February the 1st, 2023 - When it comes to Croatian international schools and kindergartens, the offer is fairly varied, but it is also extremely geographically limited...

Despite the fact that mandatory education begins a little bit later in Croatia than it does in some Western European countries, this country puts a lot of emphasis on education, and I for one was surprised to learn just how much children have to do in terms of homework and studying at an age where I was just playing out in the street with my friends and falling off my bike (a lot).

A (very) quick history

There are 940 primary schools, 390 secondary schools, and 90 public and 32 private education institutions across Croatia, with international students choosing this country more and more frequently. The very first university in Croatia, the University of Zadar, was founded way back in 1396, while the largest university in the country is the University of Zagreb, founded in 1669.

How it works

Education in Croatia begins with kindergarten (pre-school if you’re British), and then the beginning of the compulsory eight years of primary school education starts at the age of six or seven depending on when the child’s birthday falls. After finishing their primary education, kids can continue learning based on the grades they earned in four-year non-compulsory secondary schools that are divided into gymnasiums, vocational (industrial, trade, and technical) and art (art, dance, and music) schools.

Enrollment in higher education institutions in Croatia has been determined by grades obtained during high school exit exams since back in 2010, with the study programmes being aligned with the Bologna Process since 2005. Croatian higher education institutions are divided up into colleges, faculties, academies of art and polytechnics and they offer both university and professional studies. While students (or should I say their parents) need to pay for their supplies, public primary and secondary schools, as well as institutions of higher education, are free. Scholarships are also regularly given out by the state in the case of higher education institutions.

I'm a foreigner and my kids don't understand the language, is a Croatian international school up my alley?

Many foreigners who move to Croatia have very valid concerns about their children who don’t speak the language. There are multiple Croatian international schools which cater to all age groups with their various programmes, some of which are internationally (as the name suggests) recognised. There is also usually extra help on offer for foreign children attending Croatian public schools to get their language skills up to par. 

To start off with, it’s important to state that Croatia has both public and private schools on offer, and that in public schools, lessons are taught solely in Croatian. International schools teach in English, Spanish, German, French and numerous other languages. This might be a much better choice if you have children who need to continue their education in their native languages, with Croatian also being drip fed in.

If you’re planning on moving to a more rural area and you have school-age children, you will have a tough time on your hands. Zagreb and Split, Croatia largest and second largest cities, have several international schools respectively. Most of the schools and kindergartens listed below also have some lessons or at least some instructions given in Croatian as well as the primary language used in teaching.

Croatian international schools and kindergartens - Zagreb

Zagreb is home to many internationally recognised and respected international schools and kindergartens, and being the capital, it is home to the highest number of them in the country.

The Mala kuća International Kindergarten (Little House)

Obzori Kindergarten (Horizons)

The Learning Tree International Kindergarten

Dječji vrtić zvjezdica (The Little Star Kindergarten)

The British International School of Zagreb

The American International School of Zagreb

The Bright Horizons British International School of Zagreb 

Ecole Française Internationale de Zagreb

The Matija Gubec International School

Deutsche Internationale Schule Zagreb

The International Baccalaureate at MIOC

Croatian international schools and kindergartens - Split

Split, Dalmatia’s largest city and the country’s second largest city, also has a few international schools and kindergartens to boast of, although there are considerably less to speak of than in Zagreb.

Harfa International School

Split International School

Fun2Learn

Bravo!

All in all, public education in Croatia does very well considering the level of funding it gets, and when it comes to private and international schools, the reviews speak for themselves. They are the best choice for expat families, with the only downside being that they are very much located in the two largest cities. ESL schools, however, are spread across the country, from all the way down south in Dubrovnik to up in Koprivnica.

For more tips and tricks related to moving to and living in Croatia, from information on driving and jumping on a ferry to renting a property to finding a job, make sure to keep up with our dedicated lifestyle section. A special How to Croatia article focused on a specific topic is published every Wednesday.

December 7, 2022 – In today’s edition of How to Croatia, we are bringing an overview of the Croatian education system from early childhood to higher education.

