December 30, 2020 – Due to yesterday's devastating 6,3 magnitude eathquake, schools in Sisak, Petrinja and Glina are damaged, and five of them are entirely unusable.

As Hina reports, Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs said today that, in addition to the five unusable schools, nine of them would be able to be repaired, and thirteen will be able to function. Also, Minister Fuchs announced that he and his associates would visit the area today.

More than 5,000 students left without school buildings

"Five schools are completely unusable, nine will be able to be repaired, but serious reconstructions are needed. We have thirteen schools that will be able to function," Minister Fuchs told reporters ahead of a government session at the National and University Library.

Minister added that 3489 students were left without a school building in Sisak, and 1843 students in Petrinja. They will plan on how to organize the classes.

As TCN has learned, the First Primary School in Petrinja, located in the very center of the city, which was hit hard, was utterly demolished. Classes can no longer take place there because the roof of the building has fallen to the first floor of the school.

Petrinja High School's principal says he and three employees were at the school at the time of the earthquake. When the quake struck, the building began to collapse. They moved to a safe place and then went down to the schoolyard. The ground beneath them was still swaying. The walls were damaged and cracked. According to the principal's estimate, the entire school will need significant reparation.

'The return will not be easy'

The earthquake also caused great damage to the High School in Glina.

"At the time of the earthquake, several employees found themselves at the school and, thank God, came out unscathed at the last minute. I am afraid that the return will be neither easy nor so soon. The photos say it all. After visiting most of the classrooms and offices, we will need help," said Glina High School's principal on the school's Facebook page.

She was hit by an earthquake in the center of Glina, 15 minutes after she left her office at the school. Unfortunately, the retired school janitor and his son are among the dead.

The principal of Viktorovac High School in Sisak says the earthquake was really terrible.

Zagreb schools to accept students

As Jutarnji list reports, the head of the Zagreb City Office for Education, Ivica Lovrić, said that yesterday's earthquake did not cause significant damage to school buildings in Zagreb.

"All Zagreb schools will be able to accept students on January 18. The good thing is that after the earthquake in March, we rebuilt most of the damaged school buildings, so we have no major damage after yesterday's earthquake. We hope that the epidemiological situation will be such that in the new semester, we will start with model A, that is, school teaching," said Lovrić.

This morning, the structural engineer visited two regional schools in Brezovica, but apart from minor cracks in the walls, there is no damage.

Sister of Mercy Danijela Dinjar, principal of the Women's General Gymnasium, whose buildings are in Varšavska and Gundulićeva streets in Zagreb, confirms that yesterday's earthquake intensified previous damage that has not yet been fully repaired.

"The once walled door and part of the ceiling above the end wall of the building collapsed. Three classrooms are not for use, so in the second half of the year, we will teach in a building in Varšavska Street, and we will renovate the rest when we have the funds," says the principal, whose school is attended by 214 students this school year.

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December 15, 2020 – Thanks to the project "A walk around the Earth" designed by professor Juraj Horžić, Zagreb Primary school "Petar Preradović" won the European Commission's #BeActive award for being the most active school in Europe.

As the Ministry of Tourism and Sports reports, today, Minister Nikolina Brnjac received representatives of the Zagreb Primary School "Petar Preradović", professor of physical education Juraj Horžić, and the school principal Denis Žvorac. Their school is the first Croatian winner of the #BeActive award given by the European Commission.

The title of the most active educational institution in Europe went to this Zagreb school thanks to the project "A walk around the Earth", designed by professor Horžić. In the spring, during limited activities due to the coronavirus pandemic, this project encouraged the physical activity of students, their parents, friends, relatives, and other acquaintances.

"I saw the news on the TV that a marathoner ran a marathon on his balcony. I immediately took the globe. I saw how far it is to make a circle around the Earth, for example, and I started to recalculate how many students would need to be included for us as a school to make a circle around the Earth," professor Juraj Horžić told RTL.

The project consisted of two challenges – a walk around the Earth along the meridians and parallels. In a total of 31 days in 1996, participants from 8 Zagreb primary schools covered more than 148,000 kilometers, made more than 222 million steps, and consumed more than 7.5 million calories.

