ZAGREB, March 15, 2019 – The expanded task force has finalised its work on the history curriculum the best way it could in the limited conditions and all members of the task force have reached agreement on this third version of the history curriculum, Borislav Grgin, a history professor at the University of Zagreb, said on Friday.
He said that this would be done differently in the future. This is a public document, national consensus for all or pupils in Croatia, Grgin told Hina.
This is not only for the scientific community, pupils and teachers are our focus, and you have the public and politicians participating in the process, the professor said.
He said that the topic of the Holocaust, which was one of neuralgic points in the public discussion, should not be a source of disagreement in the third version of the curriculum. “There have been different demands. In that regard, in agreement with Professor Radovan Fuchs, we have highlighted what is important,” said Grgin.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković told his cabinet on Friday morning that every activity concerning school curricula had been completed and that they were unanimously adopted by experts. “We have achieved a good consensus on the history curriculum, which often causes ideological and not just expert, but also political disputes. The text is ready, the minister will adopt it and it’s expected to be published in the Official Gazette in the middle of next week.”
Plenković said the delicate topics of 20th century history, such as crimes and the Holocaust, were appropriately represented in the history curriculum and that it took a democratic and unbiased stance on every totalitarian and authoritarian system.
He said the history curriculum covered Croatia’s 1991-95 Homeland War appropriately and in detail as well as in keeping with the parliamentary Homeland War Declaration. “It’s not a political, but an expert document,” he said, adding that the whole government could stand by it.
He is confident that the experts who will write textbooks based on the history curriculum will write “good and interesting texts for young people who will leave school with all the fundamental knowledge about Croatian culture, history, language, identity, our tradition, while also being well-informed about the history of Europe, the world and other countries.”
Science and Education Minister Blaženka Divjak said the history curriculum task force had completed its job and that it would be published next week. “We made it after three rounds of talks. The expanded task force unanimously stood by this curriculum and this is a good sign for Croatia,” she told reporters ahead of the cabinet meeting.
More news about the curriculum reform in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.
