Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic announced on Tuesday that next Monday, applications would be invited for the appointment of members of school boards, with around 400 members to be selected, plus 200 who are representatives of local government units.

Speaking at a news conference, Tomasevic said that under the new model, of the three school board members who are appointed as representatives of schools’ founder, namely the City of Zagreb, one would be chosen from among representatives of local government bodies and two would be selected in an open competition.

Around 400 school board members will be selected in an open competition, around 200 will be nominated by heads of city district councils.

The boards of primary and secondary schools whose founders are local government units each have seven members, of whom three have so far been appointed exclusively by a decision by the mayor.

The Vecernji List daily recently reported that the appointment of some of the school board members in an open competition would be introduced by Zagreb and Split, whose mayors, Tomasevic and Ivica Puljak respectively, have said the new model is aimed at depoliticising educational institutions.

Tomasevic today also noted that fees for members of school boards as well as for members of the management boards of city-owned kindergartens and cultural institutions would be cut.

Amendment of criteria on lease of city premises

Speaking of waste management in Zagreb, Tomasevic said at today’s news conference that the situation in Zagreb was critical regarding the disposal of bio-waste and bulky waste.

A new public procurement procedure has been launched for the disposal of bio-waste while the public procurement procedure for the disposal of bulky waste is under way, he said.

The mayor of Zagreb also announced changes to criteria for the lease of city-owned premises, noting that by raising prices of lease, which are currently very low, the city’s revenue could be increased.

“I do not see any logic in leasing commercial businesses that earn millions in revenue spaces of several hundred square metres at a price of several thousand kuna,” he said.