November 17, 2023 – Whichever the direction of your thoughts, Vukovar will always find itself there in November. As all of Croatia is flocking in for the traditional memorial parade and emotions are quite heavy, it might not be a bad idea to check out some good news from Vukovar.
Two years in a row now, Vukovar was chosen as the best city in Croatia in the category “Education, demography, youth and social policy” in the competition between large cities and county seat cities. As Glas Slavonije writes, this is an indicator not only of investment in children, young people and their education, but also of quality work in preschool and school institutions and at the “Lavoslav Ružička” Polytechnic. It is also indicative of the number of members of the younger population.
As Glas Slavonije writes, the number of children enrolled in Vukovar kindergartens has also increased this academic year. There are a total of 910 – 648 in Kindergarten “Vukovar 1” and 226 in Kindergarten “Vukovar 2”, where the work with children takes place in the language of the Serbian national minority. Compared to the year before, this is a total increase of 68 children, which continues the positive trend, as the number of preschool users has been increasing for several years. More enrolled children led to the opening of three new groups, two of which in “Vukovar 1” and one in the “Vukovar 2” kindergarten.
Because of this, the city faced the problem of a lack of capacity, which is a sweet concern for the authorities, especially since in recent years the city has received numerous awards – for the best kindergarten, the most beautiful kindergarten, and the best city in Croatia for young people. Darko Dimić, head of the Administrative Department for Education, Sports, and Veterans, stated that this is a positive trend, expressing his belief that the greater number of children in kindergartens will soon spill over into the school system. He confirmed that they participated in tenders for the allocation of funds and passed two tenders, so they will begin the extension of the kindergarten facility in Mitnica, and the plan is to build a new facility in the Olajnica settlement.
“Our reaction to more enrolled children is the construction of a new kindergarten, which after construction and equipment, according to the design, should be able to accommodate between 250 and 280 children,” he explained, adding that in the meantime they found alternative solutions for opening new groups.
When it comes to elementary school students, this school year there are 1,770 students in Vukovar elementary schools, among which 190 are first graders. Since the City took over the founding rights over elementary schools, investments have been significantly increased so that students and employees in education have the best possible working conditions, and it is not negligible that new road infrastructure was built near some school facilities with the aim of increasing safety.
The standards are being raised from month to month, both with their own budget funds and with money secured from various funds. In this way, the capacity of schools has been expanded, a large project for the construction of solar power plants is underway at all primary schools, and investments are being made in extended stays, school kitchens, and sports facilities. To the satisfaction of all the residents of Vukovar, after several years of waiting, the renovation of the last unrenovated elementary school in the city – Nikola Andrić Elementary School – has come to an end.
If you add to that the provision of free school materials, scholarships, and awards for excellent students, it is clear why Vukovar receives awards for investments in youth and education.
