Pre-school, primary and secondary education in the language and script of national minorities

Education in the language and script of national minorities is a constituent part of the whole education system, and the basic documents of the education policy also apply to this segment of the education system

Persons belonging to national minorities exercise the right to education in their language and script according to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, Constitutional Act on National Minorities’ Rights, Act on Education in the Language and Script of National Minorities and the National Pedagogical Standard for Pre-school Education, National Pedagogical Standard for Primary Education and National Pedagogical Standard for Secondary Education.

According to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, i.e., the Decision on Ratification of the Act on Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, languages in which classes are taught in the Republic of Croatia for students belonging to national minorities can be divided into two groups: territorial or minority languages (Czech, Hungarian, Ruthenian, Slovak, Serbian, Italian and Ukrainian) and non-territorial languages (Albanian, Hebrew, Macedonian, German, Polish, Romani, Russian and Slovenian).
 

Models and forms of education in the language and script of national minorities

Members of national minorities themselves propose and select the model of education in accordance with existing laws and their possibilities for the realisation of the programme, and have the opportunity to be educated in their mother tongue at all levels of education, from pre-school to higher education level.
All models and forms of education belong to the regular educational system of the Republic of Croatia.

Material conditions and space for the work of school institutions and teaching are provided by the founder.

Education in pre-school institutions

Pre-school education programmes can be in the language and script of a national minority and bilingual, and are implemented in educational groups of a certain national minority and in pre-school institutions established for children belonging to national minorities.
 
Bilingual programmes are programmes for children belonging to national minorities that are equally implemented in the Croatian language and the mother tongue of the national minority.
 
Part of the pre-school education program in the language and script of the national minority must also be conducted in the Croatian language for at least 10 hours per week per educational group. Pre-school institutions for children belonging to national minorities are established under the conditions established by the Act on Pre-school Education and the Act on Education in the Language and Script of National Minorities.

Pre-school institutions for children belonging to national minorities are established under the conditions established by the Act on Pre-school Education (Official Gazette, no. 10/97, 107/07, 94/13) and the Act on Education in the Language and Script of National Minorities.

Education in primary and secondary schools

Students belonging to national minorities exercise their constitutional right to education in three basic models and special forms of education in primary and secondary schools in the Republic of Croatia.

MODEL A - all classes are taught in the language and script of the national minority with compulsory learning of the Croatian language in the same number of hours in which the minority language is taught. This model of teaching is implemented in special school institutions in which all classes are in the language of members of national minorities or in special departments in institutions with classes in the Croatian language.
 
MODEL B - bilingual teaching - the group of natural science subjects is taught in Croatian, and the group of social subjects in the language of members of national minorities. This model is implemented in special departments in school institutions with classes in the Croatian language.
 
MODEL C - teaching minority language and culture - in addition to regular classes in Croatian, minority language and culture classes are taught in the minority language for two to five school hours per week, and include learning the language and literature of the national minority, geography, history, music and visual arts/culture.
 
Teaching according to Model C in primary schools for students belonging to national minorities is organised for class and subject teaching in special educational groups.
 
List of schools teaching in the language and script of national minorities 

Special forms of teaching

For all those students for whom there is no possibility of organising regular classes according to the existing models (A, B or C), special forms of classes are organised: seminars, summer and winter schools and correspondence-consultative classes. The competent ministry co-finances the organisation and implementation of special forms of teaching.

Curriculum

The curriculum for regular classes (in models A, B and C) in the language and script of the national minority, in addition to the general part, also contains contents related to the specifics of the national minority, which relate to the mother tongue, literature, history, geography, music and visual arts/culture, and is issued by the Ministry of Science and Education.