Residents of the village of Rujište near Beran are outraged that the building of the regional four-year class in their village has not been renovated even this school year, so children, they claim, are in danger of a collapsed roof or cracked walls at any moment.
Due to long-standing problems, some students left this school earlier, so that only three students remained, and local resident Miloš Petrić refuses to send his two children to classes.
"Let's understand each other right away and that it wouldn't be misused. I'm not interested in the language story, and I don't send my children to school just because they might get killed in that old building, which could collapse at any moment. We wrote all this nicely to the minister in a letter with the signatures of us, the parents of the students, and other locals whose children will go to this school one day. We also sent him photos, so that he could see how the roof beams are supported by wooden battens," says Miloš.
He reminds that three and a half years ago, a commission from the relevant ministry headed by Semir Bučan concluded that the building did not meet the minimum requirements for work.
Petrić: Ready to give up the building next to his house
"After that, the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the local administration, allocated 5,4 thousand euros for reconstruction, but the director of the home school from Štitar, Srđan Ostojić, did not use that money in Rujište. The Minister of Agriculture at the time, Milutin Simović, told him at a gathering that he should not have spent them for other purposes," says Petrić.
He adds that a new aid of five thousand euros was promised, which would be paid to the municipal Directorate for Construction, and that they carry out the works.
"I don't know if that money was paid, but I know that until today nothing has been done on the building of the regional department in Rujište," says Petrić.
Due to someone's carelessness, I have to worry whether my children will get to school in Štitare or not. To let them go by myself, and I don't have time to guide them because of work
"Because of someone's carelessness, I have to fear whether my children will get to school in Štitare or not. To let them go by myself, and I don't have time to guide them because of work. After all, why, when there is a school in Rujište who knows how long and when it is in front of their house", asks Petrić.
He suggests renting a room in the village, in a house, until the school is renovated.
"I am ready to give a facility next to my house for free, which is like a pharmacy compared to the one where they are going now. But let it be temporary until the existing department is repaired," says this resident of Rujišta.
Look at this building. It was made by us locals seven decades ago. Now the plaster is falling off the roof
“Look at this building. It was made by us locals seven decades ago. Now the plaster is falling off the roof. Ceiling beams supported by uprights. The walls are cracked, just about to collapse. It is dangerous to stay in that building. To go to work in the city, and I wonder if the ceiling will fall on my children's heads. I don't want that," says Miloš.
The village of Rujište is about twenty kilometers from Beran. More than twenty households currently live there, and some children should start school next year. Now that Miloš has refused to send his two children, little Miloj and Magdalena, to classes, there is only one student left in the district school. The four-year regional department belongs to the eight-year school "Vladislav Korać" in Štitare.
Ostojić: Everyone knows how much I have done
The principal of the elementary school in Štitare, Srđan Ostojić, claims that there is a "hunt" against his re-election.
"How much I did in that school, what it was like and how it is now, the locals know that. I did more during my mandate for the school in Štitare than was done in fifty years. I could not say when the department in Rujište will be renovated. When the money is decided, immediately. And let the locals ask the City Development Agency where the money for reconstruction is," says Ostojić.
He invites Miloš Petrić to send the children to school, but says that he cannot force him to do so.
"If he wants to, he will. If he won't, that's his problem and his business. Part of the locals always campaigned against me when I was to be re-elected as director. They are doing that now, and I know who is leading that campaign. The school of which I am the director has 40 students. All the while, I was more of a manual laborer and taxi driver than a director. "I'm not running away from the village, but for me as a prominent athlete there was no place to work in the city," says Ostojić.
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