The school board of the Maritime School in Kotor illegally demanded statements from the teachers about the reasons why they signed the petition against the principal Ratko Petrović and forwarded it to the Ministry of Education and the media.
That governing body also demanded that the teachers, whose signatures are below the request for the dismissal of Petrović, announce whether they had additional income, in addition to the monthly earnings at the school.
The Educational Inspection assesses that the School Board acted contrary to its competence in this way.
The inspectors also determined that the School Board's decisions from May 25 are null and void, noting that that body has neither a president nor a member on behalf of the Council of Parents.
"The responsible person, Ratko Petrović, was told that the Council of Parents must elect a representative in the School of Education, as well as elect the president of the School of Education, in accordance with the General Law on Education, the Statute and the Rules of Procedure of the School of Education. Also, the appointee is obliged to inform the inspector in writing about the measures taken within seven days from the date of expiry of the deadline for eliminating the irregularities," the education inspector's notification states. Dijane Magdelinić from September 18.
In that finding, there is no information about the fact that the Teachers' Council voted no confidence in its representatives in the School Board, and that no session was convened during which new ones would be elected.
Director Ratko Petrović told "Vijesta" that the session of the Teachers' Council will be convened when "the Education Inspectorate resolves the complaint about the vote of no confidence in the previous representatives of the teaching staff in the School Board".
He also claims that he lodged an objection to the inspection report, which points out that the School Board acted outside of its competences and asked for teachers' statements, as well as insight into their additional income.
When asked by "Vijesti" whether a temporary School Board will be appointed, given all the events at the Maritime School, as well as the latest findings of the inspection, the Ministry of Education announced that, "in accordance with the law, they sent a letter to the school with a request to take appropriate measures within the legal deadline to eliminate the irregularities pointed out by the educational inspector in his findings, and inform the Ministry of Education accordingly".
"In the minutes, the educational inspector ordered that the director of the institution and the school board take the necessary actions and measures for the election of representatives in the school board from among the parents' council, as well as the election of the president of the school board," the Ministry replied.
Senior legal advisor at the Center for Civic Education (CGO) Snezana Kaluđerović says that the non-governmental organization "is aware of the informal communication of director Petrović with the teachers in that institution, which demanded the selective statement of only certain teachers of the Maritime School to state the current situation, which is a sign of the threat of the influence of the director's office".
According to her, it is known that the school asks for statements and, according to the current law, they are given only as an opinion.
"...Because the teachers' council gives an advisory opinion to the school, i.e. the board of directors, during the election and dismissal of the principal, and until May 2023, the General Law on Education prescribed only the declaration of the teachers' council on the candidate for principal and assistant, which is required by the minister , and to which request the teachers' council had no obligation to respond. On the other hand, illegal orders of members of the school board, for individual statements of a part of the teacher, can be a means of evidence in mobbing proceedings before the competent court, because the latter uses inappropriate influence by protecting the teachers, with his position and the position of support from the minister who was obliged to dismiss him at the time of the inspection findings, when the director's dismissal was the minister's responsibility," Kaluđerović assessed.
She reminded that the CGE requested the urgent appointment of a temporary School Board of the Maritime School back in August.
"The fact that, with a new finding, the Educational Inspectorate established that the truncated School Board of the Maritime School, in violation of the law and jurisdiction, requested the statement of the teachers who signed the petition of no confidence in the director, speaks in favor of the fact that the initiative was justified and grounded in the law," emphasized Snežana Kaluđerović.
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