ACADEMIC PROJECTS FOR SCHOOL REFORM PRESENTED

ZAGREB, Feb 25 (Hina) - Four projects, worth 3.4 million kuna (446,000 euros), which should serve as the basis for changes in Croatia's education system, were presented at the Ministry of Education and Sports in Zagreb on Tuesday. #L# Participants in the projects - the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Sports, and the Institute Open Society Croatia - signed an agreement on mutual responsibilities before reporters today. The document is a supplement to a letter on co-operation between the government and Institute Open Society Croatia, signed two and a half years ago. The projects will be conducted by the Centre for Education Research and Development, which under the letter on co-operation was founded within the Institute for Social Research. Education and Sports Minister Vladimir Strugar said that the projects, to be realised in the next two years, were expected to resolve key issues concerning education. Tomislav Reskovac, executive director of the Institute Open Society Croatia, stated that the Institute did not intend to interfere in the content of education, but rather to support expert debates that would enable "healthy" public decision-making about such significant matters. The head of a project of the so-called external evaluation, Petar Bezinovic, announced the introduction of state matriculation, adding that it would not be possible to introduce it before 2005. The projects presented relate to the development of models of so- called pre-tertiary education (primary and compulsory education), permanent education of teachers, the assessment of curricula etc. The projects are the first joint task that was inspired by the letter from 2000. In the past ten years, the Institute Open Society Croatia invested US$38.5 million in different projects in Croatia, and most funds were earmarked for education - US$8.3 million. (hina) sp rml