The Croatian association of primary school principals is optimistic about the experimental full-day schooling that will be implemented in 50 schools as of this autumn, while the Croatian Teachers' Union expressed doubts about the whole concept.

The head of the Croatian Association of Primary Schools Principals (HUROS), Antonija Mirosavljevic, said she thinks it is good that the experimental program will be carried out for four years in schools that pass the public invitation of the Ministry of Science and Education, and not just for one year, so there will be time to change everything proven to be unfeasible in practice.

“It’s good to increase the number of math classes, we all know that our children are struggling in the STEM field,” Mirosavljevic told Hina.

‘No need’ for more than one computer science class per week

According to the program of the full-day schooling, computer science, which was an optional subject from grades 1-4, became a compulsory subject in the fifth and sixth grade, while it was optional again in the seventh and eighth grade – now it becomes a compulsory subject from the first to the eighth grade under the name “Information and digital competences.”

“Computer science must be a regular subject and it’s fine for it to be one hour (per week)… there is no need for more”, said Mirosavljevic, who believes that the previous solution with regular and elective computer science classes was not a good one.

“The timetable is reduced in physical form, but in terms of the curriculum and the content that the children will learn, it remains the same,” she added, noting that the curriculum from the first to the fourth grade was the same as the one in the fifth grade, so students taking optional computer science classes in the first four grades, would repeat everything again in the fifth grade.

Teachers are skeptical

Ana Tuskan of the Croatian Teachers’ Union told Hina that the union is skeptical about the feasibility of the full-day schooling program.

“We will do a survey and analysis and gather as many opinions as possible from the field so that we can make our constructive proposals. We are a little skeptical. We currently have too little information to be able to see how well it was resolved,” she said.

She criticized the fact that trade unions and the profession were not involved in the creation of the program.

“The opinion of the profession was not sought enough, and cooperation would solve problems and doubts,” she said.