Abstract:

A country’s education system is one of the key pillars of economic growth and international competitiveness. High level of interdependence between all triple-helix elements, i.e. education system, government and private sectors, demand systematic approach, planning and coordination of respective policies. Education system is providing human capital for innovation and it is one of the elements of innovation ecosystem. This makes the interaction of education and innovation ecosystem a multifaceted one. Putting human capital at the heart of the growth, development and innovative activities, requires continuous improvement and investment. An ongoing co-operation and coordination of policies in these fields, as well as a comprehensive coordination of education policy with economic policy are necessary to tackle unemployment, stimulate employment in strategic sectors of the economy and increase competitiveness in European Union (EU) countries. Thus, analysing and assessing education reform in this context is important for the sustainability of the overall system. Both education and innovation are the subjects of priority areas in the Europe 2020 agenda and with no doubt, will remain on the list in the upcoming Union's strategic documents.

This study aims to provide an overview and systematic analysis of the ongoing reforms and policy development in the areas of education and innovation in the selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, namely, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. Motivation for analysing this specific group of countries lies in the transition process reforms and their interconnectedness with integration and education reforms. The analysis of the current strategic documents and the existing assessments of education and innovation policy has been conducted within the relevant theoretical framework. The study concludes that education reforms, both past and ongoing ones, have been comprehensive and wide in scope and national legislation, and that strategies and objectives in field of education in CEE countries are in line with Europe2020 and ET2020 documents. However, in the area of innovation policy, there is a persistent gap between these countries and other advanced OECD countries, but integration reforms have brought improvements in terms of institutional framework and an increase in available financial funds.

Keywords:

education, innovation, policy, reforms, transition.