To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the RegioStars awards, the European Commission invited citizens to vote for the best project among the top 15 projects from the past years. The citizens of the European Union secured the second-place position for CARNET’s pilot project e-Schools with a significant number of votes.
European Union citizens selected CARNET’s pilot project e-Schools as the second-best project in the field of regional development funded by the European Union over the past 15 years. At the award ceremony held last night in the Portuguese city of Evora, Elisa Ferreira, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, presented the RegioStars award for second place to CARNET’s deputy director Juraj Bilić.
“In the competition held in 2020, we received the first prize from the expert jury, and this year, the pilot project e-Schools won the award for the second-best project since the award was initiated. The award is proof that our approach to the digitization of the educational system, which focuses on teachers and students rather than technology, is recognized as a best practice both among our users and at the EU level. Currently, we are implementing a major e-Schools project, scheduled to conclude in October 2023. Additionally, we are working on a new project that will be an upgrade to e-Schools, with a special emphasis on information and digital literacy and the digital skills necessary for our students to become informed users and co-creators of the future,” emphasized Juraj Bilić, adding that “the e-Schools project was developed in collaboration with our Ministry of Science and Education, and we received support in its development from the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds and the Ministry of Labor, Pension System, Family, and Social Policy.”
Congratulating the winners, Commissioner Ferreira highlighted how they “presented the best practices over the past 15 years and demonstrated the breadth, scope, and innovation of EU-funded projects in creating jobs and improving the lives of citizens. These are the best practices we will continue to nurture and support.” The competition, established in 2008, highlights EU-funded projects each year that demonstrate excellence and new approaches in the field of regional development, focusing on key areas for the future of EU regional policy. The pilot project “e-Schools: Establishment of a System for the Development of Digitally Mature Schools” won the RegioStars award in 2020 in the category of Skills and Education for Digital Europe, selected from among 38 submitted projects. It was nominated again this year on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the awards. The main result of the e-Schools pilot project is a 10 per cent increase in the level of digital maturity in Croatian primary and secondary schools. In digitally mature schools, teachers use technology to improve teaching, develop their digital content, and support independent learning and the development of critical skills in students who are at the centre of the teaching process.
As a result, students actively participate in classes with increased motivation for learning and continuing education, making them more competitive in the job market. The management of e-Schools is efficient and transparent, and communication and the exchange of e-documents between the school, its stakeholders, and the founders are considerably more straightforward. The e-Schools pilot project laid the foundation for the implementation of the second phase of the project, which covers all primary and secondary schools funded from the state budget. With a total value of 1.6 billion kuna, the e-Schools project contributes to strengthening the capacity of the primary and secondary education system to prepare students for the job market, further education, and lifelong learning.