The Croatian education system starts with childcare or formally with the preschool year. While the earliest that children can be enrolled is at six months in jaslice (Croatian term for nursery), the mandatory aspect of education typically starts at the beginning of the year before the start of primary school at the age of 6 and lasts until the age of 14. Secondary and higher education in Croatia are accessible to all but not mandatory. There are both public and private education institutions at every level. The academic year in Croatia usually starts in early September for primary and secondary education or October for higher education. It ends in early June for primary and secondary levels, while at the higher education level, it sometimes extends to the second half of July.

Childcare and preschool

As mentioned above, the earliest a child can be enrolled in childcare is at six months old, though that depends on the specific institution. In most places, local authorities will have a system of benefits or subsidies for parents, especially those with more than one child. English is taught in most Croatian kindergartens, while international kindergartens with programmes in foreign languages (German, French, Italian, Spanish) can, for now, only be found in Zagreb and Split. Preschool education is mandatory and free of charge for all children in the year just before they start primary school.

Primary school

Children start primary school at 7 or 6 if they turn seven before the 31^st of March of the following year (that same academic year). Primary school is split into two levels and lasts eight years. Grades 1-4 are oriented towards class teaching, where there is one main teacher who covers the base subjects (Croatian, mathematics, art, social), while subject teachers for foreign languages, computer science, and religion come in to teach their specialised subjects usually for one or two classes per week.

The second level of primary education, grades 5-8, is oriented toward subject teaching. The pupils are still organised into classes and allocated a teacher responsible for class admin, but specialised subject teachers teach all the subjects. Subjects like geography, history, and biology are introduced in grade 5, while chemistry and physics are introduced in grade 7.

Specific inclusive programmes are set up for children with learning disabilities, which are either adjusted or individualised to fit their needs.

Secondary education

The secondary level of education typically starts at the age of 14, while the duration depends on the type of programme. There are two main types in Croatia, grammar schools and vocational schools.

Grammar schools are further specialised into those with a general or classical programme, those which focus more on natural subjects, or those with a focus on languages. Programmes in all grammar schools typically last four years and enable the students to pursue higher education.

Vocational schools, on the other hand, equip students for a specific profession. The duration depends on the programme, where programmes for trades typically last between one and three years, hospitality and tourism programmes last three years, economy and computer science last four years, and nursing school lasts five years. After graduating from a vocational school, students can either pursue higher education or enter the job market with the qualification they acquire.

When it comes to primary and secondary programmes in foreign languages, just as is the case with childcare, international schools exist in Zagreb and Split.

Higher education

One of the best aspects of life in Croatia is that higher education is free for all. The public education system of universities, colleges, and polytechnics is very well developed and follows the European Higher Education framework based on the Bologna Process. The requirements for enrollment depend on the specific programmes, but the base is a points system that accounts for the student’s final grades during all years of secondary education and a state exam at the end. All students who wish to study at public higher education institutions must pass the mandatory subjects – Croatian, English, and mathematics, and they can choose to sit for the supplementary subjects which might be required or bear extra credit for specific fields (e.g., biology and chemistry for medicine). When it comes to programmes in foreign languages, alongside language studies, several universities have started offering public programmes in English, like those in Zagreb, Split, and Rijeka. A vast network of private higher education institutions also exists in Croatia, offering various programmes.

Inclusive special education

Croatia has a developed inclusive education system for children with developmental and learning difficulties, starting with childcare. Depending on the extent of their needs, they might be enrolled in mainstream classes where they are approached with programmes tailored specifically for them or have a learning assistant assigned. On the other hand, they might be directed toward a specialised school which, in some cases, they can attend until the age of twenty-one.

Art and music

Another aspect of education regulated by law is official art (dance) and music education. Primary music school lasts six years, and children from the age of 7 can be enrolled. Secondary music school lasts four years and can be taken as the only programme of secondary education. More often than not, though, students attend music school parallel to another secondary school. Primary dance school lasts four years, and so does secondary dance school, which can also serve as the only secondary programme.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 23 May 2022 - The Education Ministry's official, Nandor Čapo, on Monday said that 16 ethnic minorities in Croatia exercise the right of education in their mother tongue, which covers education ranging from pre-school to secondary school and this year over 10,000 pupils are included in these programmes.

Of the 22 ethnic minorities in Croatia, 16 are guaranteed this human right of education in their mother tongue, Čapo told an international conference entitled "Inter-cultural education in minority languages and script."

