The Ministry of Science and Education is the main body responsible for arts and cultural education and training in Croatia. In cooperates with the Ministry of Culture and Media on specific programmes and measures in this field. The Agency for Electronic Media and The Croatian Audiovisual Centre also develop and cooperate on programmes related to media and film literacy. The Agency for Teachers and Education is the body responsible also for professional development in this field and is a partner of the above-mentioned institutions in different programmes for schools.
Special arts education is carried out in primary and secondary schools of applied arts and design, music and dance schools. When attending primary music and or ballet schools, the pupils are obliged to concurrently attend regular primary school. According to the latest available data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2022a), in 2020/2021 there were 131 dance and music primary schools with a total of 18 568 pupils and 2 559 teachers. In the same school year there were 53 secondary arts schools with a total number of 4 617 pupils and 2 040 teachers (Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2022b).
At the university level arts education is carried in music, drama and fine arts academies whose number has remained stable throughout the years. In there were 6 art academies in Croatia – at the University of Zagreb – Academy of Dramatic Arts, Academy of Fine Arts, Academy of Music; at the University of Osijek – Arts Academy, and Academy of Dramatic Arts; Arts Academy in Split, and Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka. The total number of students enrolled in academies in 2021/2022 was 2 748, with 941 academic staff, which shows an increase in the number of staff and an increase in the number of students in comparison to the previous four years according to the latest available data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2022c). Programmes in cultural management were mainly covered through private education, as in Zagreb School of Management’s programme, and ‘Baltazar Krčelić’ School in Zaprešić. However, since the 2018 merger of the Academy of Arts in Osijek and the Department of Cultural Studies of the University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek into Academy of Arts and Culture, the Academy offers Undergraduate courses in culture, media and management and Graduate courses in management of cultural and creative industries.
Arts and cultural education in Croatia has not been adequately addressed in cultural or educational policies and it has neither been defined nor sufficiently mapped as research by Žuvela (2016) notes. The programmes are developed sporadically by the particular cultural organisations and institutions but not as a part of overall strategic planning in this domain. The Programme “Backpack (full) of Culture / Ruksak (pun) kulture” was developed as a supplementary measure since 2012 by the Ministry of Culture and Media and in association with the Ministry of Science and Education, and brings artists and cultural events directly to kindergartens, primary and high schools. This measure can be seen as a step in the direction of arts and culture education policies, bridging also the policies for enhancing cultural participation (see chapter 6.1). However, it is a complementary measure while a more systemic approach is needed in this direction.
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