Open letter to minister Primorac regarding sex education
06/11/2007
Submitted by
Sanja Juras
PRESS RELEASE
Subject: open letter to the minister Mr. Dragan Primorac
Zagreb, November 2nd, 2007
To whom it may concern:
we are addressing you in relation to previous press releases where it was stated that the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports initiated procedure of buying the programs of health education made by civil society organizations Grozd and Forum for Freedom in Education.
We would like to stress out that minister Mr. Dragan Primorac stated that „...the programs of health education will be adapted by the Ministry and prepared in line with the legislation of the Republic of Croatia and international conventions before implementation in schools“at the meeting with representatives of the Women's Network of Croatia and the Team for Legal Changes of Iskorak and Kontra on July 12th, 2006. Furthermore, minister Primorac acknowledged that final versions of the program will be analyzed by the Office of the Ombudswoman for Gender Equality and Office of the Ombudswoman for Children.
Considering the fact that contracts with civil society organizations GROZD and Forum for Freedom in Education are prepared to be signed today, and iplementation of both programs will start in next semester, it is obvuous that above mentioned procedures will not be implemented by the Ministry.
The program of the civil society organization GROZD that has been declared by Ombudswomen for Children as contrary to the legislation of the Republic of Croatia and the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be implemented in Croatian schools with approval of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health negatively evaluated programs of health education prepared by civil society organizations.
It is evident that the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport decided intentionally to violate positive legislation and to ignore opinions of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and Ombudswoman for Gender Equality. The Ministry will also decided to ignore promises given to civil society and the general public of Croatia and to work against the interests of children.
The remaining consolation is that module on human sexuality which consists of discriminatory elements will be implemented only by two to three hours per a year (and this also the most important critic of the Ministry's work). It remains unanswered when will the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports realize the importance of education of the youth on human sexuality and when will it start to implement the obligations imposed by international documents and national programs and politics. Until this does not happen, it seems that young people will be forced to obtain information on sexuality mainly on the classes of the Catholic teaching and at the porno websites.
With best regards,
Sanja Juras
The Coordinator of the Lesbian Group Kontra
Kristijan Grđan,
The Coordinator of the Iskorak – Sexual and Gender Minorities Rights Center
Bojana Genov,
The Coordinator of the Croatian Women's Network
Subject: open letter to the minister Mr. Dragan Primorac
Zagreb, November 2nd, 2007
To whom it may concern:
we are addressing you in relation to previous press releases where it was stated that the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports initiated procedure of buying the programs of health education made by civil society organizations Grozd and Forum for Freedom in Education.
We would like to stress out that minister Mr. Dragan Primorac stated that „...the programs of health education will be adapted by the Ministry and prepared in line with the legislation of the Republic of Croatia and international conventions before implementation in schools“at the meeting with representatives of the Women's Network of Croatia and the Team for Legal Changes of Iskorak and Kontra on July 12th, 2006. Furthermore, minister Primorac acknowledged that final versions of the program will be analyzed by the Office of the Ombudswoman for Gender Equality and Office of the Ombudswoman for Children.
Considering the fact that contracts with civil society organizations GROZD and Forum for Freedom in Education are prepared to be signed today, and iplementation of both programs will start in next semester, it is obvuous that above mentioned procedures will not be implemented by the Ministry.
The program of the civil society organization GROZD that has been declared by Ombudswomen for Children as contrary to the legislation of the Republic of Croatia and the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be implemented in Croatian schools with approval of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health negatively evaluated programs of health education prepared by civil society organizations.
It is evident that the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport decided intentionally to violate positive legislation and to ignore opinions of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and Ombudswoman for Gender Equality. The Ministry will also decided to ignore promises given to civil society and the general public of Croatia and to work against the interests of children.
The remaining consolation is that module on human sexuality which consists of discriminatory elements will be implemented only by two to three hours per a year (and this also the most important critic of the Ministry's work). It remains unanswered when will the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports realize the importance of education of the youth on human sexuality and when will it start to implement the obligations imposed by international documents and national programs and politics. Until this does not happen, it seems that young people will be forced to obtain information on sexuality mainly on the classes of the Catholic teaching and at the porno websites.
With best regards,
Sanja Juras
The Coordinator of the Lesbian Group Kontra
Kristijan Grđan,
The Coordinator of the Iskorak – Sexual and Gender Minorities Rights Center
Bojana Genov,
The Coordinator of the Croatian Women's Network
