COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION FINANCE SYSTEMS IN LARGE CITIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA : Postgraduate final paper

Uspostavljanje i provedba politika financiranja obrazovanja ima presudnu ulogu u dostupnosti svih obrazovnih usluga i programa. Suvremene fiskalne politike za obrazovanje zahtijevaju dugoročno planiranje te doprinose razvoju kvalitete sustava odgoja i obrazovanja. Predmet rada usporedna je analiza financiranja predškolskog i osnovnoškolskog obrazovanja u Republici Hrvatskoj. Analizom se ispituje uporaba sustava planiranja proračuna ili sustava upravljanja obrazovnim resursima na primjerima triju hrvatskih gradova (Osijek, Zadar i Vinkovci). Cilj rada istražiti je razinu ulaganja u prve dvije stube odgojnog i obrazovnog sustava koje u ovom radu predstavljaju rani i predškolski odgoj te osnovnoškolsko obrazovanje. Sukladno postavljenom cilju rada, njime se propituju hipoteze rada: H1: Sustavi predškolskog i osnovnoškolskog obrazovanja u Republici Hrvatskoj u značajnoj su mjeri decentralizirani te H2: Financiranje predškolskog odgoja neujednačeno je u gradovima Republike Hrvatske. U namjeri testiranja postavljenih hipoteza provodi se empirijsko istraživanje koje se temelji na sekundarnim podatcima prikupljenima za tri odabrana velika grada. Prikupljeni podatci analiziraju se metodama deskriptivne statistike. Rad donosi raspravu i zaključna razmatranja u kontekstu daljnjeg razvoja i implementacije strategija koje potiču razvoj obrazovanja na predškolskoj i osnovnoškolskoj razini na dobrobit pojedinaca i cijele zajednice.The establishment and implementation of education funding policies play a crucial role in the availability of all educational services and programs. Modern fiscal policies for education require long-term planning and contribute to the development of the quality of the education system. The subject of the final thesis is a comparative analysis of the financing of preschool and primary education in the Republic of Croatia. The analysis examines the use of a budget planning system or an educational resources management system on the examples of three Croatian cities (Osijek, Zadar and Vinkovci). The aim of the final thesis is to explore the level of investment in the first two pillars of the educational system, which in this paper represent early and preschool education and primary education. In accordance with the aim of the thesis, the following hypotheses are set: H1: Preschool and primary education systems in the Republic of Croatia are significantly decentralized, and H2: The financing of preschool education is uneven in the cities of the Republic of Croatia. In order to test defined hypotheses, empirical research is conducted based on secondary data collected for the three selected major cities. The collected data are analysed by descriptive statistical method. The paper presents a discussion and concluding considerations in the context of further development and implementation of strategies that encourage the development of education at the preschool and primary school level for the benefit of individuals and the community as a whole