CAKOVEC, Sept 24 (Hina)- Claims of discrimination against and segregation of Romany students in primary schools in Medjimurje included in a report for 2000 by the ombudsman were rushed, Croatian Ombudsman Ante Klaric said at a civil
suit lodged with the Cakovec Municipal Court by the parents of Romany children.
CAKOVEC, Sept 24 (Hina)- Claims of discrimination against and
segregation of Romany students in primary schools in Medjimurje
included in a report for 2000 by the ombudsman were rushed, Croatian
Ombudsman Ante Klaric said at a civil suit lodged with the Cakovec
Municipal Court by the parents of Romany children. #L#
Admitting that he himself was responsible for the report which was
used as the basis to compile the civil suit, Klaric said that the
report was superficial because he was only later informed by school
staff what measures are taken to educate Romany children and to
effectively include them in normal classes. This only refers to
individual cases and not the general circumstances in schools.
"Segregation and discrimination are words that are too harsh and I
personally do not advocate such harsh claims and that is why they
did not appear in the 2001 report," Klaric stated.
The entire issue has been over-politicised, Ombudsman Klaric said
during a hearing in the civil suit lodged by Romany parents against
the Ministry of Education and Sports, Medjimurje County and four
primary schools in that county.
The suit was filed due to the setting up of exclusively Romany
classes which operated with a specialised (briefer) curriculum.
These claims were refuted at the hearing by Milica Pongrac, a
psychologist at the Macinec Primary School. Deputy County Prefect
Dragutin Plesar testified in relation to a curriculum proposed by
Medjimurje County. Today's hearing was attended by representatives
of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Mission to Croatia.
(hina) sp it sb