Croatian Makers Robotics League Expands to 500 Schools

The Institute for the Development and Innovation of Youth (IRIM) is expanding the Croatian Makers robotics league to 500 schools and other educational institutions due to high interest from schools, it was announced on Saturday by IRIM.

The Croatian Makers league started 20 months ago as a pilot project involving 30 schools, but interest quickly grew to 220 schools, then to 360 schools at the beginning of 2017, and the latest expansion now includes 500 primary schools, associations, children’s homes, etc.

IRIM donates robots, teacher training, and a competition system. Teachers use the activities within existing curricula or in elective subjects, and participation is institutionalized as contracts are made with schools, it is stated.

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The league is held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Croatia. A special emphasis of the League is on equality of opportunity: participation is completely free for all, and the equipment is the same for everyone, and the League, as stated, is developing equally in both wealthier and neglected parts of Croatia.

The statement from IRIM President Nenad Bakić notes that the Croatian Makers league is the first major project of IRIM that has continued the STEM revolution and the ProMikro project, which is implemented for the Ministry of Science and Education. “These projects represent a complete democratization of the development of digital competencies, and from them have emerged other advanced projects such as advanced robotics competitions WER, Internet of Things, and more,” said Bakić, emphasizing that this initiative shows that there is real and significant interest in STEM education in schools, and that “great progress can be achieved even without implementing curriculum reform, and it can facilitate it.”