With more than 21,500 employees and a share of five percent in total industrial production, the textile industry in Croatia is an important economic sector.
Although the textile-leather-footwear complex has lost more than one hundred thousand jobs in the past decade and has a bad reputation as a victim of sloppy privatizations and poor management, ‘textile workers’ have not given up. Even without incentives, benefits, with below-average salaries and a challenging environment brought by a flood of imported goods, this sector of the domestic economy hopes for a bright future and plans to achieve it through strong synergy. This message was sent from the sixth scientific-professional conference of the Faculty of Textile Technology (TTF), whose participants are well aware that their industry is not a priority in the current crisis and will not be a priority for any government. Textile workers see the way out of the vicious circle in stronger connections, both among economic entities and between TTF students and the economy.
Branka Jengić, Vice President of the Textile, Leather and Fur Section of the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts, believes that students should be involved in active economic life as much as possible so that they can feel what production means. She stated that TTF students will find it very difficult to open their own businesses and venture into entrepreneurship after graduation if they do not see with their own eyes how to cut, how to save, and how craftsmanship quality is created, which has been well-regarded in Croatia since time immemorial.
– Nothing will be lost if we connect students with the economy, who would quickly find jobs if the economic situation improves at least a little. If our country is entering integration like the European Union, our profession can also connect and integrate better for its own good – Jengić stated.
More economics in programs According to Mirjana Jukić-Gambiroža from the HGK Industry Sector, the textile industry has enormous potential, but very little has been done on the synergy of the entire activity, and it has only given students and professors a passing grade. Jukić-Gambiroža explained that throughout her life she realized that the most useful subject during her entire education was ‘Introduction to Scientific Work’, which is fundamental for problem-solving and literature search. Given that such subjects do not exist today, she recommended that professors incorporate more science and economics into the educational program to better prepare students for the problems they may encounter after graduation.
Thesis papers should be designed to solve one specific economic problem each. Through this work, the student should devise a solution, which will be very difficult to achieve if they do not attempt to work in the meantime. Due to the lack of such concepts, our students today are merely theorists, concluded Gambiroža.
Dean of TTF Sandra Bischof explained that speed and adaptability are important for the textile industry, as well as for all other industries in times of severe economic crisis. For this reason, TTF changes and adapts its curriculum every year – to create workers for the textile sector, not for the labor market. Educating highly qualified professionals, who are lacking in the industry, is becoming an increasingly challenging task for the faculty as the University has cut its budget by 50 percent, making it difficult to finance doctoral students. Therefore, Bischof appealed to the Ministry of Economy, which has previously helped finance doctoral studies that are in demand. Currently, the faculty is working on more than thirty scientific projects, in which students have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across Europe and, in addition to gaining experience, work on the development of innovative products and materials that could soon be found on the market.
