One and a half years after its re-establishment, Nándor Csapó heads the Department for National Minorities within the Ministry of Education. Csapó, is a former teacher at the Hungarian School Center in Eszék/Osijek, and President of the Forum of Hungarian Teachers in Croatia (HMPF). The Department addresses the specific educational needs of national minority students, including the publication of textbooks in minority languages and reforming the national educational curriculum’s framework.
“The development of a framework curriculum for minority languages began in 2015. This effort had been recently suspended due to a lack of professionals, a fact underscoring its necessity.
“We have completed the national framework curriculum for education in the Italian, Serbian and Czech minority languages, and we are still working on the Slovak and Hungarian frameworks,” said Csapó. The department also has a number of other programs, including support for the in-service training of various summer schools and teachers in minority education, as well as publications, quizzes, surveys and other programs, Csapó added. The task of the department is, of course, to administer education in minority languages and establish relevant rules and regulations, concluded the official.