November 18, 2010 
The only ones that the parents of visually impaired and blind children can rely on, said director of elementary school Pećine Irena Margan, in whose school blind and visually impaired children are educated, is the local government…
Although it is still unknown who should bear the cost of buying extremely expensive textbooks in Braille, price of which in some instances reached even 12 705 Kuna, it is perfectly clear that these costs will not be borne by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport, under whose blessings these incredibly expensive titles are this year included in the Catalogue of approved textbooks, says Novi list.
Official position of the ministry is sending a shameful message to schools and parents that they should cope alone the purchasing of textbooks, because, as stated in response to the request of Novi list: “The only criteria for awarding free textbooks this year are social criteria and criteria for children whose parents are war veterans, and thus from the budget and over Ministry of Veterans and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and not through the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, free textbooks will receive only the blind and visually impaired students who are also covered by these criteria. “
Novi list says, no matter what degree of amblyopia pupils suffer from, if their families don’t carry social risks or their parents do not fall into the category of veterans – they cannot count on any government assistance for the purchase of books whose price exceeds two Croatian average wages.
Despite the fact that some publishers under the pretext of high costs of preparing for a small print have raised the price of textbooks in Braille to five-figures, the ministry apparently did not recognize the fact that the price of normal textbooks, tens of Kuna, is not the same as the price of textbooks in Braille, which is ten thousand Kuna, says Novi list.
The only ones that the parents of visually impaired and blind children can rely on, said director of elementary school Pećine Irena Margan, in whose school the blind and visually impaired students are educated, are local government units, which have so far been the only ones helpful in the purchase of expensive titles in Braille.
However, as much as such books were expensive before, they never reached this year’s price, which Margan evaluates as rude and unreasonable.
Apology of the spokesman for MSES
A spokesman for the Ministry of Education and Sports, Duje Bonacci in his written statement apologized to the media for inaccurate information that he provided to a journalist from Novi list.
“Due to incorrect information that I gave yesterday to a colleague Ingrid Šestan from ‘Novi list’, in today’s edition of that daily newspaper was published that the blind and visually impaired students in buying textbooks will have no support from the state. In this way I want to apologize to colleague Šestan and everyone to whom my involuntary and benign fail caused any inconvenience. Also, lower, I give accurate information related to the procurement of textbooks for blind and visually impaired students.
Specifically, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport has been for some time negotiating with one publishing house in Croatia, which is technically equipped to print books in Braille, in order to cover the overall cost of procurement of textbooks in Braille with funds from the state budget.
Funds for this purpose are provided in the budget of MSES; in the event that the planned amount is not sufficient to finance the entire amount necessary, parents or carers of blind and visually impaired students will participate in the purchase with the amount that won’t be higher than the average cost of school textbooks in Croatia. „, stands in the apology which clearly states that quotes from the text were not entirely inaccurate, because as the spokesman says, the negotiations with the publishing house are still in progress, and if they reach a positive ending, there is a chance that the ministry will not be able to participate in the entire cost of textbooks.
Taken from: www.nacional.hr
Article date: 18.08. 2009