"At a time when we need to adapt to new circumstances, professor Horžić accepted the challenge and, in a unique way, encouraged the physical activity of 2,000 people. He showed by example, how little is needed for motivation and how everyone in their own way, in their time and space, can engage in the activity they choose and do so much for their health. Congratulations to professor Horžić and the school on winning the award. I look forward to your future projects. Encouraging children to engage in physical activity is an important task, and the "Walk around the Earth "project has shown that we combine the most important thing with a creative approach – the acquisition of knowledge and physical activity," said Minister Brnjac.

Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac with the Petar Preradović Primary School from Zagreb representatives, professor Juraj Horžić and the school principal Denis Žvorac / Photo: Ministry of Tourism and Sports

The educational component added value to this project, as the students learned about all the countries, cities, and other areas they passed on their way through the walk. Professor Horžić gathered kilometers of all participants and prepared interesting facts from the history, geography, celebrities, nature, sports, and culture of different countries on four continents.

As a reward for all the effort, the recognition of the European Commission arrived.

"The prize is 10,000 euros, which will certainly improve our school budget. We will invest in the school what we need for physical education, some props, and everything we need to make our physical and health culture richer in the future," said Denis Žvorc, the school principal.

And they seem to be just at the beginning of their journey. They are also planning a trip to the Moon and will virtually walk even to Jupiter.

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October 27, 2020 – The City of Varazdin is planting Croatia's first community orchard – the space will bring together residents of all ages, provide free fruits and play a role in educating about organic produce and cultivation

The first community orchard in this part of Europe is being built in Varazdin. The community orchard will be situated to the west of the city centre, in the Haller alley, just behind the city cemetery. In the first phase, some 250 trees will be planted and be accessible to the public.

Beautifully landscaped in the early 1900s by Herman Haller, the City of Varazdin cemetery is one of its best gardens. It contains works by internationally recognised Croatian sculptors Antun Augustinčić and Roberto Frangeš-Mihanović. Frangeš-Mihanović is responsible for the very famous statue of King Tomislav which faces the main train station in Zagreb. The Varazdin community orchard will be located in Haller's alley, just behind the cemetery © Parkovi d.d. Varaždin

A community orchard, sometimes known as a public orchard, is an increasingly popular use of public land in some areas of western Europe and North America. They are an asset shared by a community and not managed for personal or business profit.

A community orchard has many benefits - it increases community access to healthy, organic fruit, it teaches young people about food, organic produce, agriculture and cultivation and it allows ordinary people to develop cultivation skills. This is particularly useful to those who themselves own no land for growing. They also increase co-operation and inter-generational socialising within a community and can be made into focal points for community activities.

St Ann's Community orchard in Nottinghamshire, England  © Clem Rutter, Rochester, Kent. (www.clemrutter.net)

However, community orchards are not always met with universal approval. Interest in community gardening and cultivation schemes can wane over time, especially if they are started without authorisation. The burden of taking care of such projects then falls on city authorities.

Thankfully, any objections to this brilliant idea in Varazdin have been removed – the Varazdin community orchard will be taken care of by the city's own parks authority. They will decide on which particular fruits and trees are to be planted. Anyone from the community can come and help themselves.

City of Varazdin cemetery, behind which the community orchard will be placed © Turistička zajednica grada Varaždina

Low-lying fruit trees and berries are often chosen for community orchards. Their height level means they are not out of reach for youngsters who are being educated in such areas, and harvest is made safer, easier and more accessible to all age ranges.

The community orchard in Varazdin will be arranged in expanding circles. The first planted trees are expected to bear their first fruits within just a few years. Some residents of Croatia might be of the opinion that their communities already have a community orchard. However, taking fruit from a neighbours trees, even if granted permission to do so, is something different to a community orchard, in which access to pick fruit is opened to the general public at any time, not just community members and with no prior agreement necessary. Stealing fruit from your neighbour's trees and bushes is certainly not comparable to a community orchard.

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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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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 30th of April, 2020, the Croatian Institute of Public Health has prepared ten pages of draft guidelines on its official website for the prevention and suppression of the coronavirus epidemic for early years education and pre-school institutions, as well as primary schools providing care for the children in attendance.

