The new school year in Zagreb is just around the corner.
Primary school textbooks are ready and are waiting for the pupils to pick them up when the new school year begins on 7 September. The distribution of free textbooks to primary schools in Zagreb has been completed, all the publishers have shipped their textbooks on time and the schools have already begun to prepare for the new school year, reports Vecernji List on August 26, 2015.
“Now that we have received the books, we are preparing packages for each individual student, in which half of the books will be new, and half will be used”, said Vesna Vrbanović, principal of Pavleka Miškine Elementary School, where the Zagreb mayor Milan Bandić and his associates oversaw the distribution of free textbooks.
The decision of the city authorities to buy the textbooks for all pupils has made life much easier for parents. One of them is Ljubica Đaković, the mother of eight-year-old Leoni, seven-year-old Leon and four-year-old Karlo. “My daughter is going to third grade, the elder son is starting school this year, while the youngest one will follow in their footsteps in a few years. Free textbooks really mean a lot to us and I do not know how we would have found the money to buy them. This way, we just have to spend 300 kuna for accessories”, said Ljubica Đaković whose children attend the Odra Primary School.
Not all parents are that lucky. Tomislav and Marina Grgurev, parents of fifth-grader Marta and first-grader Nika, live in Velika Gorica and they will have to buy the books themselves. “We have paid 2300 kuna for two sets of textbooks, and there are also accessories which we have to buy, such as school bags”, said the parents from Velika Gorica.
Besides the 58,584 pupils of primary schools, the 38,000 high school students will also receive free textbooks. In total, 81 million kuna will be spent for the textbooks. In addition to students who go to schools in Zagreb, the textbooks will be given to students who have residence in Zagreb, but attend schools in another towns. Also, 2 million kuna will be spent for textbooks for students in Gunja, Vrbanja and Drenovci, in areas which were affected by floods last year. Zagreb will also donate textbooks to 100 children from vulnerable families in other parts of Croatia.