He underscored that interculturality is a constituent part of Croatian society and that the Constitution recognises 22 national minorities who enrich the country's linguistic, historical and cultural diversity.

Attending the conference, UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes underscored the necessity to nurture minority languages, particularly from the pedagogic aspect because children learn better in their mother tongue.

The two-day conference organised by the Serb National Council (SNV) is being held in Zagreb for representatives of ethnic minorities and teachers who teach minority languages.

SNV president and Member of Parliament Milorad Pupovac assessed that multiculturalism and interculturalism were functioning in some Croatian communities regardless of language differences.

In some areas such as Vukovar, he added, unfortunately, there is still a dominant approach in which cooperation, exchange of experience and use of joint historical foundations and heritage, is not the usual practice to provide citizens rights.

For more, check out our politics section.

May 3, 2022 – Vukovar is indeed full of life. The 3^rd of May is Vukovar Day, marking the day it became a free royal town in 1231, and the day of Saints Philip and James who became Vukovar’s patron saints when their church was built in 1723.

Traditionally, this day is a bank holiday in Vukovar, with celebrations and events in the city centre. With the Svi zaJedno Hrvatsko Naj festival leaning onto Vukovar Day, the city becomes the site of culture, sports, gastronomy, music, and more, for over a week. And if you take a closer look, you will see that it’s Vukovar’s youngest who make the city come alive. The little ones are jumping with joy and running between the stalls, the decorations, and the popcorn vendors, and our high schoolers are even here to teach us something. And if you listen closely, you can hear them speak both Croatian and Serbian.

Courtesy of TZ Vukovar / Marko Balaži

This co-existence in Vukovar still sparks debate among those who know about its history, and curiosity among those who are yet to learn. On this Vukovar day, we decided to have a look at history in hopes of making a step in the right direction for our future. We went to schools in Vukovar, both primary and secondary, where we had a chance to speak to the headmasters and teachers. The guiding thought was the idea that the subject of history is a sensitive area, especially in Serbian minority classes. This question has been explored before, with varying conclusions, so we wanted to see where we stand in 2022. The outcome is interesting, but not surprising, refreshing, and yet completely normal.

The demography of Vukovar

Vukovar has historically been a diverse urban centre, whose population throughout the 20^th century was made up of the Croatian, Serbian, Hungarian and German nationalities to varying extents, with the Serbian population steadily growing and reaching 25,5% in 1948 and 32,3% in 1990, whereas the German and Hungarian population significantly declined during the same period. In 1990, the Croatian population made 47,2% of its 44,639 inhabitants. It is important to note that the social structure of the city kept changing throughout the 20^th century due to the Yugoslavian policies, as well as the fact that the socialist state discouraged expressing religious beliefs or national identity in everyday life. Our interlocutors who have lived all their lives in Vukovar shared that in pre-war Vukovar “you wouldn’t know other people’s nationalities or beliefs” (I.A., 68), “unless in a political situation, no one cared” (A.J., 63), “in everyday human lives it did not matter one bit, we all played together as kids, grew up together and watched our children grow up together” (J.G., 72). Their memories of the city make their faces light up and their eyes sparkle, and they happily share stories of life by the river, the best ice cream, friendship, and family. The things that mattered. Of course, the events of 1991 shattered that image of the city and it took decades to start even imagining something like that again.

"The Danube Bath", courtesy of Vukovar Municipal Museum

Model A for the education of national minorities

Like anywhere else, the rights of national minorities in Croatia are emphasized and respected in all aspects of life. One of the areas serving as a constant source of inspiration for debate in Vukovar is schooling. In Croatia, schools follow a three-model system (A, B, C) with several additional programs (such as summer school ). In model A, minority language and writing systems are fully adopted, with the Croatian language taking an equal amount of school hours as the minority language. Model B uses both Croatian and minority languages, with social subjects taught in the minority language. Model C teaches minority languages and cultures as an additional subject, with all other instruction and teaching done in Croatian.

In Vukovar, models A and C are most often chosen by minorities, with model A being the most likely choice of the Serbian national minority. What this means is that schools following model A will often have students of the same age group take separate classes based on the chosen model (i.e. if they are a member of the minority group or not). The purpose of the three models is the preservation of minority languages and cultures with enough flexibility to accommodate for integration.

