MINISTER VERBIC ATTENDS A MEETING ON EDUCATION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES IN THE HAGUE

21. April 2016.

Belgrade- At the invitation of Astrid Thors, the OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities, Srdjan Verbic, the Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, attended, yesterday, a meeting in the Hague, which was held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Hague recommendations on the rights of national minorities in education.

Minister Verbic talked at a panel discussion about the role of education in building a stable multiethnic community.

The topics discussed at the meeting included the adjustment of educational reform to the existing ethno-cultural diversity of the European countries, as well as the compliance of the rights of minorities in education presented in the UN recommendations with the current discrepancies.

During his stay in the Hague, Minister Verbic had a bilateral meeting with the High Commissioner Astrid Thors.

On the sidelines of the conference, the OSCE’s Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities showed for the first time a film on the establishment of the Subotica Faculty of Economics’ Department in Bujanovac, as the first multi-lingual and multi-ethnic institution of higher education in South Serbia.

The conference brought together representatives of 180 governments, the non-governmental sector, experts, teachers and other local and international officials from the fields of education, conflict prevention and peace-building, who spoke about the challenges in adjusting school systems to ethnically diverse societies.

Source: “Tanjug” news agency, Radio and Television of Serbia, “Blic” daily and Coordination Body