MOSTAR: CROAT WRITERS CRITICISE SCHOOL REFORM

MOSTAR, Sept 2 (Hina) - The Association of Croat Writers of Herceg- Bosna has said that the ongoing school reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina violates the basic right of parents and children to choose the curriculum and language they want their children to be taught in. #L# In a statement issued on Tuesday, the association said that this right was "suppressed in a tendentious and unscrupulous way through the so-called administrative unification of schools, the main goal being the abolishment of Croat curricula". The administrative unification of schools, which after some hesitation was recently also accepted by Croat officials in the bodies of authority of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, means that current mixed (Croat-Muslim) schools will as of this year have one director, one school board and one budget. Such administrative unification is being carried out at the initiative of the international community, particularly the OSCE Mission in the country. International officials in the country say that school unification does not pose a threat to the right to be taught in one's own language. The reform of the school system, they say, will not abolish ethnic curricula, but is aimed at defining the minimum core curriculum, which will be compulsory for all students in the country regardless of their nationality and religion. (hina) rml