Youth unemployment, the brain drain and education policy in Croatia: A call for joining forces and for new visions

Abstract

Since the economic recession and European Union accession, Croatia has seen a drastic increase in the emigration of tertiary-educated young people seeking further qualification and employment abroad. The brain drain has caused grave concern among political parties across the political spectrum and society as a whole. Recently, however, the tone of discourse has turned from accusations of national ‘disloyalty’ to engagement with how to mitigate the push factors for emigration on the one hand, and how to attract educated and successful migrants back to the country on the other. Changes to the education system are seen by experts and the public alike as one of the key factors in reducing the mismatch of prevailing education and training programmes with the specialist knowledge requirements of the domestic labour market and in improving youth employability. However, efforts to introduce urgently needed education reforms have recently been stalled by a lack of political consensus on aspects of a proposed reform package and its implementation rooted in the deep ideological rifts of post-socialist transformation. This contribution investigates how the impact of the brain drain, as well a shift towards recognition of the possible benefits of circular migration, have affected recent discourse on education policy and the growing involvement of non-governmental organizations and initiatives in introducing a more practice-based orientation to education on all levels.