The century of existence of the Vocational High School in Bijelo Polje was marked

During its one century of existence, the Secondary Vocational School in Bijelo Polje has changed its name, program structure and orientation several times, but it has never stopped working.

This was said by the acting director of the educational institution, Vidran Kljajević, at the ceremony marking the centenary of its existence.

Welcoming numerous directors of schools and institutions and representatives of the Municipality, Kljajević reminded that the first document about the school dates back to April 23, 1922.

"Then, according to the decision of the Ministry of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, on the initiative of the Circle of Serbian Sisters, the Women's Craft School was founded. She worked until 1947, when the School for Students in Economy and Crafts and the General Agricultural School were founded. In the 1953 school year, the School for students in the economy was founded, and in 1968/69. The School Center, while in 1980 the Educational Center 'Miloje Dobrašinović' was created, which consisted of the Gymnasium and the School Center and it worked like that until 1991, when it was integrated, and three schools emerged from it, the Gymnasium 'Miloje Dobrašinović', Local high school and School Center, while in January 2005 it received the current name JU Srednja strucna škola," said Kljajević.

According to the available data, from 1947 to the present day, more than 22.000 high school graduates graduated from that school with diplomas of the third, fourth and fifth degrees of various profiles and majors.

"This data proves the exceptional contribution of our school to the accelerated change in the qualification structure of the working-age population, and thus to the cultural and socio-economic transformation of Bijelo Polje, which rapidly took place in the seventies and eighties of the last century. During that period of rapid industrial development in Bijelo Polje, our school followed the development and adapted the curriculum to the then needs of a very demanding market. That it was done successfully is also confirmed by the fact that in the eighties, 14.000 workers were employed in the industrial zone, of that number, 74 percent of the employees were those who acquired knowledge and diplomas at our school, the then School Center", said Kljajević, adding that the high school graduates of that school found work in the metal, leather, textile industry, construction, catering, trade and crafts.

With the development of the Municipality of Bjelopolje, Kljajević pointed out, this educational institution also developed and modernized.

Despite the difficult periods in the early nineties, due to the war environment, inflation, sanctions and NATO bombing, the school never stopped working.

In memory of all those who founded, worked and built the Secondary Vocational School, a film about its hundred years of development was shown.

For their contribution to its development, the former director Božidar Ljujić, who was at the head of that institution for a quarter of a century, and during whose time it, as Kljajević emphasized, experienced a great flourishing, Russian language professor Rasko Kasumović, who gave birth to 42 generations, received certificates of appreciation for their contribution to its development. as well as Irena Madžgalj, who as a student of that school won first place at the Russian language Olympiad in Moscow in 2018.

The new Minister of Education, Miomir Mijo Vojinović, did not attend the great jubilee. The President of the Municipal Assembly Nemša Omerhodžić and Vice President Ernad Suljević attended the celebration on behalf of the Municipality. A cultural and entertainment program was also organized in which the City Choir and KUD "Tekstilac" took part.

That this institution can serve to the pride of everyone is also evidenced by its teacher of the mechanical group of subjects, Miodrag Furtula, who has been working for three decades.

"One hundred years of work of one school is something that has left a deep mark and a huge staff in this area of ​​ours, especially in the period when Bijelo Polje had a strong industry and had a strong need for those staff. Times have changed, our city is not what it used to be Our students, like everyone from the north, leave, mostly abroad, however, the diplomas they obtained here enable them when they come to the west and provide them with the opportunity to find a solid job there," said Professor Furtula.