RIGHT TO FREE CHOICE EDUCATION MUST BE RESPECTED - SAYS HIGH REP

SARAJEVO, Sept 15 (Hina) - The international High Representative (HR) for Bosnia requested the highest officials in Bosnia's Croat- Muslim Federation to urgently implement measures which will enable pupils in that entity to receive education according to curricula selected by their parents, the HR's Office said in a statement on Thursday. HR Wolfgang Petrisch on Thursday held a meeting with Federation President Ivo Andric Luzanski, Vice President Ejup Ganic, and Premier Edhem Bicakcic, urging the officials to immediately ensure the implementation of measures previously decreed by deputy HR Ralph Johnson, but not carried out by municipal and cantonal authorities. These measures envisage the possibility of establishing special schools, i.e. classes for children of Croatian nationality who are returning to parts of the Federation with a majority Muslim population. HR Petrisch announced the international community will insist on the making of a joint curriculum for Bosnia-Herzegovina, within which every people in the country will be ensured the possibility to learn about its culture. Petrisch and the Federation officials today also discussed the need of a speedier abolition of parallel bodies of authority. (hina) ha jn