Now here is a new school curriculum Minister Sustar couldn’t stop. Congrats to the PA teacher Ognjen Markovic and Sailing association of Primorje Gorski Kotar county on a fantastic idea.
School holidays have started in Croatia, and while most pupils are staying far away from any school work, 22 elementary school pupils from Cres are diligently showing up for class every day. The reason for it is not summer school, instead, according to Novi List and their report on June 28, 2016, they are taking part in the first ever sailing class in Croatia to be included in the school curriculum as an elective course.
–In cooperation with the Cres sailing club Reful and the Sailing association of Primorje Gorski Kotar County, Frane Petric elementary school included sailing in its annual curriculum. It is an elective course conducted by the school’s PA teacher Ognjen Markovic. The theoretical part of this course was completed during the school year and we are going through the practical part now when the conditions are perfect, said Josip Pope, the principal of Frane Petric elementary school adding that he is extremely pleased that so many second, third and fourth year students decided to join the programme.
Cres has a long-standing sailing tradition, so this project is a continuation of what generations have been doing for centuries. One of Croatia’s best sailing athletes, Igor Marenic is also from Cres.
-Cres is an ideal location for sailing and that is why we chose it for this pilot project in order to let our kids get used to the sea. Our county has more land than sea, 800 square kilometres more to be exact, and many of us only get to interact with the sea from June until August. If we teach the kids now, in 20 years we will have a generation that will fully understand the sea, said Neven Baran, president of the Sailing association of Primorje Gorski Kotar county.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this great project and we hope other schools along the coast and on Croatian islands will soon follow their example.
