Istria County in western Croatia became on Monday the first county in the country to introduce Civic Education as an extracurricular subject at all 25 elementary schools in its area, state agency Hina said on Monday, carrying a press release.

This subject was first introduced as a pilot program at 10 primary schools in 2018.

“We want our children to become responsible and active members of modern society, and to be able to work for the well-being of their communities, and to make well-informed and well-thought-out decisions,” Hina cited county prefect, Boris Miletic, as saying in the press release sent by his office.

The county will spend 500,000 kuna (€66,700) on funding Civic Education lessons at primary schools. Before the start of this school year, 50 teachers – two from each elementary school – underwent a ten-day training program to teach this subject.

According to the press release, parents will be informed about this project at the beginning of the current school year, and in early October children who show interest in this activity will be able to start attending Civic Education classes.