Focus group meeting organised in Croatia

On 24 February 2017, the focus group meeting has been organised at the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts with the topic „Enhancing apprenticeship system“. The meeting has been organised within the framework of KA3 Erasmus+ project Get Involved in EP4A: European Partnerships for Apprenticeships with the aim to get a deeper insight regarding the information from trades and crafts and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) surveys and interviews.

Five tradesmen and craftsmen has participated at the meeting; Nikola Ričković, the owner of the craft for terminating construction works, Zlatko Tkalčević, the owner of the production craft for plastic and metal objects, Franjo Trumbetaš, the owner of the tinsmith installation and production craft, Tomislav Pudić, the owner of the construction craft and Marija Kartela, the owner of beauty salon.

The meeting has been conducted by the professional facilitator with the experience in the vocational education and training and different topics have been discussed:.

• How to increase the apprenticeship provision
• How to increase the social responsibility of trades and crafts and SMEs
• How to strengthen work-based learning and the apprenticeship system
• Increased competitiveness of trades and crafts and SMEs on the national and EU level
• Enhanced position and recognisability of trades and crafts and SMEs as good employers and more broadly among their clients, suppliers and other key stakeholders

Tradesmen and craftsmen have been given the chance to say their opinion on apprenticeship, issues they are facing and their motivation for taking apprentices. The meeting report with conclusions will be part of the needs analysis report which will also include data and information from desk research, surveys and interviews. In Croatia, there has been 759 surveys completed and 250 interviews conducted among trades and crafts and SMEs.