Peaceful reintegration of the Danube Region and the history moratorium

One of the conditions of the Serbian representatives in the peace negotiations of 1997 was that there was a moratorium put on the teaching of Vukovar’s recent history in national minority classes. The moratorium lasted 5 years and officially ended in 2003. From 2003 to 2022 it has been a rocky road, and there were numerous attempts to have a peek behind the scenes and see if the sensitive parts of history are being taught in minority classrooms. Sensationalist headlines would appear, stating that Croatian history is only taught over something like 3 pages in the Serbian textbook written in Serbian using the Cyrillic writing, that teachers deliberately skip and ignore the whole section, that they twist it, etc. Having spoken to headmasters, teachers, parents, and students, the truth is simple – it is highly individual, and if teachers feel strongly about the topic, they might be inclined to adapt their way of teaching. The opinions of parents are varying, some feel strongly, and some don’t, depending mostly on the generation they belong to. What probably sums it up best, are the words of the mother of a second-grader, stating that “we cannot avoid the topic, certainly not in 2022. No matter which classroom my children attend, they will learn about the events and hopefully, they will be able to form their own opinions. What we want for them is to live a normal life and grow up in a society of equal opportunity”. (S.G.)

The headmasters of primary schools and secondary schools all agree that they are currently facing much bigger issues, some caused by the pandemic, some by the modern way of life, but that history on this or that side has become a rather dry topic which is not in their control anyway. They emphasize that having started from completely separate classrooms, teachers, subjects, and extracurricular activities, students these days all play together, attend workshops and sports clubs, take part in competitions and plays, and even go on excursions, exchanges, and cultural events together, forming separate groups around things like celebrity crushes, candy or games, and not nationality.

Like it or not, Vukovar is healing as nature always finds a way

The honest truth is it has been 30 years and time and nature have started doing their thing. A change of generations has happened. Make no mistake, what happened in Vukovar in 1991 were inhuman atrocities that can never be denied, and there is a lot of injustice still making it that much harder even after 30 years. Unfortunately, those who deserve punishment might never be punished for the crimes they committed but let us not punish those who had nothing to do with it, those who are at the same time the future of our city. Children are children, they might grow up to become assholes or they might go on to save the world. They might learn history in Croatian written in Latin writing, or that could be Serbian in Cyrillic writing. Chances are, they will find it equally boring and would much rather play than study. Some might be fascinated by it. They are all different. We are all different. Maybe it’s time to start learning from the young ones and celebrate diversity while working together for a better future for all of us. 

 National day against peer violence, courtesy of OŠ Siniše Glavaševića

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

28 March 2022 - Young people are a pillar of social recovery and development of EU countries, which is why they should be invested in, it was said at a conference on education in Split on Monday.

"Recovery and development are not possible if one invests only in tourism and the services sector. It is necessary to also invest in young people and education," Croatian member of the European Parliament, Željana Zovko of the HDZ party, who organised the conference, said at the event.

"Young people are the ones to take Croatia and Europe towards technological progress. The key message of this conference is for young people to stay here and develop their talents," she said, calling for equal education opportunities both for those living in urban areas and those living in rural areas or on islands.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution in 2021 on the European education area, which says that the teaching profession is in a crisis because there are significant differences in education in the member-states in terms of working conditions, pay, assessment and professional requirements.

Teachers should be paid adequately for their work and students should be at the centre of the learning process, the document says, underlining the importance of learning foreign languages, notably English, as well as mass open online courses as a necessary element in promoting additional training and retraining.

Addressing the event via video link, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel said that the Recovery and Resilience Plan has the potential to become a lever for introducing a greener, more digital and more inclusive system of education in the EU.

Ina 2016, Split-Dalmatia County established a centre of excellence that currently has 430 children and 109 mentors in four basic programmes, and an additional 2,100 children in three extracurricular programmes with another 300 mentors, the centre's head, Ivica Zelić, said.

"We want to establish a system of support for talent development and make what we, in Split-Dalmatia County, are doing a national model," Zelić said.

In cooperation with Lika-Senj County,  the county plans to build a centre of excellence campus in Nova Sela in the hinterland of Omiš.

That campus will be the first of its kind in Southeast Europe and it will be a meeting place for excellent students not only from Croatia but from all over this part of Europe, said Split-Dalmatia County head Blaženko Boban.

