Education Minister Fuchs Faces Challenges
Croatia's Minister of Science, Education, and Sport, Radovan Fuchs, faces a number of challenges as Croatia works to align its education system with the Bologna Reforms. Minister Fuchs became Croatia's 13th Minister of Education and previously served as a State Secretary in the same ministry. Those close to the minister agree that he is highly qualified and that he is well aware of the problems facing the current system.
One major controversy has been the cost of higher education. Students claim that low-income students are not given the opportunity to attend a university with the imposed cost structure. They believe that the bill should be paid by the state. Officials explain that the state budget cannot afford such a strain. They also point to the fact that students often linger in the university system for 5-7 years and that paying for their education would give an incentive to finish their studies in a timely manner.
Another issue facing the minister is the cost of text books. With budget strains, the cost of text books has been passed along to parents. However, parents are not happy. They claim that greedy publishers unnecessarily publish new versions so that books cannot be passed from the previous generation. Additionally, they claim that the books are poorly written, often with grammatical mistakes. A lack of standardization gives teachers the right to choose which books are used that their particular class.
One major controversy has been the cost of higher education. Students claim that low-income students are not given the opportunity to attend a university with the imposed cost structure. They believe that the bill should be paid by the state. Officials explain that the state budget cannot afford such a strain. They also point to the fact that students often linger in the university system for 5-7 years and that paying for their education would give an incentive to finish their studies in a timely manner.
Another issue facing the minister is the cost of text books. With budget strains, the cost of text books has been passed along to parents. However, parents are not happy. They claim that greedy publishers unnecessarily publish new versions so that books cannot be passed from the previous generation. Additionally, they claim that the books are poorly written, often with grammatical mistakes. A lack of standardization gives teachers the right to choose which books are used that their particular class.
