EDUCATION MINISTRY OFFICIALS VISIT SCHOOLS IN CRO DANUBE REGION ( Editorial: --> 0309 )

( Editorial: --> 0309 ) BELI MANASTIR, Nov 12 (Hina) - Representatives of the Croatian education ministry on Wednesday visited elementary and high schools in the UN-administered part of the Danube river region of eastern Croatia where classes have not been held since Monday. Pupils of Serb nationality are boycotting classes at the request of their parents, whose demands include the replacement of non-Serb headmasters with Serbs, bilingual documentation, a moratorium on teaching 1989-1997 history and that Serb-language textbooks be delivered sooner. Education minister assistants Bozica Simlesa and Stjepan Lice today informed headmasters that at a 10 November meeting, representatives of the National Committee for the restoration of trust, the education ministry and of the Joint Council of Serb Municipalities decided that discontinued classes must be resumed. Officials of the education ministry also informed the headmasters about other conclusions relating to the Serb parents' demands. According to these conclusions, bilingual seals should be delivered to and bilingual school building plaques put on schools in the Danubian region. The Prosvjeta Serb cultural society should within a month at the latest choose translators of textbooks into Serbian, while current ones should be used in the meantime. The moratorium on teaching recent history will be complied with, while the headmasters issue will be discussed later. The conclusions will be submitted to schools in the UN-administered part of eastern Croatia tomorrow. (hina) ha jn 122029 MET nov 97