A post by Sabine Lončar, former president of the Sjena association, on social media has sparked a debate about school rules and the treatment of students who are late for lessons.
According to her account, a child failed to arrive at the start of the lesson due to a delay in the city's public transport. The child attempted to enter the classroom 15 minutes after the bell, but the teacher did not allow them in. The remainder of the lesson, the remaining 30 minutes, was spent by the child in the school corridor.
Lončar also highlighted that no one asked the student why they were late. The transport operator subsequently justified the delay, which further raised questions about how schools handle similar situations.
The discussion developed in the context of broader data on absences in Croatian schools. During the 2025/2026 school year, students in Croatia missed almost 38.6 million hours of lessons.
The case raised by the former president of the Sjena association has opened questions about the balance between discipline and understanding for objective circumstances such as public transport delays. The debate also questions whether schools should allow students to enter the classroom in such situations or direct them to provide additional proof of justification.
