Croatia’s Top and Bottom Counties in School Performance Revealed
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Loading... - Cecile Sanchez
- 04 Feb 2025
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An analysis of school performance in Croatia has highlighted significant disparities among counties, with Međimurje County emerging as the top performer in preparing students for the school-leaving exam. In contrast, Lika-Senj County frequently ranks among the bottom three counties in terms of student performance. These findings were presented at the National Centre for External Evaluation of Education in Zagreb.
A total of 25,756 students participated in the final exam, with each student selecting an average of four subjects. The Centre ranked success rates against the national average for the 2023/2024 school year, categorizing results by school founders—counties and the City of Zagreb.
The passing thresholds for various subjects were set as follows:
- Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry: 25%
- Biology: 27%
- Informatics: 28%
- History, Geography: 30%
- Government and Economics: 31.5%
- Basic-level German: 32%
- Croatian and Higher-level German: 35%
- Higher-level English: 36%
- Basic-level English: 37%
In total, Međimurje County led in 14 categories, while the City of Zagreb excelled in five and Karlovac County in three.
Vinko Filipović, the director of the National Centre for External Evaluation of Education, commented on the results, emphasizing that schools cannot be viewed in isolation from broader social contexts. He noted, “These results do not surprise me,” and acknowledged that while the Centre had access to these results previously, they were only shared with school founders and not made public.
Filipović also highlighted some unexpected performances, such as Vukovar-Srijem County’s results in chemistry and Dubrovnik-Neretva County’s performance in mathematics, which were seen as pleasant surprises. He remarked that the dominance of Zagreb schools has been somewhat challenged.
Bottom Performers
In the analysis, Lika-Senj County appeared among the bottom three in seven out of ten categories, including Croatian language, mathematics, and English (both basic and higher levels), as well as physics, biology, government and economics, and chemistry. Other counties that followed in the bottom rankings included:
- Sisak-Moslavina County: 5 appearances
- Bjelovar-Bilogora County: 4 appearances
- Vukovar-Srijem County: 3 appearances
- Brod-Posavina and Požega-Slavonia Counties: 2 appearances each
- Zagreb, Virovitica-Podravina, and Šibenik-Knin Counties: 1 appearance each
For the first time, the Centre published the passing thresholds eight months prior to the school-leaving exams, addressing previous complaints about the criteria being announced just one day before the exams. Filipović noted that this change aims to provide students and educators with better preparation time.
The analysis of school performance in Croatia reveals significant regional disparities, with Međimurje County leading in student preparedness for the school-leaving exam, while Lika-Senj County struggles. These findings underscore the importance of addressing educational inequalities and enhancing support for underperforming regions to ensure all students have the opportunity to succeed.
