CROATIAN EDUCATION AND SPORTS MINISTER VISITS MEDJIMURJE COUNTY

VARAZDIN, Oct 16 (Hina) - "Separate classrooms in the first and second classes are not segregation, but pedagogical preparation for the continuation of education", Croatian Education and Sports Minister Vladimir Strugar said Monday after visiting the elementary school in Petrijanec and regional school Strmec Podravski where 83 Romani children attend classes, of whom 46 are in separate divisions. The Croatian Education and Sports Ministry, as well as the Health Ministry and the Labour and Social Welfare Ministry must participate in the solving of problems, Strugar said. Infrastructure cannot be implemented in the Romani settlement near Strmec Podravski as long as the settlement is not made legal. The Minister also congratulated teachers working with Romani children adding that the work was not easy at all. The Minister also visited the Romani settlement near Strmec Podravski, inhabited by 420 Romani including 250 children. Strugar also visited Medjimurje County in which Romani make 2.7 percent of the population. Medjimurje elementary schools include 865 Romani children, which is 6.5 percent of the total number of children in Medjimurje schools. (hina) it