Zagreb, 6 June 2025 – Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD, visited the campus of Algebra Bernays University in Zagreb today, where he met with the University’s leadership to discuss the challenges and opportunities of modern education in the digital economy. He also presented the OECD’s analysis in the context of Croatia’s real educational and labour market landscape. Representatives of the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth – Dr Hrvoje Meštrić, Director of the Directorate for Science and Technology, and Božo Pavičin, Senior Adviser to the Minister – were also in attendance.
According to the latest OECD analysis, Croatian citizens face challenges when it comes to essential life skills such as literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving. This comprehensive report shows that the level of these skills strongly influences not only employment prospects and income levels but also overall life satisfaction, health, and social inclusion.
“The future will not favour those who have merely accumulated knowledge, but those who are able to live ideas, stay open to novelty, and adapt with the times. We are used to learning, finishing university, and believing that this makes us ready for life. But how do we really know what skills people actually possess?”
— Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD
“That is why we went straight into the field: knocking on doors, conducting assessments, and talking to people. In the second round of the study – which included Croatia – people showed a strong willingness to dedicate time and help understand the real state of adult skills. This level of engagement is a valuable indicator of awareness about the importance of lifelong learning,” Schleicher added, emphasising the need to prepare for a world in which humans will not compete with AI, but complement it.
“It is essential to develop the skills that AI cannot replace: distinguishing opinions from facts, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and critical, contextual, and creative thinking,” he said in his keynote.
Data for Croatia call for caution
Labour market changes most severely affect younger generations, who are increasingly switching jobs – a trend recorded across OECD countries from 2002 to 2022. At the same time, employment in the green energy sector is growing, while artificial intelligence is rapidly taking over jobs based on predictable, routine tasks.
Although it is often assumed that younger generations have better educational outcomes, the report shows that this is not necessarily true. In some countries, older adults outperform younger ones in skills – a phenomenon also observed in parts of the Croatian education system. In this context, Prof Dr Mislav Balković, Rector of Algebra Bernays University, highlighted the demographic challenges Croatia is facing – the number of children in primary and secondary schools continues to decline. Meanwhile, vocational and arts programmes are attended by as much as 70.4% of pupils, with only 29.6% opting for grammar school education. This structure further underscores the need for an education reform aligned with regional characteristics and labour market needs.
These challenges are compounded by pronounced gender disparities that deepen the structural weaknesses of the education and employment systems. While men generally perform better in mathematics, women excel in literacy. However, in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), women remain significantly underrepresented. This imbalance is later reflected in the labour market – women are less present in high-tech sectors and less likely to hold managerial positions, further deepening inequalities in access to knowledge, opportunities, and economic resources.
The importance of lifelong learning and real-world skills
Speaking about education and the real needs of the labour market, the presentation by Algebra Bernays University explained the process of digital voucher allocation for education via the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) app – a tool that is gaining importance in adult education. For years, Algebra Bernays has emphasised in its expert articles and analyses that lifelong learning is key to adapting to a labour market undergoing rapid transformation due to digitalisation, automation, and new technologies.
As Schleicher noted regarding lifelong learning, “It is not only about whether you are improving in absolute terms, but also in relative ones – compared to others,” citing countries such as Finland, Estonia, Belgium, and Denmark as examples of nations with high literacy levels and motivation for continuous learning.
“That is no coincidence. Why do we stop learning once we become adults? Have the opportunities disappeared? No – on the contrary, today’s digital world offers more learning opportunities than ever before,” he stressed, highlighting the importance of supporting lifelong learning.
The digital voucher system is a good example of such support, as it enables users to easily access education: they create an account on the HZZ app, select a skill from the official catalogue, submit the relevant training programme and documentation, and HZZ evaluates labour market needs before approving or rejecting the application, arranging and transferring funds to the training provider. The system is especially user-friendly, offering “one-click” access, video instructions, and simulations to simplify the application process.
As of 2025, it is increasingly recognised that a formal diploma is not necessarily a reflection of real-world skills. Many university-educated individuals in Croatia do not achieve satisfactory literacy results, while some with lower education levels demonstrate above-average competence. This highlights the need for a paradigm shift – from education focused on titles, towards education that builds applicable knowledge.
In conclusion, the OECD report delivers a clear message: Croatia must invest not only in academic qualifications “on paper” but also in concrete, functional skills aligned with the demands of new trends in business processes.
