Special Education in Croatia

Monday, May 18

Today the Public Health students went to the Centar za odgoj i obrazovanje Dubrava, a special education center in Zagreb. The center opened in 1966 and serves all of Croatia.
It is the only facility of its kind in the country, serving 158 teenage students with mild physical and mental disabilities. Students who live in Zagreb come daily to the school, while 80 of the students from other parts of Croatia live at the school.

One of the professors at the school gave us a presentation on the history of the school and all of the activities they do, and then took us around the school. The staff includes professors, specialists, special needs caregivers, physical therapists, nurses, and a doctor that visits the school once a week. The number of students is constantly increasing, and the school does its best with the limited resources available. The school received federal funding, so the students (even the residential ones) do not have to pay tuition. Volunteers from the community and students from the Special Education Department at a local university help out at the school on occasion. When the school has extra money in the budget, they add programs like animal therapy.

The facility is bright and colorful, with plants and artwork all over. Some of the programs include clock and watch making, mechanics, graphic design, knitting, shoe making, economics, and pre-law. The school has a nurses station, cafeteria, TV areas, gymnasium, physical therapy room, a swimming pool, dorms, and classrooms for each specialty. Two students from this school now work with the local Parliament, and three of the students are now at the Philosophical Department at a local university.

Despite the limited resources, the school has so many fun programs the students can get involved in. The students can also participate in music groups, choir, sports, team building activities, theatre, dancing, hiking, daily life activities training, and trips around Croatia and Europe. The students have participated in several international competitions, like the Special Olympics in Peking. The school also has a homecoming/prom event, and a school king and queen are chosen. The school always has a recognition ceremony at the end of the year and feels that it is very important to encourage and recognize achievement.

Being a school for students with physical disabilities, the entire facility is handicapped accessible. There is a ramp to the entrance of the building, and a ramp to the second level of the school. All of the doors are wide enough for a wheelchair to fit through, and have metal reinforcements on the lower part of the door. All of the doorjambs have a slight ramp so that wheelchairs can enter each room. The doors have horizontal handles instead of knobs to make it easier to enter a room while seated in a wheelchair.

Though the country is moving towards integrating special education programs into regular school classes, this facility serves a very important purpose. Without this school, many Croatians with mental and physical disabilities would not receive such a high quality education. This school is specially designed for them, with an individual focus for each person’s needs. Every student receives the tailored services they need, and without this school the entire country would suffer. Students from this school learn valuable skills that can help them throughout the rest of their life.

We had a really great time at the school and are very thankful to our tour guide and to Dr. Spolijar-Vrzina for accompanying us to the school.

Interesting fact: The school was used to house people that had to leave their homes during the Croatian war.

- Elizabeth