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Education

Religious education

According to legal provisions, religious education is an optional subject in public schools. The curricula are confessional, developed by each religious community, but educational authorities must approve them and can supervise their implementation, in the same way as other subjects in schools. Religious curricula have been approved for Catholic, Orthodox, Islamic and Jewish religious instructions as well as for the Adventists and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In the year 2009/2010, 345,914 pupils (93.6 per cent) attended Catholic religious instruction in primary schools, 2,792 pupils attended Islamic religious instruction and 2,051 pupils attended Orthodox religious instruction. Therefore, only a small minority of children do not attend any religious class. In secondary schools children can choose between religious instruction and ethics. In the same year (2009/2010), 132,673 pupils (75.4 per cent) attended Catholic religious instruction, 437 pupils attended Islamic religious instruction (another 1,407 pupils of different grades attended Islamic religious instruction in mosques) and 849 pupils attended Orthodox religious instruction (for the Orthodox religious instruction the data presented here cover the Eparchies of Osijek and Baranja and Vukovar and Srijem where Serbian ethnic minority is present most).

Source: Zrinščak, S., Marinović Jerolimov, D., Marinović, A., Ančić, B., “Church and State in Croatia. Legal frameworks, religious instruction and social expectations”, in S. P. Ramet (ed.), Religion and Politics in Post-Socialist Central and South Eastern Europe: Challenges since 1989, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, , p. 131-154.

D 26 November 2013    ASiniša Zrinščak

CNRS Unistra Dres Gsrl

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