Children with chronic diseases or those who are in contact with chronic patients:

The Croatian Institute of Public Health recommends that children and staff with chronic illnesses (respiratory, cardiovascular, diabetes, malignancies, immunodeficiency, children with major physical/motor impairments) remain at home, as well as children whose parents/guardians or household members have one of the aforementioned issues.

If a staff member has one of the aforementioned illnesses or are over 65 years of age, they shall, during their stay at home, observe the measures of physical distance in their households.

Stay home when possible:

It has been stated that the Croatian Institute of Public Health recommends children who can be cared for at home remain at home, since the number of children in kindergartens and schools may be such that the physical distance measures required fail to be properly adhered to and respected. As distance learning will continue to be maintained, the Croatian Institue of Public Health has stated that it encourages the continued education of children from home in all situations where it remains possible.

Physical distance of two metres:

It is necessary to organise the work of the institutions at hand in such a way that social distancing measures continue to be respected (physical distance) as well as the measures regarding enhanced personal hygiene. The physical distance of at least two metres indoors needs to be maintained by employees, and it is recommended that physical distance be maintained whenever possible between employees and children unless a child requires special care.

When using a common area, staff need to maintain a physical distance of two metres between each other, and staff meetings and the like should take place via e-communication or by telephone, and the entry of parents should be avoided whenever possible.

Only children and a teacher from the same educational group may stay in the same room together at the same time. Physical distance as well as the enhanced personal hygiene of children should be encouraged, but it should be expected that during the implementation, certain deviations will inevitably occur due to the developmental characteristics of certain age groups, characterised by:

- The exploration of spaces and objects that surround the child (at certain ages, kids will continually put their hands and foreign objects inside their mouths),

- Curiosity towards other persons / other children,

- The misunderstanding of instructions,

- The disregard for the instructions,

- Restlessness and the need to move around freely,

The organisation of work with children:

It is necessary to organise the stay of children in Croatian kindergartens and schools as follows:

- Groups of children in fewer numbers, the same children (preferably up to 9 children in a group and one teacher / teacher giving a total of 10 people as a total) - after forming a group of children, 14 days from the beginning of application of these instructions including non-working days, no new children are admitted to the group),

- One group of children should be taken care of by one teacher, or two in the case of an extended stay at school or during the afternoon shift in kindergarten, without any "overlap",

- Physical contact (close contact) between children from one educational group with other children, parents/guardians of other children and staff members must be avoided,

- Each group of children needs to remain in one suitable room,

- The teacher should spend as much time outdoors as possible with the children,

- Children's dining tables and school desks need to be spaced apart so that the children sit at a distance of two metres and each child should always be sitting in the same place,

The proper organisation of space - The recommended features of a room in which a group of children are staying (a classroom or other appropriate space, such as a gym):

- The room should be as large as possible and be airy and sunny (with an adequate natural daylight source),

- The room needs to be separated from any other room occupied by other groups of children by a door,

- The room needs to be well ventilated with fresh (not recycled) air from outdoors

- In the immediate vicinity of the room, there needs to be a toilet which is used exclusively by that group of children,

- It is necessary to arrange for the children to eat in that same room (meals can be delivered to the room and then consumed in that room), in such a way that the person bringing the food leaves food on a tray in front of the entrance to the classroom and the teacher brings the food into the room in for the children, the food must be pre-divided into portions,

- The room must have direct access to a larger terrace, balcony or, if possible, an outdoor yard,

- Any other person's entry (such as cleaning staff, janitors or those bringing food) into the room must be avoided as long as the children are in the room,

- Passage through common areas should be avoided and minimised, and if necessary, passage through common areas shall be organised in such a way that children and the teacher from the same group pass at the same time, while other persons don't pass at the same time, all while encouraging children not to touch any surfaces or objects in such passageways,

These instructions, among other things, relate to entering, exiting and carrying out classes in school facilities, as well as handing over children and dealing with school equipment, all of which can be found on the Croatian Institute of Public Health's official website.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for more on coronavirus in Croatia and the Croatian Institute of Public Health.