Osnovna škola Josipa Antuna Ćolnića Đakovo

Petra E.: Mr Headmaster, can you tell us something about the history of our school? How did it all start?

Mr Headmaster: It all started on 7 September 1981 when our school was founded. First, it was called Maršal Tito Primary School after the late Yugoslav president J. B. Tito. In 1992 it was renamed to Sjever Primary School and in 1999 the name was changed again, this time into Josip Antun Ćolnić Primary School, which has not been changed since. In the period from 1981 to 2014 students from grade 5 – 8 from the nearby villages of Satnica Đakovačka, Gašinci and Široko Polje travelled to Đakovo and attended classes in our school. Then Satnica Đakovačka became an independent school and a new school building was built in Široko Polje so that students do not have to travel to Đakovo anymore. Today children from Dračice, Sjever and the suburb of Kuševac attend our school.

Since its foundation the school has had four headmasters. The first was Krešmir Valentić, the second Vladimir Rac, the third Darko Dujmović and I have the honour of being the fourth one.

The biggest number of students attending our school was in 1981 when there were 917 students.

Antonio Ž: Our school bears the name of Josip Antun Ćolnić. Who was Josip Antun Ćolnić?

Mr Headmaster: Josip Antun Ćolnić was the bishop of the Bosnia and Đakovo Diocese in the period from 1751 to 1773. He was born on 11 March 1699 in Vivodina, near Jastrebarsko. He was educated in Zagreb, Vienna and Rome. When Slavonia was freed from the Turks, this territory was devastated and Ćolnić was one of the first bishops who started economic and agricultural development of this area. He had very progressive ideas for his time. He founded the first public school in Đakovo. He wanted to connect Đakovo with the rest of Slavonia so in his time many roads were built. Thanks to him, many villages around Đakovo, like Vuka and Široko Polje, were settled by people from Bosnia. He did so many great things and, yet, very little is known about him in the public. He died in1773 in Đakovo and his tomb is in the crypt of the Cathedral.

Petra E.: How many students and teachers are there in our school today?

Mr Headmaster: There are 484 students, which is fewer than when I started working here, and there are 54 teachers.

Antonio Ž.: What are the challenges you face as a headmaster?

 Mr Headmaster: Well, there are many because these are the challenging times. I would say that one of the biggest challenges is how to maintain the high level of safety for our students and how to organize classes, especially during this pandemic.

Petra E.: What are the plans for the future?

Mr Headmaster: I would like to point out that we have already achieved a lot. In my humble opinion, we are the best school in this area in many ways, especially, when it comes to infrastructure. We have already been taking part in many competitions and interesting projects. In the future we will continue with it and try to maintain the high level of quality in everything we do. We will also continue building bridges with schools and institutions throughout Croatia, Europe and the whole world through e-Twinning projects.

And what is important for me personally, I hope we will continue to have a good dialogue with the parents of our students.

Antonio Ž.: What would be your message or messages for the students of our school?

Mr Headmaster: I would tell each of you: “Be yourself! Do your best and believe in yourself, no matter what! Choose good over evil! Respect your parents and teachers! If you have a problem, you know that you can always turn to us, your teachers.”

Teacher Tomislava Delić