In Croatia, primary education is free and compulsory for all children from the age of 6 to 15, and extends up to the age of 21 for pupils with developmental difficulties. It spans a total of 8 years.
Education begins with enrolment in the first year of primary school, which children typically start in the calendar year they turn six or seven—most often after their sixth birthday—depending on an assessment of their readiness for school.
Structure of education
Primary school in Croatia is divided into two levels:
- Class-based teaching (lower grades) – from year 1 to year 4
At this stage, children are mostly taught by one teacher who covers the majority of subjects, with some subjects (e.g. foreign language) taught by other specialised teachers.
The focus is on developing basic knowledge and skills, learning habits, and socialisation.
Subjects taught include: Croatian language, mathematics, science and society, visual arts, music, physical and health education, and a foreign language (a compulsory subject from year one). Furthermore, religious education (most schools have Catholic and Islamic religious teachers) is also offered as an elective subject.
If parents choose for their child not to attend the elective subject, the child is usually supervised at school during that time or the timetable is arranged in a way that allows the child to come to school later or leave earlier.
Some schools offer the option of enrolling in an additional foreign language as an elective subject.
- Subject-based teaching (upper grades) – from year 5 to year 8
Pupils are taught by subject-specific teachers, meaning that each subject is taught by a specialised teacher.
They have more lessons and a greater number of different subjects.
In subject-based teaching (years 5–8), additional subjects are introduced: history, geography, technical education, and computing. In year 7, biology (instead of science), chemistry, and physics are added. Pupils may also choose ethics instead of religious education.
In addition to compulsory subjects, schools offer elective subjects and extracurricular activities such as school sports, drama, music, visual arts, and other clubs. Pupils can also attend remedial and enrichment classes to support learning or deepen their knowledge.
For younger pupils, primary schools provide extended day care where children, under the guidance of their class teacher, complete schoolwork, do homework, study, and have structured time for play and socialisation, as well as meals.
Children can attend extended day care before the start of lessons (if your working hours begin before 8 a.m. and you don’t want your child to stay home alone), and it lasts until 4 p.m.
Extended day care is paid for, but parents contribute only a portion of the full cost, depending on the household income per family member.
0
English
