Sectoral councils are advisory and professional bodies ensuring the development of human potential in line with labour market needs within respective sectors (The CROQF Act, Article 12, para. 1), appointed by the minister responsible for education and science (The CROQF Act, Article 12, para. 3).
Their responsibility is to:
- validate proposals of units of learning outcomes, occupational standards and qualifications standards;
- analyse existing and required competences covered by a sector;
- give recommendations to the National Council for Development of Human Potential about admission policies, admission quota and financing of qualifications from public sources, by qualification and by county;
- give recommendations to the ministry responsible for education and science about changes in qualifications standards based on changes detected in occupational standards;
- give recommendations to the ministry responsible for labour about changes in the National Classification of Occupations;
- propose recommendations for the sector development to the National Council;
- follow and analyse implementation of recommendations given to the National Council;
- propose the annual action plan and submit reports on its implementation to the National Council. (The CROQF Act, Article 12, para. 2)
Sectoral councils are to be appointed for each of the following sectors:
I. Agriculture, food and veterinary medicine
II. Forestry and wood technology
III. Mining, geology and chemical technology
IV. Textiles and leather
V. Graphic technology
VI. Mechanical engineering, shipbuilding and metallurgy
VII. Electrical engineering and computing
VIII. Construction and geodesy
IX. Economy and trade
X. Tourism and hospitality
XI. Transport and logistics
XII. Health
XIII. Personal and other services
XIV. Art
XV. Mathematics, physics, geography, geophysics, chemistry and biology
XVI. Basic technical sciences
XVII. Aviation, rocket and space technology
XVIII. Information and communication
XIX. Law, political science, sociology, state administration and public affairs
XX. Psychology, educational rehabilitation, speech pathology and social work
XXI. Education and sports
XXII. Philosophy, theology and religion sciences
XXIII. History, art science, archaeology, ethnology and anthropology
XXIV. Security and defence
XXV. Philology.
Each sectoral council consists of 11 members. Three of them are appointed by responsible institutions:
- the ministry responsible for a respective sector;
- Croatian Employment Service;
- the agency responsible for science and higher education / vocational education and adult education / education and teacher training.
Moreover, each sectoral council includes eight sectoral experts (The CROQF Act, Article 12, para. 4). These experts are chosen on grounds of public calls published by the ministry responsible for education and science. Separate public calls are published for each sectoral council. Experts can apply as individuals or as representatives of relevant institutions (The Ordinance on the CROQF Register, Article 40, para. 3). The selection of candidates is done by the Committee for Selection of Members of Sectoral Councils, which consists of representatives of the ministry responsible for education and science and the ministry responsible for labour.
Candidates have to meet the following basic criteria:
- have at least 5 years of experience in jobs relevant for the area of expertise of a specific sectoral council,
- have a qualification appropriate for a specific sectoral council (The Ordinance on the CROQF Register, Article 40, para. 1, 2).
Moreover, an important element is the proportional representation of
- educational institutions – 3 representatives;
- unions representing the education sector – 1 representative;
- unions representing the economic sector – 1 representative;
- employers – 2 representatives;
- professional associations – 1 representative (The Ordinance on the CROQF Register, Article 39, para. 1).
Additional elements taken into account by the Committee are the following:
- motivation for sectoral council membership;
- performing work of social value;
- practical experience in the development of a sector;
- experience which includes various practices (public/private sector);
- experience coming from work in a sector;
- international activities;
- special achievements.
After the Committee decides on the appropriate members for each of the councils, introductory workshops are organized for prospective members of sectoral councils with the aim of presenting the main concepts of the CROQF and the roles of sectoral councils in its implementation, as well as for the prospective members to meet and choose the president of each sectoral council. Subsequently, presidents and members are appointed by the minister responsible for education and science (The CROQF Act, Article 12, para. 5).
Sectoral councils’ activities are monitored and validated by the National Council for Development of Human Potential. The National Council gives recommendations for improvement based on regular reports on sectoral councils’ activities (The CROQF Act, Article 10, para 2.), done by the national coordinator for sectoral councils, who is also a member of the National Council (The Ordinance on the CROQF Register, Article 41, para 2.).