IV        Implementation of the articles of the Convention

IV.XII

Article 14

1. The Parties undertake to recognise that every person belonging to a national minority has the right to learn his or her minority language.

2. In areas inhabited by persons belonging to national minorities traditionally or in substantial numbers, if there is sufficient demand, the Parties shall endeavour to ensure, as far as possible and within the framework of their education systems, that persons belonging to those minorities have adequate opportunities for being taught the minority language or for receiving instruction in this language.

3. Paragraph 2 of this article shall be implemented without prejudice to the learning of the official language or the teaching in this language.

National legislation (pursuant to the Article 14 of the FCNM):

Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities

Article 11 (see under Item IV.III National legislation)

Comments on the implementation of the Article 14 of the FCNM:

- The Constitutional Law on the Rights of national minorities guarantees the right to persons belonging to national minorities to the upbringing and education in the language and script they use. The Law also guarantees the right to persons belonging to minorities to education in the language of the majority. Persons belonging to Serbian and other minorities living in the former UNTAES area are guarantied the right to educational and cultural autonomy pursuant to the Article 8 of the Letter of Intent by Croatian government submitted to the UN Security Council on the completion of the peaceful integration from 1997. Pursuant to the Law on Upbringing and Education of persons belonging to national minorities, teaching in the language and script they use is performed in pre-school institutions, primary and secondary schools and other educational institutions. Schools in which the teaching is performed in a minority language and script can be founded even if the number of the pupils is lower compared to the number of pupils required for establishment of the school in which the teaching is performed in Croatian language and script. Pupils who are attending classes in the language and script of a minority have the right but also an obligation to study Croatian language and Latin script. School curriculum and program, apart from the general part, contains the part related to the specifics of a national minority (mother tongue, literature, history, geography and cultural opus of a national minority). Upbringing and education of persons belonging to national minorities is performed through three different basic models. Basic models are: A – teaching in the language and script of national minorities, B – bilingual teaching and C- promotion of the language and culture of minorities.

- Model A considers founding of separate schools in which the teaching is performed in minority language and script. In case of Serbian minority, the Government’s view is rather different. Compared to similar requests by Italian and Hungarian minorities, the Government discriminates the requests by Serbian minority. Italian minority in Istria and Hungarian minority in Eastern Slavonia have established separate minority schools with classes in their own languages and scripts. The requests by Serbian minority for founding and formal registration of schools in Serbian language and Cyrillic script (teaching in Serbian language and script is already being performed in some schools, but those schools are not formally registered as minority schools) from July 2002 met with negative reactions of the authorities. Mr. Goran Granic, who was the Prime Minister of the Croatian Government at that time claimed that such a request by the Serbian minority might result in a segregation of Serbian school children.[1] The most important issues related to the minority education include employment of qualified Serbian teachers, school curriculum and program on national level that includes national minorities’ contribution (including history, literature, geography, etc) and additional programmes in Serbian language and script.[2] This problem, obviously, is a serious political issue at local but also national level. Mr. Djuro Podunavac, the president of the Educational Board of the Joint Council of Municipalities, said that the lack of implementation of the law in this case was a result of extreme views by certain individuals.[3] The Government asked for the OSCE Mission to the Republic of Croatia engagement in the issue in order to ensure that the right to minority education does not result in exclusion or isolation of minorities.  The incidents between the students of Serbian and Croat ethnicity happen occasionally in the area of Eastern Slavonia. School facilities in the city of Vukovar are being physically divided to Croat and Serbian classes and the whole political situation at local level does not contribute to reductions in interethnic tensions. Vukovar Grammar School is just one of the examples of physical division on “Croatian” and “Serbian” parts. Mr. Vladimir Stengl, the Mayor of Vukovar, commented on the fact that Croatian students attend classes in reconstructed school premises while the Serbian children still use the old and unreconstructed building, saying that the citizens had the right to insist on the Serbian classes not to be held in the building the Serb forces destroyed ten years ago.[4] The issue of formal founding and registration of minority schools in Serbian language continues to be unsolved for the silence of the administration. 

- In Knin, despite constant efforts of Serb Orthodox Church and Serb Cultural Association “Prosvjeta” students of Serb ethnicity were not provided the additional school program in their mother tongue.[5] Although the children and their parents were interested to form classes in Serbian language in Pakrac and Daruvar they were explained that there was insufficient number of students and their requests to form such classes were rejected.[6]

- For details related to the education issues, see, also, the Item IV.X.