ITALIAN-LANGUAGE HIGH SCHOOL TO BE BUILT IN PULA

ZAGREB, March 21 (Hina) - Croatian Education Minister Ljilja Vokic, former Italian Ambassador to Croatia Paolo Pensa and Italian minority representatives on Thursday reached an agreement on building an Italian-language high school in Pula. It was agreed that representatives of the Croatian foreign and education ministries, Italian embassy officials in Croatia and representatives of Trieste University would sign a letter of intent next week. This document would contain information about the investor, the owner and other issues related to the school, and a joint committee would invite international bids for construction of the school building. Italian-language education programmes were practiced in 24 kindergartens, 17 elementary schools and four high schools in Croatia, including 3,770 children and pupils, which, according to last year's statistics, marked a 230 percent increase since 1980. The Education Ministry said that these institutions were also attended by a large number of children who were not members of the Italian community. (hina) ha jn 212255 MET mar 96