The Importance of Learning Slovene within the Educational System for the Slovenian Community in Varaždin County

Abstract

The opportunities for learning Slovene within the Croatian school system have improved. The paper presents the teaching of Slovene in Varaždin County, the demographic structure of the students, their reasons for learning Slovene, and the attitude of the students and their parents towards learning Slovene. The purpose is to find out to what extent the teaching of Slovene within the framework of the educational system contributes to the preservation of the Slovenian community and to the revitalisation of the language. The paper relies on data collected using quantitative and qualitative methods. The results show that the children who learn Slovene at school mostly declare themselves Croats. Their initial knowledge of Slovene is poor.