PARLIAMENT ENDS DEBATE ON BILL ON MINORITIES' RIGHTS

ZAGREB, May 11 (Hina) - The parliamentary bench of Croatia's national minorities is very satisfied with a bill on the equal official usage of minority languages and scripts because most of the proposals we submitted over the past have been adopted, bench president Furio Radin told the House of Representatives Thursday. Most other MPs also commended the bill, and another one on education in minority languages and scripts. There are little fields in which Croatia can be a model for Europe, but the bill on the official usage of minority languages is one of them, said Petar Turcinovic of the Istrian Democratic Assembly. Most MPs agreed, including Drago Krpina of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). MPs however also had a series of objections to the bill on education in minority languages. The committee on human rights and the rights of national minorities submitted an amendment demanding that the headmaster of a school holding classes in a minority language be himself a minority member. HDZ's Zlatko Canjuga urged the establishment of the exact number of pupils necessary to establish a school with classes in a minority language. He also asserted the use of textbooks from a particular minority's mother country could bring pupils into a dilemma as regards the various interpretations of historic events for instance. (hina) ha mm