ZAGREB, April 13 (Hina) - Croatia's Education and Sport Minister Vladimir Strugar has announced the conclusion of programmes for the cultural, scientific and education cooperation between his country and Austria and Slovakia by the
end of this year. The programmes will tackle issues relating to the cooperation in the schooling systems and education, Strugar told Hina on Thursday after he returned from his two-day working visit to Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. The minister described the visit as exceptionally successful and fruitful, adding that its purpose was to consider the situation and problems of Croatian minorities in the aforementioned three countries and "open new possibilities of cooperation." After the signing of the programme, relevant authorities will solve the issue of the supplementary classes in the Croatian language for Austrian Croats, as the Croatian national minority has
ZAGREB, April 13 (Hina) - Croatia's Education and Sport Minister
Vladimir Strugar has announced the conclusion of programmes for the
cultural, scientific and education cooperation between his country
and Austria and Slovakia by the end of this year.
The programmes will tackle issues relating to the cooperation in
the schooling systems and education, Strugar told Hina on Thursday
after he returned from his two-day working visit to Austria,
Slovakia and Hungary.
The minister described the visit as exceptionally successful and
fruitful, adding that its purpose was to consider the situation and
problems of Croatian minorities in the aforementioned three
countries and "open new possibilities of cooperation."
After the signing of the programme, relevant authorities will solve
the issue of the supplementary classes in the Croatian language for
Austrian Croats, as the Croatian national minority has not had it in
Austria so far, although there is a great need for such classes in
major cities.
"We have agreed with the Slovakian minister on cooperating closely
in the exchange of the experience in the elaboration of new concepts
of school," Strugar said.
"We toured bilingual schools, kindergartens, we visited Croat-
populated villages in Slovakia where Croat minority has been
struggling for the maintenance of the Croatian language and culture
for almost 500 years," the Croatian minister added,
Ethic Croats in Slovakia are concerned about the fact that Croatian
language is being less and less spoken in villages and towns where
they are a majority and therefore they asked us for the assistance
in organising seminars, granting magazines and books in Croatian
and in conducting extensive cultural cooperation.
Strugar said he was impressed with the organisation and development
of the schooling system in the Hungarian village of Koljnof where he
met representatives of Hungarian Croats.
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