The Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) in Podgorica has opened a case on suspicion that physical education teacher IR at the Branko Božović Elementary School is acting aggressively and sexually harassing male and female students, the Podgorica ODT told the Center for Investigative Reporting in Montenegro (CIN-CG). The case is in the investigation phase.
The IR teacher was suspended from the school in mid-February, after an anonymous letter from the parents of students at Branko Božović Elementary School arrived at the address of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI), prompting the ministry to launch an investigation into the entire case.
This teacher's problematic behavior has been known for years, which was confirmed by multiple sources, including students at the school and their parents, in an interview with CIN-CG for the purposes of an article about this case, published on March 2.
CIN-CG also announced at the time that it had access to a survey conducted as part of an extraordinary inspection conducted by the Montenegrin Institute of Education in February, after the Ministry of Education and Science launched an investigation into the entire case. Students often stated that the PE teacher, whose name or initials are not mentioned, “breaks into girls’ locker rooms,” “looks at girls strangely,” and “touches girls inappropriately.” Boys mostly responded that the inappropriate behavior refers to girls, but also that he knows how to be rough with them, that he knows how to hit children, and shouts.
As with several other addresses, CIN-CG received an anonymous tip at the end of February, stating that employees of the ZŠCG, during a regular inspection of the Branko Božović school, were informed about the inappropriate behavior of the IR teacher towards students back in October 2024. However, it is alleged that the institutions did not take significant steps to investigate the case, until the parents reported it to the Ministry of Education and Science in February.
Back in October 2024, as part of its regular supervision of that school, the ZŠCG surveyed students about the behavior of all teachers at that school, and at that time, 13 percent of them stated that students were exposed to physical violence at school, and 15 percent of them stated that they were exposed to verbal violence by teaching staff, as stated in the report on that supervision, which CIN-CG had access to.
The Institute told CIN-CG that after learning that a number of students had reported violence during the October inspection, they contacted the Education Inspectorate, which was their legal obligation. They did not respond to CIN-CG's question about when they did so. The Education Inspectorate also did not respond to CIN-CG's inquiries about the case and the date on which they were informed about it.
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