Education community: Delaying the start of the second semester disrespects students, their families and 12.000 educators

"The act of procrastination itself is not as bad as the reasons and modes of procrastination"

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Illustration, Photo: Shutterstock
Illustration, Photo: Shutterstock
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

Postponing the start of the second semester for a week in the way it was done shows complete disrespect for our students and their families, as well as disrespect for over 12000 educational workers.

This was announced by the Educational Community of Montenegro on the occasion of January 24, Education Day.

"The postponement of the start of the second semester by a week is not the first, we believe it will not be the last move of the school calendar that we will encounter. Let's remember the unnecessary postponement of the start of the school year by one month (2020/21). Well, the postponement of the start of this school year, that would "fell" on Monday. It is not the act of delaying itself that is so bad, but the reasons and modes of that delay are bad," the announcement states.

They add that, "except on a moral level, that 'stepmotherly' attitude towards teachers would not be problematic, as much as the state's attitude towards education has been problematic for decades".

"Can it be considered serious for a country that is in danger of running out of natural science teachers in the near future, which has been blind to this fact for decades? Is a serious view of education to reduce the weekly fund of natural science classes, at a time when scientific literacy is of our elementary school students at a frighteningly low level? Is education being taken care of in old, overcrowded, cold schools, schools without gymnasiums, without usable IT equipment, schools that in over 90 percent of cases were built more than 40 years ago," stated Prosvjetna community.

They point out that every problem in society stems from lack of enlightenment, lack of education, lack of culture and lack of upbringing of its members.

"Our society has been trying to get out of the problems it is in for a long time, but, like in living mud, it is sinking deeper and deeper, because it is trying in the wrong way - by collapsing the educational system, the foundation of every society. If the foundations rest on education, teachers are their carriers, so a mature society would make a selection when enrolling in faculties that produce teaching staff or would take into account which faculties from abroad certify diplomas, and then constantly train those teachers in those domains where it is necessary. , a self-aware, authoritative teacher would be an excellent professional, insensitive to influences and untouchable by various party combinations or parents' demands, the cornerstone of a successful educational system".

The Educational Community states that quality education is the task of the entire society.

"It is dominantly acquired in classrooms, but not only in them. Children should also receive education from the media, in theaters, from their environment. And that (environment), if we want to admit it, is not at all favorable to them and our students are , out of school, exposed to everything but educational contents. It is high time that we understand that education is the only straw of salvation for our society, whose development, at this moment, does not inspire peace and optimism. The government conducts internal and external policy, and the prosperity of a country depends on its functionality society. That is why all the ministries, primarily the Ministry of Education, but also others, are responsible for the state of the education system, again, the foundation of an advanced society. Therefore, it is necessary to engage all government departments in favor of the education system, all economic and non-economic entities, the media, society as a whole and every individual who can contribute, either through their awareness of the importance of education, or through specific action towards the goal of creating educated, quality, thinking young people, and thus the progress of our country," the announcement states.

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