Parents naturally want their best for their children and want to see them succeed and have the best life possible. The smarter the child, the better things will be for them, many would conclude. If a child is like that middle child from the show ”Malcolm in the Middle”, bright enough to be the master of everything you throw at him, be it maths, language, physics, or history, he should be able to sail through life worry-free, right? Well, maybe.
In reality, such gifted individuals, if actually real, are truly rare. However, you wouldn’t think that if you were to see the grades of some Croatian pupils, with a large number of them getting straight A’s. Unfortunately, this is a distorted picture of reality.
”I teach the youngest kids, and the criteria is owed to the parental pressure. I’m there just to hand out A’s. Nothing else is good enough. I was even reported to the inspection because I gave one pupil a B (she was a C, but I knew there would be a problem so I gave her a B, and then chaos began). I justified giving her that grade for weeks with the threat of inspections hanging over my head. The grades are perfect, the knowledge not so much, the kid and their parents are happy, and the teachers crapped all over,” reads a thread from one of the increasingly pressured Croatian teachers on the recently launched Facebook group ”Why Does it Itch When it’s Not 5.0?” (Zašto žulja kad nije 5.0?).
FB thread translated above, screenshot / Zašto žulja kad nije 5.0?
The flood of straight-A students (or, in Croatian terms, those kids with an average of 5.0, meaning they passed all subjects with a 5, Croatian for A), has been sporadically addressed in the Croatian media over the past few months as elementary school pupils were heading off to their high schools. So many straight A pupils have their results rated as unrealistic and the parental pressure placed on Croatian teachers and professors is seen as what’s to blame.
A grades given as a gift and not as a true measure of a child’s knowledge was something that was even addressed in the curriculum reform and is waiting to be fully implemented. With high school admissions coming to a close, the situation has since gone rather quiet.
But, then, famous Croatian investigative journalist Ivana Paradžiković published a Facebook thread expressing dissatisfaction that her ”4.8 son” didn’t managed to get accepted into high school in any of the six gymnasiums he applied for, as they were accepting only those kids with a grade of 5.0 in the new school year. She stated that her son was good enough for the European Film Academy but apparently not for the Croatian education system.
”He had the misfortune of going to a school where an A grade wasn’t given away, and it was important to the professors that instead, they actually teach kids something. Over there, 4.4 is a B and not an A, and to me, that was always normal and acceptable (…) several classes with 30 pupils each with a straight A grade and nobody finds that unusual nor alarming… The education system is the foundation of the society,” wrote the rightfully unhappy Paradžiković, as reported by Jutarnji List.
Paradžiković’s thread, as well as the previous media coverage of the straight A epidemic across many Croatian schools, triggered freelance journalist Matina Tenžera to start a Facebook group which discusses the matter. The group consists of 249 members at the time of writing this article.
”I want to survey public opinion about this issue. Some say it’s the fault of the system, but that’s a bit too abstract. I want to find out how much parents really do push their children, is it truly such a big issue or maybe it’s blown out of proportion?” Tenžera said to TCN.
The group invites Croatian teachers to share their inside stories on parental pressure and generally what stands behind this unrealistic picture of the success of Croatian pupils on paper. The response so far is small, but Tenžera hopes that interest will grow. As TCN previously reported, Facebook groups that share anonymous confessions played a crucial role in revealing sexual harassment in the Croatian higher education system, mainly at the acting academy in Zagreb and other parts of the wider region.
Still, the small amount of threads gathered by Tenžera’s group already reveals some true horror stories about how teachers in Croatia are perceived more as slaves than as valued individuals tasked with properly preparing the next generation for adulthood out there in the big wide world.
”My mother works as a teacher, and the situation in which someone came to school to attack and threaten to sue her because she gave a low grade to the child of someone famous has happened more than once. She literally had to remove the grade under the threat of getting fired,” reads one anonymous confession.
FB thread translated above, screenshot / Zašto žulja kad nije 5.0?
Tenžera wants to learn just why Croatian schools and their headmasters don’t take a stand and explain to parents that a good grade needs to be worked for and earned.
”I’m just a layman, but I hope that experts and experienced teachers will join the group and provide some of their solutions,” says Tenžera.
Zagreb’s Vladimir Prelog Science School and Mathematical Gymnasium (MIOC) has already taken to the practice of having entrance exams to settle the difference between talented pupils on paper and actual talented pupils.
Introducing and valuing entrance exams more than elementary school grades is one solution Tenžera believes could work, but as she points out, she isn’t an expert. So, she hopes the Facebook group will encourage discussion for those who are educated, trained, and qualified to discuss education issues.
The following days will reveal whether or not this Facebook group grow into a bigger voice protesting against unfair and unethical practices in the Croatian education system and the abuse of Croatian teachers.
Meanwhile, in the first week of the new school year in Croatia, pupils are back in their classrooms learning about the world around them. However, the lesson of honesty and getting only what you work hard for is a lesson only their families can teach. Not threatening teachers for giving grades that are a realistic, professional evaluation of knowledge is lesson number one.
Read about Croatian politics and history since 1990 on our TC guide.
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