The proposal was made by Roma associations and the Council of Roma Ethnic Minorities at the beginning of a two-day seminar in Zagreb on Friday.
The seminar is dedicated to drawing up a report on and evaluating the national program for the Roma and the Action Plan for the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015.
Free legal assistance has been provided to the Roma community since mid May 2005 and so far it has been granted for obtaining citizenship and residence permits, and regulating other status issues.
Mirko Markovic, assistant to the Science, Education and Sports Minister in charge of coordinating the education of ethnic minorities, said that 1,600 Roma children had attended primary schools in 2005, while this year 2,921 Roma children attended primary schools. Markovic said that the difference in the number was primarily due to the fact that Roma children did not declare themselves as Roma before.
The Science, Education and Sports Ministry has been granting scholarships to encourage Roma children to continue their education. By the end of August 2006 the ministry granted 52 secondary school scholarships and six university scholarships for Roma children.
The ministry expects much from compulsory secondary education and will continue granting scholarships to Roma secondary school and university students, Markovic said.
Representatives of Roma associations pointed to problems in obtaining citizenship, particularly for Roma who were born in Croatia but left the country and are now returning.