$ AUG ZAGREB, 13 Aug (Hina) - The Croatian Ministry of Education and Sports on Wednesday issued a statement on Monday's statement of the Italian Union, in which the Union presented its stand on a Decision on the Adoption of Curricula
for the Organisation of Education in Languages of National Minorities and Ethnic Communities in the Republic of Croatia.
STATEMENT OF 11
$ AUG
ZAGREB, 13 Aug (Hina) - The Croatian Ministry of Education and
Sports on Wednesday issued a statement on Monday's statement of
the Italian Union, in which the Union presented its stand on a
Decision on the Adoption of Curricula for the Organisation of
Education in Languages of National Minorities and Ethnic
Communities in the Republic of Croatia. #L#
The Italian Union executive committee on Monday stated that
the Union had initiated legal proceedings before the Croatian
Constitutional Court aimed at establishing the constitutionality
and legality of the Education and Sports Ministry's Decision on
the Adoption of Curricula for the Organisation of Education in
Languages of National Minorities and Ethnic Communities in
Croatia.
The Union sent the Constitutional Court a request for
temporary suspension of the Decision, since, according to the
Union's statement, its implementation could have such
consequences for the Italian minority as would be difficult to
remove.
In its statement issued today, the Education and Sports
Ministry said that the Decision had been adopted within the
framework of the Ministry's jurisdiction and duties.
"The Decision was adopted in line with the regulations of
the Constitution, Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms
and Rights of Ethnic and National Communities or Minorities, and
on the basis of Article 24 of the Law on Primary Education and
Article 10 of the Law on Secondary Education, and with respect
for European and international laws, charters and experience in
education, as well as in line with the still valid Law on
Education in Minority Languages of 1979," the statement said.
In the adoption of the Decision, the Ministry was guided by
the principles of multi-cultural society and tolerance, respect
for the highest scientific and pedagogical principles and care
for tax payers who make equal contributions for education.
The Decision respects the opinion and recommendations of
World Bank experts, and classes with three or four pupils cannot
be tolerated, as is the case in a primary school in Vodnjan. The
Decision also respects the language and sovereignty of the
Republic of Croatia and that is why it demands four classes of
Croatian per week, instead of one or two classes as is the
practice in Italian schools, the statement said.
Some minorities, such as the Czech minority, have sent a
request for the introduction of five classes of Croatian per
week, as is envisaged by the national program, but the Decision
refers equally to all national minorities in Croatia, said the
statement, signed by senior advisor on education of national
minorities, Dubravka Poljak-Makaruha.
(hina) rm
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