DistantNews
Support us
🇭🇷 Croatia /Culture & Society

Zagreb schoolchildren face a third year split across five locations as parents plan protest

From Večernji List · () Croatian

Translated from Croatian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Students at Ivana Goran Kovačić Primary School in Zagreb will spend a third school year in five different locations instead of returning to their renovated building.
  • Renovation at the shared Mesićeva 35 site began in November 2024, but the completion target has moved to 2027 after delays and reported water infiltration in the school gym.
  • Parents, who say the school is about 80% complete, plan to protest outside the school on Sept. 12 and are demanding that the city consider alternatives.

The notebooks, schoolbags, art folders and new clothes are ready for the new school year. The school building is not. Students at Ivana Goran Kovačić Primary School in Zagreb will once again be scattered across five locations, despite earlier assurances that they would return to a renovated building.

The school shares the building at Mesićeva 35 with the XVIII Gymnasium. Renovation work began in November 2024, after post-earthquake damage left the site in need of a full overhaul. Parents repeatedly warned that the work was falling behind schedule and took to the streets twice. After their most recent protest in April, the City of Zagreb promised that the building would be ready at the beginning of September.

That deadline has now slipped to 2027. City officials previously said the project had started normally but later uncovered problems that required changes to the documentation and plans. Parents say that water was found entering the school gym at the start of summer, and they believe this contributed to another year of displacement. The city had not responded by the publication deadline.

Work simply will not be finished on time. There are ways to complete it faster, but there is no political will. That is why we have no choice but to protest; we have no other mechanism.

· Igor ČimburThe president of the school’s parents’ council explained why parents are planning another protest.

“Work simply will not be finished on time. There are ways to complete it faster, but there is no political will,” said Igor Čimbur, president of the school’s parents’ council. He said the building was about 80% complete and that only finishing work remained before students could move back.

Parents say the current arrangement creates serious logistical problems, including daily organized bus transport to other school buildings. They have been told that even a return on Sept. 1, 2027, may be uncertain. They are therefore calling another protest outside the school on Sept. 12 at noon and demanding that the city activate one of three alternatives they have proposed.

The work started normally, but problems were later discovered that had to be repaired.

· City of Zagreb representativesThe city’s earlier explanation for changes to the renovation plans and deadlines.
About this summary

Originally published by Večernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog