The introduction of religious education and sexual education as subjects in schools will be preceded by the broadest social agreement, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (MPNKS) promised in an interview for "Vijesti". Vesna Bratic.
For Bratić, it is not a controversial choice Aleksandre Božović, who is linked to the radical organization Dveri, to the position of director of the Film Center, and the minister promises to track down the missing and "borrowed" exhibits from the National Museum in Cetinje.
She said that a large number of principals of primary and secondary schools ignored the amendments to the General Law on Education, they did not even try to fulfill their obligations, which is why they were dismissed.
Speaking about theirs, as well as teachers' lawsuits for non-payment of overtime, she said that everyone can claim their rights.
"Lawsuits and courts are not threats, neither MPNKS nor any citizen should view lawsuits or courts that way."
Part of the public strongly criticized the possibility of introducing religious education in schools, stating that it has no place in general educational institutions, but also emphasizing the closeness of the Government to the Serbian Orthodox Church...
The idea of introducing religious education in schools was met with harsh criticism from a section of the public, just like the idea of introducing a subject that would deal with sexual education. What is your position regarding the introduction of these subjects and whether the final decision should have been preceded by a public discussion and wider social consensus, considering that these are sensitive issues?
Regarding the introduction of classes in religious studies and sex education, MPNKS has already informed the public about its position. The introduction of religious education as a subject is currently a sensitive issue in our society, and we are of the opinion that we should wait for the signing of the Basic Agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church. What we will strive for is a broad consensus, both in the professional community and in society as a whole. When it comes to sexual education, I am of the opinion that the name of the subject should be reproductive health and, as in the previous case, i.e. the subject of religious studies, we will advocate for the creation of a broad consensus, I repeat, both in the professional and lay public.
The General Law on Education and Training was amended, and the changes also provided for changes of directors in educational institutions. The law has a clear deadline of one month for the re-election of all directors, but MPNKS appointed acting officers. Did you break the law by doing so?
MPNKS, as an institution of the state of Montenegro, is obliged to respect all laws, and every law has the same weight and importance, whether it concerns the departments of this ministry or any other. As you stated in your question, the amendments to the General Law on Education gave a clear deadline for the re-election of the director and that deadline had to be respected, i.e. all actions necessary to meet the deadline had to be taken. The public was familiar with the text of the amendments to this law months ago before its adoption, including former school principals. The procedure for the election of school principals is initiated by the school board in such a way that the principals were obliged to schedule a meeting of the school board in order to obtain the conditions to start the procedure for the election of principals. However, it happened that the directors did not take any action in that direction. A large number of former directors disobeyed the law, did not fulfill their obligations, did not even try to respect their obligations that the law clearly defined for them, for which I believe their intention was to remain in their positions as long as possible in order to cover up the embezzlement and other illegalities they committed during their mandate.
The previous directors announced lawsuits over the dismissal. How do you comment on that? If so many dismissed directors are found guilty in court, who will be to blame for the outflow of citizens' money from the budget - the deputies who voted for such a short term in the law or the Ministry, and do you think that it had to be like this or should the Ministry have been given more time for evaluations of previous work and selection of new ones?
Lawsuits are acts that are treated as any act that can be submitted to any state authority in order to initiate a procedure for exercising one's rights. Lawsuits and courts are not threats, neither MPNKS nor any citizen should view lawsuits or courts that way. It is the legitimate right of every citizen who estimates that at some point the proceedings before the regular courts can help him. And this is the only comment of MPNKS on the announcements or filed lawsuits of the former directors.
Regarding the money outflow part of the question, it should first be emphasized that it is not a large outflow. Just as individuals bid that 1000 directors would be left without bread, and only 25 directors were left without a job, so they are bidding with figures on the amount of money that can potentially be gained or lost after the court proceedings are over. In relation to determining the culprits in that case, it is not a question for MPNKS, especially since it is a question that, if asked, must wait for an answer in order to first answer the questions of who is to blame for the outflow of tens of millions of euros after lawsuits by employees of state bodies for unpaid heating meals and transportation, millions of euros due to lawsuits filed by employees in state bodies due to incorrect calculation of wages, hundreds of thousands of euros due to the NKT revealing the list of names of persons who were in self-isolation, and a special question would have to be asked: why court proceedings last for years, if he knows that many of them need to be completed in two hearings. As, after all, are these actions. By law, each procedure should not cost more than 300 or so euros. We are creating a society of equal chances, so everyone will first get a chance to explain their potential guilt for the above, although the list is not exhaustive. MPNKS would not bid whether it is a little or a lot, nor whether a longer period would be more necessary or not. The time left is as it is, any delay in undertaking some action is not appreciated.
