Class interruptions in Montenegrin schools due to reports of bombs have become everyday, and students have already Googled threatening emails, as well as lessons outside the classroom.
According to the data of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, at least 11 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens have received threatening reports about explosive devices placed since the beginning of the school year.
Since the beginning of the school year, the majority of e-mails with threatening content have been sent to the addresses of coastal schools, and bomb threats have mainly targeted educational institutions in the territory of the municipality of Herceg Novi.
From the department he heads Anđela Jakšić Stojanović they also say that the recent report was recorded at the secondary mixed school "Ivan Goran Kovačić". They announced that the first threatening e-mail arrived on February 14, and the next month, they say, classes took place "some in school, some online."
In addition to "Ivan Goran Kovačić" Junior High School, threatening e-mails also arrived at other addresses of schools in Herzegovina. Regular classes were interrupted in Elementary School "Dašo Pavić", as well as in Elementary School "Milan Vuković", so students attended classes online.
"Emails with threatening content were also received at the elementary school 'Dašo Pavičić' in Herceg Novi on February 29 and March 4 and 11. Classes were held online. The school for elementary music education in Herceg Novi received an email with threatening content on March 19, and classes were held online, and after a police inspection, they continued regularly," said the MPNI.
Even the kindergarten in that municipality was not spared - the preschool institution "Naša radost" received a report, so the children were urgently evacuated and sent home.
Class interruptions have a bad effect on knowledge
The "Parents" Association is also aware that false bomb reports and threatening emails are a huge problem facing schools.
Director of the association, Kristina Mihailović she said that it was problematic that the interruption of classes in Herceg Novi lasted "about a month, which is an extremely long period".
"Additionally, when it is taken into account that children, and when we are talking about secondary and primary schools, are facing external knowledge tests, so every day that is lost is a big problem. That is, something that the parents pointed out... At some point, everyone realized that these were false reports about bombs, as, in the end, it was determined for a significant part of them. What is more problematic for parents is the fear that they will 'Google' everything that is happening and that, if a problem were to happen, they would not even believe it, because there were many such situations", Mihailović said, adding that the system's response " it is not adequate, although somewhere we understand that it is not simple and that there are different situations".
He believes that it is good that the Montenegrin cases have been processed, but that it is more important to communicate information about the consequences.
"...That is, what were the punishments for those who were suspected and then found guilty, even when we talk about minors, because they were most often the ones. It is not that there were no cases that were not solved, but we must not forget that there are a significant number of those that were not solved and because of which the entire educational process was affected. "Unfortunately, we have classes interrupted every now and then due to various reasons, and all of this together has a bad effect on the learning process, mastering the material, but also on the results of our children", explains Mihailović.
Threats at multiple school addresses
In addition to Herceg Novi, threatening e-mails were also sent to the addresses of schools in Kotor.
The MPNI told "Vijesti" that last month several threats "the content of which refers to the alleged installation of an explosive device" were sent to the email address of the "Vida Matjan" secondary school in Kotor. According to them, the police soon identified the minor who sent the emails and arrested him.
"Emails with threatening content also arrived at the address of the Maritime School in Kotor. The first was on February 23, and the students were sent home. Given that it was Friday, the teachers and students received instructions from the acting director that on Monday classes will be organized in the building, but also to prepare for online classes from nine o'clock if a new report arrives. The next notification was on Monday, February 26, online classes were organized through the 'Teams' application, as well as the following day, Tuesday, February 27. On Wednesday, February 28, there was no report, classes were organized in the school building. The new report was on Thursday, February 29, the police inspected the building in the early hours of the morning, after which classes started according to the usual schedule in the school building. On the same day, a meeting was held between the acting director of the Maritime High School and the acting director of the Gymnasium with the head of OB Kotor and the decision was made that on Friday, March 1 and Monday, March 4, classes will be held online so that the police can carry out their activities. Classes were normalized on Tuesday, March 5," said MPNI.
The Tivat school "Mladost" was also the target of false reports, where after a police investigation it was determined that they came from a seventeen-year-old against whom, according to the MPNI, a criminal complaint was filed with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kotor.
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The Podgorica Electrotechnical School (ETŠ) "Vaso Aligrudić", ten days ago, on the morning of March 15, also received a threatening email stating that an unknown person would come to the school with three grenades, a pistol and a machine gun, about which the school management informed the police and the Ministry of Education. As they said from the competent department, the email was sent by a seventeen-year-old from the municipality of Tuzi.
The MPNI indicates that schools "act in these cases in accordance with established protocols."
"...Which entails notifying the police and after that, in agreement with the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, switching to online classes. It is recommended that everyone, when teaching takes place online, use the Teams application, because all institutions have this resource at their disposal. Students have the possibility of additional support on Saturdays, in order to prepare for matriculation and professional exams", said the competent department.
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