Play on

02 July 2003

In Croatia, formal education isn't a legal requirement until a child is seven. Anne O'Connor visits one Croatian nursery to see how learning through play is integral to good practice While on holiday in Croatia recently, I was lucky enough to be invited to visit a kindergarten in Zagreb. I can never resist the opportunity to see inside another nursery and, having visited kindergartens in Holland and Belgium, I am particularly interested in the European approach to early years.

While on holiday in Croatia recently, I was lucky enough to be invited to visit a kindergarten in Zagreb. I can never resist the opportunity to see inside another nursery and, having visited kindergartens in Holland and Belgium, I am particularly interested in the European approach to early years.

Childcare and education

Pre-school education is an integral part of the educational system in Croatia, and includes children up to the end of their sixth year, when they enrol in primary school. The kindergarten also usually includes provision for nought to three-year-olds. There is no legal requirement for parents to send their children to school before the age of seven, although they are encouraged to make use of the kindergarten before the child becomes school age.

Compulsory schooling begins at age seven in the first grade of the primary school, and continues until the eighth grade at age 14. A class teacher teaches the first four years of primary school and the second stage is taught by subject teachers.

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