Most of the former directors continue to work in education, the Ministry managed to provide them with positions. Did and how many teachers were left without the norm of classes or possibly a job because of this?
It is true that a large number of principals continued to work in education, primarily for the reason that the fact that they were bad managers absolutely does not mean that they are bad lecturers. Principals who refused to work as teachers in their parent institutions were left without work, for some there were no classes. The return of former principals to classes did not affect the norm of classes for other teachers, because all acting principals are from classes and their classes remained free.
They also call you out for the fact that your main criteria for selecting new management staff that you appoint in educational institutions are participation in rallies, party or national affiliation. Is it true and how do you comment on such criticisms coming from the opposition and part of the civil sector?
We do not consider the aforementioned comments in question to be criticism, but rather the conclusion of individuals or groups based on certain, unverified data that was available to them. MPNKS was not guided by the mentioned criteria neither in the selection of directors in educational institutions nor in the selection of senior management personnel in the Ministry. Have any of them been on litias? It is possible, because there were 200.000 people at the litia, which is a third of Montenegro. MPNKS has no information about which of them was at the litia. After all, the very fact that in some schools there were members of parties who publicly stated their position, recorded videos, etc., speaks volumes about the criteria during the earlier elections of directors.
The education union announced a lawsuit against the Ministry for non-payment of overtime during the pandemic, while classes were held simultaneously in schools and online. In your opinion, did the teachers really work overtime and, if so, how come you did not reach an agreement with the union so that this case would not reach the court, and the citizens would pay the court costs, if the verdict was in favor of the teachers?
And in this matter, which is understandable because it is the case with most citizens, the feeling is created that a lawsuit and court proceedings are something terrible. Therefore, I will repeat that lawsuits are a legitimate means of legal action available to every citizen, including us to sue. In relation to the specific issue, we point out that the MPNKS had and has a good will to resolve this issue, but the participation of the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare is necessary for the same. The Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare has expressed its willingness to resolve this issue peacefully, however, the demand of the Trade Union is unrealistically high. And it is also not clearly and precisely established whether that right belongs to teachers. Therefore, if the requests that have been submitted remain at the level they have been up to now, perhaps only the determination of the existence of teachers' rights and their height should be left to economic experts.
Will the teachers who recorded the materials for the Uchi doma platform be paid for their work and when, and at what figure?
The teachers will be paid for the filming, it is about 56.000 euros, and the contract is being drawn up, after which the money will be transferred.
Amendments to the Law on Higher Education are underway. What are the main disputes at the level of the Working Group working on the Draft of the Future Regulation?
The working group has completed the first phase and the entire law has been drafted. I wouldn't say that we have disputes in the Working Group, on the contrary, we agree with a large number of provisions. There are proposals from individual members of the Working Group for changes to some provisions in relation to the Ministry's proposal, and a large number of those proposals are very constructive, which is why they will surely receive a lot of attention from the Ministry. The entire work on the law did not take place in an atmosphere of conflict, but exclusively in the way of finding the best solutions, for which we are grateful to all members of the Working Group.
What kind of situation did you find in the field of culture?
The department of culture is very complex, primarily due to the large number of institutions in the field of culture. In the department itself, there were irregularities in the part of the distribution of money based on the competition, while the complex problem is also in the institutions themselves, such as the National Museum of Montenegro, the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Property, which has not even started the process of revaluation of cultural property, the Music Center, which has a large number of embezzlements and the like. MPNKS takes a very serious and professional approach to solving all encountered problems and is an active participant in providing support to new directors, in order to bridge all encountered shortcomings as effectively and efficiently as possible. I must emphasize that in the department of culture we found a number of employees who, with their knowledge and professional work, contribute to improving the current situation.
What kind of situation did you find in the department of science? What do you see as the biggest problems and shortcomings?
The situation in the department of science is marked by the embezzlement of 50.000 euros that was spent in one weekend, the issuing of invoices for work that was not carried out, and the like. The biggest problem and shortcoming is the passive attitude of the previous administration in terms of the use of EU funds. Montenegro achieved extremely poor results, which led to the fact that we were losing money year after year. As potential beneficiaries of EU funds, we pay contributions, and year after year the contributions were higher than the money withdrawn.
