“Parents who call us are very confused, because they tell us first was the message” you can send children, but better not. Then it was “you decide”. And now it is “you can’t really decide unless you have objective and subjective reasons”, and the subjective reasons are actually unclear” commented the director of the Zagreb Child and Youth Protection Center, professor Gordana Buljan Flander, PhD for RTL Today, on May 22nd, 2020, about returning of younger grade children to school.

 

Journalist Zorana Čičak Kulić in a report entitled “Send a child to school on Monday or not? prime Minister and Minister Divjak say that everything is safe” brings:

“Principals who are preparing for the return of a larger number of students to school desks warn that the instructions should have arrived earlier and been more precise.

There are 330 younger grade students in one Zagreb elementary school, and 200 of them are expected to attend classes on Monday.

“We need to know in which group we will have how many students, if we exceed that number of 20 or what is the capacity of the classroom, to divide them into two groups. Then we have to hire a new teacher and organize everything according to the instructions of the CIPH”, said the director of the Jure Kaštelana Elementary School in Zagreb, Krešimir Supanc.

There are also extended stays and the organization of meals at school, which is why holiday schedules are agreed, as well as lunch time by groups.

“The dining room has 13 tables and with a distance of a meter and a half, only 13 students can sit there, so we will have to organize lunch in the hall” said Supanc.

It is similar in Pula

The situation is similar in one primary school in Pula. Classrooms are being prepared and the distance between the benches is being measured for the 290 students they expect from Monday.

“The biggest problem is that we have a large number of students in the class, there are 28 of them, it is inconvenient because we divide them into two groups and then there will be two teachers, and the children are not used to that,” said the acting principal of Vidikovac Elementary School in Pula Predrag Dukić.

Children have a place in school, the minister said. All absences from Monday must be justified. The reasons can be objective if the child is ill, relocated due to an earthquake or if it is a local hotspot, but also subjective – if the parents are afraid to send their children to school.

“Send the children to school without fear or apprehension. If they do not do it for subjective or objective reasons, they will apologize to their teacher, they will record it and if it is a subjective reason, they will address the problem for which they will try to find a solution”, said the Minister of Education Blaženka Divjak.

The Prime Minister says that the schools are safe

“There is no ambiguity, schools are safe and it is time for students to return” the prime minister said.

“I don’t know what should prevent parents and children from going to school from Monday if we reactivated everything that could be reactivated in the economy and social life” said Andrej Plenković.

Why don’t senior students return to the benches , the Ministry says – schools are not designed so that under these conditions they can accept all students. The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health says – if the Ministry asks, it will make an assessment.

“I can’t answer like this, I have to think a little bit, what from 5th to 8th grade where is the trap, where is the problem and what should be done epidemiologically. It should take me five to six minutes to think about it” said Krunoslav Capak.

Vague information about the return confuses both parents and children, so the director of the Zagreb Child and Youth Protection Center asks the question: “Is all this in the best interest of children?”

Source: RTL Link: https://www.rtl.hr/vijesti-hr/novosti/hrvatska/3821506/poslati-dijete-u-ponedjeljak-u-skolu-ili-ne-premijer-i-ministrica-divjak-porucuju-da-je-sve-sigurno/

 

Disclaimer: This is unofficial translation provided for information purposes. Zagreb Child and Youth Protection Center cannot be held legally responsible for any translation inaccuracy.   

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