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - Twenty contracts on the education of 368 various professionals in preschool education were awarded on Thursday by Labour Minister Josip Aladrović and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs.

The project, worth 45 million kuna (€6 million), is funded from the European Union's funds and is aimed at the education of various professionals in the educational system, who will care for 1,537 children.

Minister Aladrović said that this was only a fragment of all investments in the educational system.

He added that the project also connected three priorities of the EU Social Fund. For instance, it will produce a positive impact on employment, then it will enable women to get jobs and also enable children of preschool age in educational programmes.

Minister Fuchs said that the target is to have at least 90% of all preschool children in the whole of Croatia included in preschool educational programmes by 2026.

Fuchs said that approximately 40 municipalities were still without kindergartens, and investments worth 1.6 billion kuna (€213 million) would change the situation for the better.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek on Wednesday presented a national program aimed at encouraging parents to read to their children from an early age on.

The program, called "Born to read", is implemented by the Culture and Media Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and with the support of the Croatian Pediatric Society and the Croatian Society of Preventive and Social Pediatrics.

Speaking at a training course for pediatricians in Slavonski Brod, Obuljen Koržinek said she expected the program to encourage parents to read to their children.

The program is part of the national strategy for the promotion of reading, adopted in 2017, and it was presented at the end of the Year of Reading.

The minister said that the implementation of the program would start in 2022 and that it involved pediatricians who would work on raising parents' awareness of the need to start reading to their children as early as six months of age as a way of strengthening the child's competencies.

Research shows that reading to children helps develop their intelligence, cognitive abilities, and generally their literacy. In Croatia, only one-third of parents are aware of the importance of reading to children and the percentage of parents who actually read to their children is even lower, the minister said, expressing hope the project would help raise awareness among parents about the benefits of reading to children.

The minister noted that a program of this kind had been underway in Italy for some 20 years and that it had yielded the desired positive changes.

Throughout next year education courses will be held for pediatricians about the importance of encouraging reading to children.

The idea to launch the program came from Dr. Marija Radonić.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 28 Nov, 2021 - The European Commission has published a call for the submission of applications for the Erasmus+ programme and has allocated as much as €3.9 billion for its implementation in 2022.

Of this amount, more than €36 million has been set aside for Croatia, which is an increase of €8 million compared with 2021, when Croatia had at its disposal over €28 million, the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes said in a statement.

This more generous budget for 2022 will bring greater opportunities for Croatian citizens to study abroad, pursue their internship and professional practice, exchange experience and engage in international cooperation in the areas of education and training, youth and sport, the agency's director Antonija Gladović said.

The Croatian budget for Erasmus+ 2022 includes €30.2 million for education and training and €5.2 million for projects that will give young people better opportunities. Mobility and cooperation projects will support the green and digital transition and promote active citizenship and participation in democratic life. Such projects have already increased the resilience of the education and training system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inclusion, which aims to give as many people as possible access to learning and international projects, remains one of the fundamental principles of the Erasmus+ programme, which celebrates its 35th birthday next year, the statement said.

For more on lifestyle, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

October 8, 2021 - Croatian Libraries in the digital climate was the topic of a conference held in Lovran.

The pandemic and earthquakes of 2020 opened a lot of questions of handling everyday institutions in the not-so-usual times.

One such institution is the library, and Hotel Excelsior in beautiful Lovran (near Opatija and Rijeka on the Western Istrian coast) played host to the 17th edition of the Specialised and Higher Education Library Days. The event lasted from September 30 to October 2. It was organised by the Croatian Library Association (HKD), the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) and the University Library in Rijeka with the support of the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media.

As reported by the University of Zagreb's official website, the focus theme of the conference was the ''Digital Transformation of Libraries in Special Circumstances'' which is divided into four parts and regards digital circumstances.

These topics explored copyright laws, librarian competency, roles, positions, services, and the content of Croatian libraries in the digital era.

''On the last day of the conference, visitors could hear all about the changes in university and higher education libraries in the digital context, not just in terms of the offer but in terms of the legal framework too. These topics were covered by Dr. Tatijana Petrić, while the trends on the development of Croatian universities from a scientific perspective were presented by dr. Miroslav Rajter,'' said the University of Zagreb's website.

