ZAGREB, 6 Sept 2021 - The new school year 2021-22 begins on Monday for almost 460,000 elementary and secondary school students across Croatia, including about 37,000 first graders, and all will have face-to-face classes.

This year again HRK 158 million was earmarked in the state budget for free textbooks for elementary school students.

Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs said on Sunday that elementary school students in grades five to eight and secondary school students would have to wear masks if the distance between them in classrooms was less than 1.5 to 2 meters.

However, masks are mandatory in hallways, outside classrooms, and in school transport.

Teachers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 do not have to wear masks in classrooms, while those who have not been do, Fuchs said on RTL television.

The ministry has issued epidemiological recommendations based on research, the experience of epidemiologists, all stakeholders in the education system and other EU countries as well as in line with those of relevant European and international organizations, notably the World Health Organization.

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ZAGREB, 3 Sept 2021 - Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs said on Friday that everything was ready for the beginning of the new school year, that all children would be attending face-to-face classes and that clear epidemiological rules for schools had been made known.

Students who test positive for the virus will have to stay at home until they recover, while others will go to school normally, keeping a physical distance from each other and not having to wear face masks, the minister said ahead of the start of the new school year on 6 September.

As for school halls, school buses and other means of public transportation, students will have to wear protective masks.

Speaking of the vaccination of employees in the education system, Fuchs called on those who had not been vaccinated to do so.

As for the vaccination rate, he said that it was around 60% in high schools, around 72% at universities and close to 80% in research institutions.

He said that efforts would be made to keep the vaccination rate in the education sector above the vaccination rate in the general population.

That is the only way to keep schools open, he said.

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ZAGREB, September 7, 2020 - The new school year 2020-2021 starts across Croatia on Monday with 460,000 students enrolled in primary and secondary schools that are implementing the epidemiological measures proposed by the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) due to the epidemic of COVID-19.

Classes in primary and secondary schools, higher education facilities and pre-school education facilities will be organised in accordance with three models due to the coronavirus epidemic circumstances.

Model A are classes conducted in school, Model B is blended learning, which combines classroom learning with online instruction, and Model C is distance learning.

According to Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs, in Model B, schools operating in a single shift, and there are 60% of those, can split their students in two shifts (morning and afternoon) to reduce the number of pupils in the building, and other schools in which maintaining physical distance and wearing masks is not possible can divide their pupils so that some have classes in school and some online.

The epidemic of COVID-19 is the reason why the uncertainty is lingering in the air, and eight schools are starting this new school year with distance learning, since some of their staff are positive for coronavirus and some are self-isolating.

Other schools are opening their doors to children, and strict epidemiological measures are being introduced in those buildings.

This past Friday, Education Minister Fuchs called on school workers to act responsibly even outside their working hours so that the virus would not spread to schools and prevent face-to-face classes.

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ZAGREB, September 4, 2020 - As the new school year is about to start, the police will once again conduct a special traffic programme to protect children which has been ongoing since 1995 and has resulted in significantly fewer deaths and injuries to children on Croatian roads.

Regardless of the positive trend, in the past ten years 66 children were killed in traffic and another 10,172 were injured, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

Nevertheless, it is worrying that fifteen years ago most child victims were pedestrians while now they are passengers in vehicles while riding with their parents, even though these are the people they should be safest with.

The number of children killed in traffic has decreased by 40 percent, which in numbers means that this year three children were killed compared to five children in the same period last year. However, 3.4% more children were seriously injured in traffic while those sustaining mild injuries decreased by 24.8%. Most of these incidents involved children as passengers in cars.

The police appeal to parents to ensure that all children have their seat belts fastened in cars.

40,000 new participants in traffic

This year there will be about 40,000 children starting school, which means that many more participants in traffic, and the police, together with local authorities, will conduct special checks of roads and traffic signs in the vicinity of schools as well as stepping up speed checks.

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ZAGREB, Aug 24, 2020 - School starts on September 7, and the main rule is to keep one's distance, not to mix pupils from different classes and to step up hygiene, while face masks will be mandatory only for pupils in higher grades if there is not enough space for them to keep their distance, the Education Ministry said on Monday.

The basic rule is that those who are showing symptoms of a communicable disease, are self-isolating or have contracted COVID-19 do not go to school, and to curb the disease it is necessary to keep one's distance, reduce contact between different classes, and step up personal hygiene and that of shared spaces, said Ivana Pavic Simetin, deputy head of the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) and coordinator of the task force in charge of elaborating and proposing school-related public health measures for the start of the 2020/2021 school and academic year.

Pupils should come into contact with a few teachers as possible during one day or period.

"It is recommended to have two or three hours of classes, two shifts, to have lessons start at different times, as well as breaks," Pavic Simetin said while presenting epidemiological guidelines for the start of the school year.

It is also suggested that schools provide replacement rooms in case there are too many pupils in a classroom for them to be at a distance of 1.5 meters in primary and 2 meters in secondary schools.

If there are no other possibilities, it is suggested that the school operates in shifts. For instance, half of the classes could attend school one week, and the second half next week.

In the event of a child exhibiting symptoms, he or she is separated from others and parents come to pick up their child, but there is no need to panic, and an epidemiologist should only be contacted if several children start showing symptoms.

If a child tests positive for COVID-19, the entire class or kindergarten group will undergo self-isolation.

Pavic-Simetin underscored that children were not superspreaders and that they rarely infect their family members or teachers.

Lower grades of primary schools to function as "bubbles"

Education and Science Minister Radovan Fuchs reiterated that classes in lower grades of primary school would follow the "bubble" model so pupils will not leave the classroom, they will have controlled access to the toilet, their teacher will be with them all the time and they will not mix with children from other classes. They will not have to wear face masks, nor will their teacher.

Pupils in higher grades of primary schools will only have to wear masks if there is not enough space for them to maintain physical distance.

Asked about optional subjects, such as religion, foreign languages, and IT, he underscored that there would be no mixing pupils from different classes, so if that was not possible, such classes would be held online.

There will be online classes if any of these two scenarios occurs: an entire class or school is undergoing self-isolation, or a class is being split up to provide more space for physical distancing, Fuchs said.

"That should not be a big problem, the least favorable version is to have children stay home," he underscored.

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