ZAGREB, 11 January, 2021 - The teachers' union on Monday sent five demands to institutions including a request that second semester in Sisak-Moslavina County be deferred for 2 to 4 weeks and that employees and parents in Zagreb schools be informed in writing of the condition of school buildings.
Teachers have called for 2nd semester in schools in Sisak-Moslavina County to be deferred for 2 to 4 weeks after they had spoken to employees and parents in earthquake stricken areas where many of them were involved in volunteer work to rebuild their own homes and those of others.
The union warned than many students do not have electricity connected and that they need time to recover from the trauma and that they are not ready yet to stick to regular curriculum.
Apart from that many students are currently housed in containers and they need psychological help to adapt to their specific situation and in those circumstances it is impossible for principals to organise regular classes.
The union notes that the relevant ministry has sent a questionnaire asking where students are currently located and whether they have electricity but it has not taken into account their psychological-social condition nor their needs in the field and what students, parents and teachers need the most at the moment.
The union warned that neither students nor teachers are currently in a position to conduct online lessons.
The union also warns that parents in Zagreb demand that safe passage to schools be enabled for students and that rubble from the most recent quakes be removed from streets.
"If it is insisted that school in Zagreb starts according to Model A (face to face), we demand that employees and parents be informed in writing of the condition of school buildings that students are expected to attend on 18 January 2021, and for that to be before the start of school with additional information about what level of earthquake school buildings can withstand," the union said.
The union considers that it is essential to conduct evacuation exercises with students and that rescue protocols need to be updated in other counties that have been affected by the earthquakes because it seems that prevention in Croatia is not organised and regular evacuation exercises are not conducted.
The union also called for an urgent response from the ministry with regards to its demand set at a meeting on 29 December calling for employees in education to be among those priority groups for vaccination against COVID-19.
