MOSTAR: CROAT HIGH SCHOOL AGAINST UNIFICATION WITH BOSNIAK SCHOOL

MOSTAR, Aug 11 (Hina) - The school board of a Croat high school from western Mostar on Monday again refused the possibility of unification with a high school from the eastern, Muslim-dominated part of the town. #L# School teachers thus opposed last week's decision of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton minister for education, culture and sport, Jago Musa, on administrative unification of the two schools. School board chairwoman Djurdjica Kordic said the board had again decided that unification of the schools was not possible for the time being and postponed its final decision until next Monday, August 18, when the students' parents should voice their stand. The OSCE Mission in the country has requested urgent unification of the schools, while the Office of the High Representative has set it as a priority task of the new cantonal government. Minister Musa said in an interview with a local Croat television that he had made it very clear in his decision that there would be no unification of classes. The OSCE has been promoting the same stand from the very beginning, requesting that teachers hold classes in their mother tongue. Two cantonal teachers trade unions have stated that unification of the schools, as envisaged at present, is not possible and that in case the unification plan is carried out, they will resort to civil disobedience and call teachers and students and their parents to take to the streets. The deadline for the unification of the two schools as set by the OSCE is the start of the next school year in September. (hina) rml