If education is the future, is there anything more important than a good future?

I am not only dealing with this question as the President of the Republic of Croatia, but I also live with it constantly as the mother of two school children, according to the letter from the President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, published by the Croatian Jutarnji list, reports the Patria News Agency.

If your children do not receive adequate education, you have no chance - summarized in one sentence the renowned economist from Columbia University, Jeffrey Sachs, the importance of education within the framework of long-term and sustainable development and economic prosperity in conditions of global competition. He conveyed this message at a UN meeting on sustainable development goals, which I recently attended, to every country, every educational system, and every society that looks beyond the end of one school year.

Achieving inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning is one of the 17 sustainable development goals, a crucial framework for further global development by 2030. It is quite clear that without education, there is no development. The importance of education does not depend on the level of development - whoever understands this sooner and better will achieve faster and better progress. Education must follow the needs of the labor market, but also constantly take into account new technologies and new knowledge.

No matter how important it may seem to some to learn all about the body parts and dietary habits of arthropods, or how many kilograms of rice the inhabitants of a particular Asian country consume annually, or about a 19th-century novel important for national literature, it is even more important to acquire knowledge without which one cannot succeed in the 21st century.

Knowledge for a New Era

The backbone of knowledge for the new era is summarized by the English acronym STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. This, of course, does not mean that other knowledge is not important (without good lawyers, for example, there is no good public administration), but it is an undeniable fact that countries that have emphasized STEM have significantly benefited in their overall development, which is based on innovation. South Korea is a significant and perhaps the best example of this.

With new, once unimaginable technologies that allow you to carry information in your pocket that exceeds the volume of all encyclopedias printed in Croatia, does it make sense to memorize data that can be accessed with a few finger movements on the screen of one of the new smart electronic devices that everyone carries with them today? It is much more important than memorizing facts to know how to put them in the right context and how to use them.

Competitiveness and global competition have made knowledge and competencies the most desirable resources. Therefore, adaptation to the knowledge market is necessary to bridge the gap between today's limitations and tomorrow's needs. This means abandoning programs based on knowledge that is no longer needed today and introducing new ones without which it will be impossible tomorrow. Croatia has many competencies and knowledge, but we must be able to let go of the burden of nostalgia and some long-outdated traditions. Seeking solutions in old recipes and old successes leads us down the wrong path and takes us backward. It does not lead us forward. Let's modernize teaching content, learning methodology, and ways of progressing through the educational system. Let's prepare our children for a global, modern economy. It is necessary to approach economic literacy for children and young people, so they learn to manage and administer personal resources and thus become socially responsible citizens. Let's prepare them in such a way that they feel they belong to the most developed part of the world, but with that knowledge and feeling, they remain in their homeland.

Learning Formula

Modernization of school programs is primarily a matter of keeping pace with the developed world to which we belong. The experiences of the most successful countries, which are resilient to all crises and systematically generate new development and new values year after year, show that the best educational systems are those that encourage creative thinking with one's own mind. The formula for educational success is actually simple: not to memorize, but to learn with understanding. To know how to properly use everything you know. Data or a fact, without the appropriate context and possibility of application, remains only unused (and practically worthless) data. For this reason, I strongly support the implementation of a comprehensive curricular reform. Because of the new methodology it brings, which will make our students more active, more confident, give them the ability to think critically, and make them people who will not always seek their place in the last passive rows, but in the front rows, from which they will actively influence their lives and the wider society.

I approach the paramount issue of education not only as the President of the Republic; I ponder it every day and face it every day as the mother of two school children. And as a mother, I can best see how important it is for children to learn for life, not just for grades. If education is the future, is there anything more important than a good future?

The system of upbringing and education has been adapted several times over the past hundred and fifty years to socio-political changes, more or less successfully. The Republic of Croatia, inheriting the system of upbringing and education from the former state, although freeing it from ideological burdens, has not yet carried out significant reforms in it. This fact alone, even if we disregard that more than a quarter of a century has passed in the meantime, is sufficient argument in favor of carrying out a curricular reform.

Public Support

The imbalance between the education system and the labor market, the unsatisfactory material status of teachers, and the lack of investment in their continuous professional development, the overload of students with unnecessary material are just some additional reasons that indicate the need for a reform that will align the educational system with the contemporary and predictable needs of Croatian society.

Therefore, it must be unequivocally stated: the curricular reform needs to be continued to be prepared and implemented. This is all the more important as the Expert Group for its preparation, led by Dr. sc. Boris Jokić, has done a great job so far. This effort rightly enjoys the respect of a large part of the Croatian public. The professional public also gives undivided support to the need for curricular reform.

Therefore, I am convinced that, keeping in mind the desired general societal acceptance, it is important to respectfully consider the remarks that cultural and scientific institutions and respected members of the academic community have made regarding certain segments of it during the professional discussion so far. I therefore consider the tensions and uncertainties that have been created for weeks regarding the further implementation of the curricular reform, which culminated in the resignation of the Expert Group, to be completely unnecessary.

Political Pressure

It is completely understandable as a means to deflect political pressure from the curricular reform. However, it is unacceptable that it is now being used for new political pressure. Everyone in this process has clearly defined tasks and responsibilities. It is also clear, as the Expert Group has pointed out, that educational reform must have general political support. This includes the support of the relevant ministry and the Government of the Republic of Croatia. As far as I know, this is not in question. Therefore, the renewed unequivocal support of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport, and thus of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, for the further preparation and implementation of the reform should be welcomed, taking into account, as I said, the need to consider the remarks and proposals received so far, as well as those that will come during the future public discussion, up to the final expert review, in favor of the best possible final result.

The continuation of the curricular reform must therefore be ensured in the spirit of democratic culture and the highest standards of academic and public debate. Therefore, no particular interests, party, ideological, or any other, positional or oppositional, can and must take precedence over the ultimate good of our children and youth, and thus of society as a whole. Any delay will cost us even more because, I warn, with this reform, we are only catching up with already established best practices. We have a long way to go to become leaders and trendsetters.

It is necessary to remind at this point of the need for the curricular reform, in its final form, to be, on the one hand, an expression of Croatian cultural and educational heritage and its core national values, while, on the other hand, it must innovatively respond to the contemporary and predictable needs of the development of Croatian society in all areas. Bearing all of the above in mind, the support for the continuation of the curricular reform coming from both the Expert Group and its leader, Dr. Jokić, who has now resigned, and from the relevant Ministry, indicates that we have the necessary synergy of will for it to continue with the desired dynamics.

Resignation is Not a Solution

Therefore, I expect from all its past and future stakeholders, as well as from the entire public, an extremely serious and constructive approach to the public debate and further steps for its completion and experimental and final, comprehensive implementation. In this regard, gratitude should be expressed to Dr. Jokić and his team for their contribution so far. The democratically expressed support for their work is therefore welcome, and I join it, but in advance, as they have also done, rejecting any political manipulation, from whichever side it may come. However, I also feel the need to call on the Expert Group to continue their work. It is easiest to resign. It is easiest to give up. But you do not have the right to do so because no reason can be strong enough in relation to the future of our children.

I expect the Ministry of Education and Sport to, respecting the voice of the public, ensure the continuation of the preparation of the curricular reform and its implementation as soon as possible. Our educators and teachers, our children and youth, and our homeland deserve this.