Divjak: About 1300 teachers and 6000 students will participate in the experimental phase

The Ministry of Science and Education has announced a Public Call for schools to submit applications for the implementation of the experimental program ‘School for Life’, and presented it on Friday at a press conference.

This is the final chapter in the preparation of the curricular reform that will enter schools in the fall, said Minister of Science and Education Blaženka Divjak, announcing that the commission will select up to 80 schools, including up to 50 primary and 30 secondary schools, which will participate in the experimental implementation of the program in the next school year.

>>>Divjak: 200 million kuna for the implementation of the experimental program of curricular reform

School for Life instead of rote memorization

Classes will be conducted in the first and fifth grades of primary schools in all subjects, and in the seventh grades in physics, chemistry, and biology classes. It will also be implemented in the first grades of gymnasiums in all subjects, and in vocational four-year schools in general education subjects.

– We expect that around 1300 teachers and about 6000 students will participate in the experimental phase in the fall, said the minister.

The intention is to cover 3-5 percent of primary and secondary schools with even geographical representation, i.e., to include at least one school in each county that has a certain level of IT maturity.

– Curricular reform means lighter backpacks, solving problems in the world of technology, and a school for life instead of rote memorization, emphasized Divjak.

>>>Vrdoljak and Divjak presented an online platform for monitoring the educational reform process

The goal of the experimental program is to verify the applicability of new curricula and forms of working methods as well as new teaching materials concerning the increase of students’ competencies in problem-solving and the increase of students’ satisfaction in school for the motivation of their teachers and instructors, as stated in the project.

For this project, 150 million kuna has been secured from three sources – the state budget, funds from European social funds, and direct assistance from the European Commission. The deadline for submitting applications is March 15.