Zagreb's NSK has already adapted to digitalisation with the digital library where users can search literature by authors, title, topics or metadata.

Aside from the fact that its faculties have libraries with titles relevant to the field students can study, the University of Zagreb also launched the Hrčak website that offers readers to enjoy Croatian scientific journals and papers, thus allowing access to the scientific content.

Speaking of libraries, any book published in Croatia is required to have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), which is accessible for free by contacting and filling out the form at NSK, the ISBN is obligatory for every hard copybook. When it comes to digital books, the current law in Croatia states that an ISBN isn't obligatory if the electronic book has no intention of earning commercial money and if it isn't going to be on sale. However, if the author wishes to sell an electronic book and make money from it, then they're obligated to get an ISBN which is assigned for free.

While the development of digital technologies is something that poses a challenge to old reading habits from the library's perspective, the pandemic is also something that limits the physical activities of Croatian libraries. Libraries may no longer hold a vital position for accessing literature, but here in Croatia, they're still valuable for hosting book presentations of Croatian authors (particularly new and lesser known ones who need help in reaching their potential audience).

As TCN covered earlier, the difficulties of 2020 also inspired the country's civil protection services to analyse and adapt to ensuring security ans safety in unexpected situations at a conference in Vinkovci. With the fast-changing day-to-day reality we live in thanks to technology, and the ever uncertain future, it seems 2020 was the wake-up call Croatia needed to be better prepared for what lies ahead in all possible scenarios.

Learn more about famous Croats, including writers in our TC guide. 

For more about science in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page

October 5, 2021 - Commemorating World Teachers' Day in Croatia is another indicator that the country is following global trends. Despite expressed sympathy for teachers, the problems in the Croatian education system are yet to be solved.

World Teachers’ Day is held annually on 5 October to celebrate all teachers around the globe. It commemorates the anniversary of adopting the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions – says the official UNESCO website. 

Croatia is no exception in honoring the people who teach the youngest generations in the country in the hope they grow into good and educated people that will make Croatia a better place. 

Despite being established on February 2, 2006, under the name of The Faculty of Teacher Education, this institution, part of the University of Zagreb, has a much richer history of educating teachers that began with the first Teacher Training School in Zagreb in 1849. Thus, the oldest instance of Croatian formal teachers' education was followed by Petrinja (1862) and Čakovec (1879).

„The Faculty of Teacher Education, in addition to its constituent units - chairs, centers, institutes, library, and gallery, has three academic departments: Department of Teacher Education Studies, Department of Preschool Education Studies, and Department of Educational Studies. With the resolution of the University Senate of the University of Zagreb dating February 13, 2007, the Four-year Teachers’ College in Čakovec and the Four-year Teachers’ College in Petrinja merged with the Faculty of Teacher Education at first as branches and then as departments of the Faculty of Teacher Education. As such, they have developed for the purposes of organizing implementing the program of study away from the Central location of the Faculty of Teacher Education. Both departments carry out the work and operations under the name of the Faculty of Teacher Education and their own name," says the official website of the faculty.

As it suits a high educational facility for the teachers' field, the Faculty of Teacher Education commemorated the event on Tuesday and appropriately celebrated their professional holiday.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković congratulated World Teachers' Day on Twitter. He expressed gratitude for teachers doing their job during the pandemic and earthquake. 

„There is no greater task than raising, educating, and shaping the youth which is the future“, wrote Plenković by Twitter as reported by Index.hr.

Croatian president Zoran Milanović attended the ceremony at the Faculty of Teachers' Education. He stated that teachers played a crucial part in shaping Croatian culture.

Based on previous writings by TCN, Milanović's statement can be evident in historical events such as the First Croatian Teacher Congress in 1871. Usually, you could learn more about the history of Croatian education by visiting the Croatian School Museum in Zagreb, but sadly it still awaits post-earthquake reconstruction.

Additionally, its worth mentioning that the start of the new School year exposed the problem of parental pressure on teachers to give children As even when their actual knowledge does not justify the grade.

If not on any other day, hopefully, both the politics and the public may learn and decide to act on World Teachers' Day to help teachers resolve this troubling issue.

Read about Croatian politics and history since 1990 on our TC guide.

For more about education in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.