EDUCATION ON WORLD HERITAGE SEMINAR OPENS

( Editorial: --> 9922 ) STARI GRAD, July 26 (Hina) - A five-day seminar gathering UNESCO's national coordinators for education on world heritage opened in Stari Grad, on the Croatian island of Hvar, on Sunday. The seminar was organised by the Croatian Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO and UNESCO's Cultural Heritage Protection Department. Attending are UNESCO coordinators from Scotland, Spain, Russia, Hungary, the United States, Slovenia, Finland, Portugal and Croatia. UNESCO's project for education on world heritage is an important one and one Croatia wishes to introduce in its school system, Croatian Education Minister Bozidar Pugelnik said opening the seminar. The history and tradition of the culture which brought us to the present has to be a part of regular school education and not an out- of-school activity, he said. This stand was also advocated by Croatia's Ambassador to the UNESCO Vesna Girardi-Jurkic. She emphasised that even during the Homeland War Croatia was aware of the wealth of its heritage and the need to preserve it. One of the things that had to be done was to show the world the value of our heritage, which resulted in the inclusion of the town of Trogir and the basilica in Porec on the list of world cultural heritage, Girardi-Jurkic said. The secretary-general of the Slovene Commission for UNESCO Zofija Klemen-Krek thanked Croatia's Pugelnik for the good cooperation in schooling, especially in towns in the area bordering with Slovenia. The opening of the seminar was welcomed by Sarah Titcher, envoy of UNESCO top official Federic Mayor. (hina) ha 261301 MET jul 98