallel to the formal education system may contribute to the promotion of the increased acquisition of knowledge, skills and values necessary for better living and healthy and sustainable development of an individual and family are not monitored systematically at the level of the Ministry of Education and Sport.

However, it is beyond any doubt that many positive moves and shifts were achieved in this regard in the period 1991-1999, including media and other forms of modern and traditional communication and various social initiatives:

 Use of the electronic and print media, and other means of communication for the educational purposes

• Electronic and print media:
The possibilities of use of the electronic and print media for educational purposes have increased considerably. Namely, in regard to the number and structure of media it is evident that the number of communication channels has been rising, meaning TV programs, radio programs and the wide variety of printed materials, whereby the media space is open for numerous private and regional/local initiatives.

• In regard to the educational contents offered through media it is evident that despite the lack of the exact information the transitional processes produced effects on the volume and wider list of topics in articles/shows that we can consider educational (in the wider sense of the word).The media try to follow and cover many different areas important to the public. For example, they get actively involved in the physical and health protection of the population (traffic safety, AIDS, addictions), elaborate a variety of issues useful for the everyday life of an individual or family, psychological themes and other issues. The actual social issues related to effectuation of various rights, employment issues, stimulation of enterprising, environmental protection and many others are worked out in details. In the past period of time the educational contents covered specific needs of the population that were caused by the aggression against the Republic of Croatia. For example, we had the radio school (remote education) for children who were unable to attend the school, and the media were also actively involved in the programs for protection from explosive devices. The overall psychological, social, health, legal, and other topics related to the war suffering and postwar difficulties of the population were in the focus of the media attention.
• The strengthening of the media market results in more intensive efforts to synchronize the media contents with needs and interests of the public, which is obvious from a range of indicators: the increased number of contact shows, conducted polls, shows and columns for readers to react, and various other forms of feedback and communication with consumers. More often are also conducted the systematic analyses in this direction, and the major and larger media have well-established and adequate analytical services.
• As for the TV program for schools dedicated directly to pupils and teachers, it is satisfactory in the view of the timetable and scheduled programs, and constantly highly rated in critics. We do not have any information about the utilization of the TV program for schools in the curricular and extra-curricular activities or in any activities for improvement of the teachers' skills.

• Other communication channels
The publishing-printing business expanded significantly thanks to possibilities for the private initiative but the number of issued titles and their accessibility public-wide is dissatisfactory due to the fall of the purchasing power and relatively high taxes.

• Parallel to the educational programs in frames of the regular school system we have been recording the constant increase of the number of subjects in practice (public schools, trade companies, etc) that apply the programs for improvement of education verified by the Ministry of Education and Sports. These programs are market-oriented and try to adjust to the needs of the labor market and various interests of the population so that the possibilities are very high for acquiring new skills and knowledge. Most usually, these programs cover the consultative-instructive and correspondence-consultative forms of education and the legal provisions also foresee the multimedia education, which is still underdeveloped.
• The implementation of various forms of training and education, instructive teaching, consultation, and help was made possible also in very different forms of non-profit and non-governmental organizations (civil associations, professional associations, humanitarian organizations, and a large number of international organizations) whose number increased over the years. There are records also about a large number of such initiatives, projects, etc, that oriented very often toward the psychological help, family and educational counseling, communication and social training, anti-stress programs, health issues, etc, due to the war.
• There are also new telephone lines offering the population a wide variety of information, advice, and other forms of help, including those focused on the protection of human rights and freedoms and various psychological and social issues.

 Policy, management and funding
When the school and general-education TV program is the subject one can not speak of the continuous cooperation established on the level of education system authorities and editorial bodies. Also, there is no systematic monitoring of use of these programs for educational purposes. This issue, with zero priority during the war for quite understandable reasons, should be paid more attention in the future, in terms of the better use of audiovisual capacities of the TV media and in terms of the better correlation of the TV program for schools with school curricula during the school year.

• The basic problem, which surely limits the educational activities of the media and other means of communication and their eventual effects, is of the financial nature. For example, when speaking of newspapers, there is a really wide offer of media but it is not accessible to the entire population because of the low purchasing power of potential readers. Equally, this stands for purchasing book in bookstores. The subscription fee in libraries is affordable for the majority of the population but the funds for purchase of new books are relatively small.

 Quality, effectiveness and outcomes

Although we do not have all exact indicators of this kind, we may state the following:

• during the transitional years in Croatia, the communication network dealing with a variety of informal education and counseling branched considerably;
• the "informal educational offer" has been ever richer with contents and more oriented toward the interests and needs of the population, but we note here that the war themes were necessarily the top priority during the war and post war times.