Have changes or rationalization been made in this department? There are talks about the reconstruction of the Government and the separation of the department of culture, how do you comment on that?
Rationalization was carried out in all departments. As the Prime Minister promised, there was no rationalization of employees - there were no layoffs, but the unjustified spending of money was stopped. MPNKS is determined that the funds provided for in the budget must be spent as intended. In relation to the reconstruction of the Government, the MPNKS does not have the possibility to make a decision, what we can emphasize is that we introduced this department, like the others, into legal processes and that it functions quite smoothly. Accusations that it is "dysfunctional" are a euphemism for "the easiest to share", although that is not the case at all. A large number of ministries do not have this many "authorities" in their name, although, de facto, they do. At the same time, we certainly support all decisions made by the constructive dialogue between the parliamentary majority and the prime minister. All decisions that are good for Montenegrin education, science, culture and sports and the citizens of Montenegro. When it comes to the relationship to culture, I would focus special attention on the Montenegrin National Theater, which recently brilliantly staged the play "Youth without God" with the notable participation of FDU students, and the Cultural Heritage Administration, which has begun to solve decades of problems in the field of space under the protection of UNESCO. The Film Center is starting with some exceptional projects that will be discussed later.
Are you planning to develop a cultural policy strategy in Montenegro?
The culture of Montenegro is extremely rich. We believe that Montenegrin culture and cultural workers have been unjustifiably neglected for many years. A (quasi) elite cultural circle was being created in which there was no room for many of them. And that is now a problem for many, because the funds at the disposal of the department are no longer anyone's property. As a responsible society, we must first of all change the Law on Culture, after that there will be changes to a series of by-laws. We believe that we must place much greater emphasis on the protection of cultural heritage, both intangible and tangible. The process of revaluation of cultural heritage, control of the work of all institutions in the field of culture has begun. Culture is extremely sensitive and very important for all generations. The fact that culture is connected with the department of education through one Ministry is extremely important, which gives us great opportunities to direct our children to the right values. In the coming period, we will focus on exactly those activities.
During your mandate, will the Ministry finance priority and high-quality projects, or will the policy of generously donating eligible ones continue?
When it comes to the MPNKS, there are no candidates either politically or in any other sense. Only those projects that are legal will be eligible for financing. With the condition that they are legal, the benchmark will be quality and priority.
How far has it come with establishing the situation regarding the missing exhibits from the National Museum in Cetinje? Will anyone be held accountable for this?
As the public is aware, MPNKS has been designated as the coordinator in the National Museum of Montenegro. One of the first actions will be the engagement of an external audit, in order to check the complete financial operations of NMCG. Also, the legal status of the exhibits that are with third parties is unresolved, so it is necessary to determine whether they are owned by the NMCG or not, if they are the property of the NMCG, whether they were legally put to use or not, how they are kept and the like. In relation to the missing exhibits, the court proceedings are ongoing. We expect the courts and the prosecutor's office to do their work to the end and that the misappropriation of the exhibits be brought to light. MPNKS will pay special attention to establishing the true facts and will do everything to find the culprits.
What can be expected from the "Horizon Europe" project?
The "Horizon Europe" project is a project handled by the department of science, and it entails the signing of an agreement with the European Commission, which gives us access to a fund of 95,5 billion euros. The agreement with the EC has been agreed and is expected to be signed at the end of November this year. The first public calls will be in January 2022. As a relevant ministry, we will do everything to ensure that as many scientists as possible take advantage of this opportunity. In September, we organized a workshop, led by eminent experts in this field, where all participants could become better acquainted with the way in which they can access funds from this fund. We will repeat the workshops, and we will also provide other logistical support to our scientific workers.
Aleksandra Božović's association with Dveri is not a measure of her knowledge and abilities
The new personnel solutions at the top positions of the most important cultural institutions do not go over very happily - some retire without explanation, such as Živko Radović from the top position in the NMCG, the choice of Aleksandra Božović as the head of the Film Center is very controversial in the public, considering her connection with a radical organization The door?
