ZAGREB, 12 Sept, 2021 - Two Croatian Facebook teacher groups have asked Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs to protect school staff from opponents to coronavirus restrictions in schools and to punish the anti-maskers who invaded the primary school in the northwestern spa town of Krapinske Toplice.

"We demand a strong reaction and all the necessary steps so that things like this would not happen again," the Facebook teacher groups Školska Zbornica (Staffroom) and 45 Minutes said in an open letter to the minister on Sunday.

They said that schools must be safe places for all students and staff, and that Minister Fuchs is responsible for ensuring safety for teachers in schools, especially during the implementation of the required epidemiological measures.

The two groups bring together abut 20,000 teachers and other educational staff. 

About 20 people held a protest outside Krapinske Toplice Primary School on Friday because an eight-year-old pupil, who refuses to wear a face mask, had been banned from entering the school. The protest was organised by the boy's father, who says a mask makes it difficult for his son to breathe and that the school does not allow him to use common areas without it. In that way, he said, his son is being denied the right to an education.

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ZAGREB, 11 Sept, 2021 - The Preporod union of school employees on Saturday condemned the anti-maskers who invaded the elementary school in Krapinske Toplice yesterday, saying it was not a protest but a threat to the safety and mental health of those who were present, which should be condemned and punished.

"The public condemnation of this violent incident should be prompt and total," the union said in a press release.

It added that the invasion of the 30 anti-maskers was also an organised disturbance of the peace, and that they and the organiser should be promptly and severely punished.

As for reports on police conduct, Preporod said the police should be punished too if their behaviour was indeed unprofessional and their response to the behaviour of the anti-maskers "late and mild."

Preporod said that as of Monday the education authorities should send experts to the school to provide psychological support to the pupils, and that Minister Radovan Fuchs and his associates should visit the school as soon as possible, thereby supporting the pupils, their parents and all of the school staff.

The union reiterated that security in schools was lacking and called on the education authorities to do more to create conditions preventing any kind of violent behaviour in schools.

County head: Security will watch school entrance

Krapina-Zagorje County prefect Željko Kolar told Hina on Friday that as of Monday morning security would watch the entrance to the Krapinske Toplice elementary school as well as the schoolyard, where parents protested against mask-wearing earlier in the day.

Kolar said he would do everything so that pupils could come to the school without fear and that the county would ensure that classes were held without disruption.

He said the protesters broke the law banning organised protesting or gathering near a school during classes. He added that the police did not do a good job because the protest should have been banned or broken up.

Kolar said 308 pupils went to that school and that the parents of only two were protesting against masks, whereas all other parents and their children complied with the COVID rules.

The protest was held because an eight-year-old pupil who refuses to wear a mask, Nikola Gaćina, has been banned from entering the school since Monday. It was organised by his father Kristijan, who says a mask makes it difficult for Nikola to breathe and that the school does not allow him to use common areas without it. Thereby, he said, his son is being denied the right to an education.

Headmaster: Children's health and safety come first

The school's headmaster, Samson Štibohar, said children's health and safety came first and that the protest was the result of one parent's refusal to comply with the measures, protocols and decisions under which headmasters had to create work guidelines for the new school year.

"The problem is that the pupil and his parent refuse that he wear a mask in the hall and the toilet and when entering and leaving school, which takes maybe two minutes," he said, adding that he saw nothing positive in the protest.

"I won't say it's genocide against pupils, but it's something horrible. I saw there a lot of negative energy, meanness, a lot of frustrated people. If they want to achieve something, that's certainly not the way," said Štibohar.

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September the 5th, 2021 - Education Minister Radovan Fuchs recently answered the question of whether any students will start the new academic year online or actually at their school desks on Monday, he also touched on the topic of covid certificates for parents attending parents' meetings.

As Novi list writes, milder epidemiological measures apply to both schools and preschools, and Minister Radovan Fuchs has announced that he will fight to keep schools open even if the epidemiological situation worsens.

The new school year 2021/2022 will begin in Croatia with live classes for about 313,000 primary and 143,200 high school students with less epidemiological measures compared to the previous school year, and with free textbooks for all primary school students.

Here's what we know of what to expect from Minister Radovan Fuchs: 

Rules regarding socialisation and physical contact

Among other things, the socialising and physical contact of children from different groups and classes is allowed, especially in kindergartens when conducting short programmes with preschool children, and in schools during elective classes. 

The aforementioned measure also refers to foreign language teaching, additional and supplementary teaching, programmes of extended stay, the teaching of the language and culture of national minorities according to Model C, preparatory and additional teaching of Croatian language for children who don't know any or don't know enough Croatian language and the like.

Students will also be permitted to move from class to class when required to do so the teaching process, such as teaching in classrooms, exercise rooms, computer classrooms, practicums for practical classes, as well as in school halls and in regard to physical education. Training for sports clubs will also be permitted.

There will be no measuring of childrens' temperatures at the entrance to school

School staff and students won't have their temperatures measured at the entrance to school, but they will need to have it measured at home, and if their temperature is elevated, they will need to stay at home until whatever is causing the temperature spike is resolved.

Visitors participating in extracurricular activities, such as performances and the like, will be required to have covid certificates confirming that they are either negative or fully vaccinated. Live parents' meetings and information sessions for parents will also be allowed.

On top of that, student internships with employers will be allowed to take place.

Masks only need to be worn if social distancing can't be properly respected for whatever reason

Masks aren't obligatory for students from the first to the fourth grade of primary school, nor are they mandatory for students of higher grades of primary school (from the 5th to the 8th grade) if a distance of one and a half metres can be ensured in classrooms, and for high school students if there is a distance of two metres maintained.

If these conditions cannot be met for some reason or another, masks will be mandatory for upper elementary school students and for high school students. In addition, the Civil Protection Directorate may, at a local level and based on a favourable epidemiological situation, waive the obligation to wear a mask for a particular school, group of schools or area.

According to the latest available data, almost 58 percent of school staff have been fully vaccinated, while the percentage of staff vaccinated who work in high schools has reached almost 60 percent.

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