CRO EDUCATION MINISTER SPEAKS ABOUT MINORITY EDUCATION AT KRISTIAN SAND CONFERENCE

SAND CONFERENCE KRISTIANSAND, Norway, 24 June (Hina) - Croatia's Education and Sports Minister Ljilja Vokic, who is attending a plenary session of the Council of Europe's Ministerial Conference on Education, on Tuesday spoke about the education in minority languages in Croatia. The same topic was discussed at a press conference Vokic held on Tuesday. Education in languages of national minorities is an integral part of Croatia's educational system, Vokic said. Speaking about the education of the Serb minority in Croatia, Vokic said that Croatia, as a democratic country, made numerous concessions to the Serb national minority with the aim of contributing to the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube river region. Bilingual school certificates (in the Croatian and Serbian languages) had already been printed, Vokic said, adding that all pupils in the Croatian Danube river region who from 1991 to 1997 attended classes in the Serbian language and in line with the curriculum of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would receive such diplomas. The signing of work contracts by Serb teachers in the U.N.- administered area was under way, Vokic said. Speaking about cooperation with the representatives of the Serb national minority from the Danube river region in devising curricula and education programs, Vokic said it had been agreed that the latest historical developments, especially the 1991-1996 war be omitted in the subject 'history' for the next five years. The Croatian Government has spent almost nine million German marks in 1997 for the reconstruction and equipping of minority schools, Vokic said. After the Kristiansand conference, the Croatian delegation will visit a school which organises supplementary classes for Croat children. During the Kristiansand conference, which lasted from 22 to 24 June, ministers and leaders of delegations held plenary and working meetings and discussed the system of secondary education in Europe, education about human rights, languages, history and cooperation with new democracies. Special stress was laid on education systems in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the U.N.-administered part of eastern Croatia. (hina) rm jn 241714 MET jun 97