HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION CONFERENCE OPENS IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Oct 28 (Hina) - Croatian Deputy Premier and European Integration Minister Ljerka Mintas-Hodak on Wednesday opened a conference on education in human rights and civic upbringing. The Zagreb conference is attended by Croatian representatives and Council of Europe experts. "To create a new view of human rights in the widest sense, the world realised that people need to be educated in human rights," Mintas- Hodak said in her introduction. On January 1, 1995 the United Nations commenced a decade of education in human rights with the aim to eliminate all prejudice and intolerance related to race, sex, and religion, and to teach people about human rights, the rule of law, democracy, tolerance, and solidarity, Mintas-Hodak said. She explained that in 1996 the Croatian government established a national committee for education in human rights, with the aim to draft a national programme for its enforcement. The first part of the programme has been completed and refers to pre-school children, primary and secondary schools, where human rights education is to carried out through various subjects in the first four grades of primary school, and as a special subject in higher grades of primary and in secondary schools. The second part of the programme is currently in the drafting stage and will cover higher education, the education of adults, and the use of media to this aim, Mintas-Hodak said. She pointed out that in drafting the programme, the national committee took into account suggestions from international documents, and cooperated with numerous bodies of the UN and relevant bodies of the Council of Europe, as well as with non- government organisations in Croatia. During today's conference, Council of Europe experts will present models of human rights education in member-countries. They will also tackle the human rights education of minorities, and the training of teachers in the subject. (hina) ha