Every personnel solution in all departments has its own explanation. Thus, Živko Radović did not withdraw without an explanation. Mr. Radović could not exercise his right to suspend his employment with his previous employer. Radović is an exceptional and respected expert in his field, unfortunately the formalities did not allow him to fully perform the duties of the acting director of the NMCG, which does not mean that Mr. Radović will not find his place in the field of culture in Montenegro. Mrs. Aleksandra Božović is also an exceptional and respected film worker in the region, we cannot agree that her choice is disputed by the public, but that her choice is disputed by certain structures in the field of film. Their dispute is connected exclusively with the fear that they will lose the benefits that they have achieved until now. However, what applies to them as well as to all other citizens, what belongs to them according to the law, they will have even now, that decision will not be affected by their public contestation of the election or their silence. Every citizen is equal before the law, whether he criticizes or praises, protests or remains silent. Mrs. Božović's association with the Dveri organization is not a measure of her knowledge and abilities, but of her decision in one period of her life. Whether it is the opposite of someone's position or not is a matter of politics, maybe she herself has a different position today. We have witnessed that in the last 30 years the political attitude has often changed, and I do not see that many actors in the political arena of Montenegro were particularly resentful of this. There are many radical structures in Montenegro, many people who call themselves artists and work in cultural institutions (therefore, they have not been fired or punished in any way) publicly express not only their views, but often also insults against the MPNKS and the Government. This is another indicator that this Government is democratic and that it does not want to influence the final birth of democracy and the death of single-mindedness in Montenegro by stifling public speech. As stated in some of the earlier answers, political commitment is not a measure of one's knowledge and abilities. Does it mean that now no member or sympathizer of DPS can be elected to any office? Of course not. After all, the principals of some schools are members of the parties of the former government, but they do their job well. As a civilized and democratic society, we should give everyone a chance to show what they know, whether we made a good choice, and Mrs. Božović, whether she is a good choice for the director of the Film Center. We know it is, and some results are already visible, and very soon the public will be convinced of it.
A large system, but not disjointed
How does the Ministry with four departments function?
Very often the public could hear that this Ministry is cumbersome due to the number of departments. As someone who is the head of this ministry, I believe that such assessments are incorrect, but not malicious because they stemmed from incomplete information. All four departments are very connected and give us the opportunity to create educational, scientific, cultural, youth and sports policy as a unique one that makes generations into complete personalities. The union of these departments will bring back the old values when there were acting sections, art sections, will lead to a greater participation of sports in our schools, will enable young talents to develop their scientific achievements and achievements. When it comes to all the previous projects, which are good, they are not threatened by the merger of these departments, but are implemented with the same dynamics. On the other hand, this news makes it possible to give greater opportunities to every young person to achieve through one ministry all that is necessary for his improvement and advancement, by simplifying and making available all the services that a state body like this one must and needs. to service.
On the right track to solve the problem with WADA, a separate department for sports is not necessary
Do you think that sport, given its specificities, deserves a separate department, rather than being under the auspices of such a diverse Ministry?
Taking into account the fact that the Directorate for Sports and Youth was formed, the department of sports as a separate ministry is not necessary.
Does sport, given the fact that it is probably the best representation of the state in the international framework, deserve more money from the state budget?
Every department, not only in this ministry, has a very important role in the development of a society. Accordingly, each department deserves more money and the greatest possible attention. Sports are no exception.
Can you explain the problem that Montenegro had with WADA?
WADA is the World Anti-Doping Agency and membership is a requirement for every country to be able to send its athletes to any competition outside its borders. The problem arose that the WADA Directorate for Sports and Youth and the Anti-Doping Commission did not respond to the invitations. They did not submit reports or the necessary questionnaire for last year. Ignoring such an agency had to entail consequences, which included the suspension of Montenegro from WADA. The suspension would imply that Montenegrin athletes would not be able to compete under the flag and with the anthem of Montenegro. Likewise, the Law on Sports, whose changes were not aligned with WADA's recommendations, was also disputed. Namely, the text of the changes proposed by the Anti-Doping Commission, and then the same appeared in the public as a proposal of DPS, did not receive the consent of all WADA bodies. As far as we have information, consent was not even requested, but taking into account the differences in the text to which consent was given and the text submitted by the Anti-Doping Commission and DPS, it is clear that such consent could not be obtained.
We are now on the right track to solve this problem. Immediately after finding out, the MPNKS cabinet communicated with WADA. They recognized Montenegro's intention to solve this problem, and we managed to prevent the worst consequences.
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