New €319.5 million for schools, there will also be money for the school where children attend classes in the fire station

– The political message is that out of the 10 billion from the NPOO, we invested 2.5 billion euros in operations, that’s almost a quarter of the NPOO. Education has not been invested in this way since Mažuranić. In this way, we will get the conditions for every child to get a place in kindergarten, for the coverage of students in one-shift classes to be 85 percent, we will strengthen higher education systems, and we will strongly change the picture of the reality of the Croatian education system. More than 1,000 primary schools and school sports halls will be reconstructed and built – announced Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovi. who attended the contract award ceremony.

‘It’s a good project’

Nappiesć touched and the Full Day School project, which is being implemented for the third year in 62 elementary schools as a pilot project. Given that the introduction of one-shift teaching in all schools has been postponed until 2030, there is no official information about what will happen to that project. However, according to Plenko’s words, the project continues.

– There was a lot of skepticism, but as the project continues, the reactions are getting better. If other countries have come to the conclusion that this is good for children, that homework is solved at school, that we have numerous activities for children, that teachers monitor the work of students better, for parents this means less instructions, less stress, then this project should live to the end – he pointed out.

The Minister of Science, Education and Youth, Radovan Fuchs, said that 340 contracts have been awarded to counties and cities so far, and total investments have reached two billion euros, of which 1.45 billion euros are grants. Most of it goes from NPOO, and the state has so far given 10 million euros to finish everything.

“82% of students in one shift”

– The ultimate goal is one-shift teaching and we are starting to get closer to that. Education is a national priority. It took a lot of joint cooperation to get to this point. The plan is to switch schools to work in one shift, from the current 60 percent to the planned 91 percent. at the beginning of the implementation of the program in 2023, about 40 percent of students attended classes in one shift, while today that share has increased to 82 percent. 630,000 new square meters and school halls were built – he pointed out.

Gradonačnik Zadar šima Erlić he points out that with two new contracts, their city now has seven active projects in the field of education, and calls it a historic investment. With the construction of the new school, Zadar will introduce one-shift classes for the first time.

It’s late, costs are rising…

– This means the largest investment in Zadar in the history of modern education. Now we have also received a contract for a two-part sports hall. This is important to us because of sports in schools, but also because of the numerous clubs and associations that use the halls in the afternoons when schools are closed. It is not easy for the city to build a school, while working on seven projects at the same time, it is a historic and largest investment at one time – emphasized Erlić.

What troubles his administration, as well as all other administrations, are problems in the execution itself. As the mayor of Zadar says, it will be a challenge to realize all these projects with the given prices because the costs in construction are increasing day by day.

– You are late, that was to be expected, shocks and crises do not help. Numerous companies face problems in the supply of materials, which are expensive and labor intensive – he concludes.

Construction starts after the summer

The largest amount in this phase the City of Zagreb received 95,986,502.05 euros. One of the contracts relates to the construction of a new eight-year school in Donji Dragonošac, where children will For six years, the first four grades attend the fire station. Although the construction of the school was supposed to start earlier a few years ago, due to the decision of the local community to build a school for eight classes, and not for four, the plans had to be changed. This prolonged the project, but Zagreb mayor Luka Juroš told 24 Hours that the construction will start at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2027.

– At the moment, the construction permit has been issued, implementation projects for public procurement are being made. We expect that this will be resolved in a shorter period of time and, in accordance with expectations, construction will begin at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, depending on public procurement. Now the documentation for public procurement is being prepared, and as soon as it arrives, construction is underway. The most important thing is that the funds are secured, we know that we will have a wonderful new school there – he pointed out.

Melita Tatar, headmistress of Brezovica Elementary School, under whose jurisdiction is Donji Dragonoec, said that the situation has improved in cooperation with the city office, and communication with parents is at a satisfactory level.