August 25, 2022 - President of the Croatian County Association (HZŽ), the prefect of Brod-Posavina spoke about the rise in energy prices and the possibility of re-introducing online classes - not because of the pandemic, but to save energy.

As SiB writes, the introduction of the euro, the decentralisation of state property, centers of excellence, and the multi-year program of cadastral surveying of construction areas, are all topics that were discussed on Wednesday at the Executive Committee of the Croatian County Association in Varaždin.

President of HZŽ, Brod-Posavina prefect Danijel Marušić said that the prefects discussed, among other things, current issues from the Ministry of Finance.

“First of all, there is a 20 percent limit to certain activities of the counties, that is, 20 percent of the original budget that can be used for salaries. Many counties, especially after the merger of state administration offices and counties, exceed that, so we think that had to change the laws”, said Marušić.

Marušić also spoke about the rise in energy prices and the possibility of re-introducing online classes - not because of the pandemic, but to save energy.

“The fact that we directed all our institutions to energy-renovate buildings, and we renovated 23 schools and all hospital buildings of our hospital system, turned out to be the right way and the savings were up to 75 percent”, Marušić pointed out, adding that the idea of ​​online teaching with the aim of saving energy is interesting and not impossible.

The host, Varaždin prefect Anđelko Stričak, said that all prefects are concerned about the announced increase in energy prices, especially when it comes to institutions.

“As far as the Varaždin County is concerned, at the beginning of the year, we secured enough energy for the whole year. Even then, these prices were rising and were 50 to 70 percent higher than the year before. We are secure until the end of the year," said Stričak.

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May 21, 2021 - With math seeing more and more appreciation, it's still, quite rightfully, a challenging discipline that not everyone can comprehend. Quality lessons, additional instructions, and motivated lecturers and teachers are the obvious recipe to both help those who struggle with math and those who are good at it to achieve their best possible potential.

However, the coronavirus pandemic is still present and is still causing difficulties in the Croatian education system, forcing pupils and professors to switch from online to live lectures or a mix of the two, putting additional pressure on sharing knowledge on any imaginable subject. With math being a discipline that requires lots of practice and explanations, it's perhaps the subject which has suffered the most.

Still, as Srednja.hr reports, a great potential solution to this issue appeared back in October 2020 when Robert Pavlik started E-Matematika, a website, for online math instructions.

''The site is focused on all students that need help with math, whether it's about fixing a bad grade or preparing for an exam“, writes Srednja.hr.

E-Matematika currently offers 45 minutes of lessons, offering solved mathematical tasks with the procedure detailed, as well as a video explanation.

These instructions are paid for simply through the ''order instructions''check-out process, and it's all quite automated. However, phone and videocalls for arranging instructions are an option for the safety of kids so that parents can see with whom they'll be communicating. Reliable platforms for communication such as Zoom, Google Meet, and MS Teams are also used, and two conditions need to be satisfied for the instructions to work: easy platform access for the student and an uninterrupted video connection. Each instruction ends with the service sending a questionnaire to the students to see how happy they are with the whole experience, as well as a receipt. The questionnaire builds the personal rating of the instructor.

There are four levels of instructions: lower elementary classes, higher elementary classes, high schools, and faculties, which offer more effective services as some instructors prefer to work with teens, and others are specialised working with younger kids. The site so far boasts 100 instructors, and in addition to maths, Croatian pupils can also find instructions from the subjects of physics and chemistry. Srednja.hr adds that students from field-related faculties recognised the work of E-Matematika and want to participate.

The site welcomes anyone interested to apply to become the next instructor, as long as they satisfy the following conditions: two years of instructing experience as a minimum, excellent communication skills, reliability, flexibility in organising instructions, along with patience and the ability to focus on a student.

It's also worth mentioning that the first concept of online instructions in Croatia (again, for math, but also for statistics) appeared in 2011, when a mathematics professor at the Faculty of Science (PMF), University of Zagreb, Toni Milun, started posting videos explaining the curriculum online and for free. And you guessed it; it was a huge hit.

Despite Milun offering additional mathematics lessons for free, E-Matematika having more than 500 registered users and 2000 orders, it seems it can justify the paid offer with its value and use.

However, it will be interesting to see will this trend continue when the pandemic is over and the face-to-face instructions return as normal. Currently, the Croatian media landscape is seeing more and more pupils and parents stepping out and saying that nothing can replace face-to-face classes.

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