Our school

Opshtinsko osnovno uculishte Koco Racin, Kratovo is a public primary school for grades 1-9. There are 67 teachers and 534 students at present. There are two school buildings in the town, and another ten school buildings in nearby villages. Since February, 2017, there is one special needs class consisting of 6 students, who are taught by a Special Education teacher. Our classrooms are equipped with computers for every student, there is Internet access and five Interactive boards.

Our school has recently developed a more international dimension by having our students involved in E-twinning projects. One of our eTwinning projects was Pen-friendship, in which students from our school and students from the Polish school which is our partner school in the VOICES Erasmus + project, met on eTwinning and wrote and sent traditional letters on different topics.

Our motivation to participate in School Exchanges is to have first-hand international experiences.

Our school is proud to have been awarded the eTwinning School Label for 2019/2020.

About our town (Kratovo)

The town where our school is located, Kratovo, is one of the oldest towns on the Balkans. It`s a famous tourist destination for visitors from our country and abroad. It has rich history and cultural heritage that we are eager to present to our international friends.

Nestled in the pit of a volcanic crater an hour northeast of Skopje, Kratovo is famous for its Ottoman-era towers and high stone bridges. Ancient stone bridges, nearly as tall as they are wide, connect the two halves of town. There were once up to twenty, though only four remain today. Radin Bridge is the most famous one because of a legend that is associated with it.

Stone Dolls of Kuklica (village of Kuklica, 11 km west of Kratovo) is a natural wonder, consisting of 15 larger (10 m tall) and 120 smaller stone pillars. It was probably created by erosion and other climate influence, formed some 50,000 years ago. However, the legend connected to this phenomenon says that the figures are in fact wedding guests who were turned into rocks.

Our country

Republic of Macedonia is located in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe.

A landlocked country, the Republic of Macedonia has borders with Kosovo to the northwest, Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west. The country's geography is defined primarily by mountains, valleys, and rivers.

The capital and largest city, Skopje, is home to roughly a quarter of the nation's 2.06 million inhabitants. The majority of the residents are ethnic Macedonians, a South Slavic people. Albanians form a significant minority at around 25 percent, followed by Turks, Romani, Serbs, Bosnians, Romani, and Bulgarians.

Ohrid is the country’s Unesco World Heritage site. The city and its lake (Lake Ohrid) are counted as both cultural and natural inclusions, one of only 28 sites around the world to be marked as both. Ohrid was once notable for having 365 churches, one for each day of the year. It has been accordingly nicknamed the Jerusalem of the Balkans.

Matka Canyon is a canyon located west of Skopje. It is one of the most popular outdoor destinations in Macedonia.

There are ten caves at Matka Canyon, but the most famous one is Vrelo Cave. Vrelo Cave has many stalactites including a large one in the middle of the cave known as the "Pine Cone" due to its shape. Though the exact depth of the cave is unknown, some speculate that it could be the deepest underwater cave in the world. The cave can only be reached by water either by a boat or kayak.

We will be happy to show some of these beautiful places to our international guests during the encounter in Macedonia.