Three long-distance captains, who until September this year taught vocational subjects in the nautical department at the Bar Secondary Vocational School, accused the director Vucko Asovic for nepotism, mobbing and abuse of official position.
They claim that he illegally fired them and hired his daughter, the only one in that field who has had a permanent employment contract in the last 18 years, and they say that this is revenge and unprofessionalism, since they were the only ones who met the requirements for those positions.
The former professors wished to remain anonymous because, as they stated, they want to wait for responses from all the competent institutions they have contacted, including the Prime Minister. Milojko Spajić.
One of them has been employed on a fixed-term contract since 2020, and has worked continuously for the last two years, as confirmed by his work record book. At the end of August, as he told "Vijesti", after a meeting of the Teachers' Council, Asović called him and another colleague, who had been working at the school for ten years, into the office and told them that he did not plan to extend their contracts, and did not want to explain the reasons for this.
Three captains applied for "their" job every December. In the December 2024 competition for professors of the nautical subject group, all positions were advertised for a fixed term, they claim, except for the position of maritime law teacher. Asović's daughter was hired for that position, the only one for an indefinite period, in the nautical department.
One of the interlocutors of "Vijesti", among other things, claims that Asović mobbed him by disrupting his work, belittling him and obstructing him. Another emphasizes that, despite working at that school for many years, they never received permanent contracts, even though they had the conditions for it.
In a telephone conversation with "Vijesti", Asović rejected the accusations of his former colleagues and refused to comment on the situation, adding that he wanted to let the competent authorities "do their job".
The former professors informed the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Bar Regional Unit, the Labor Inspectorate and the Education Inspectorate, or the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI), as well as the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, about all of this.
They also addressed the Minister of Maritime Affairs. Filip Radulović and informed him about the situation at that educational institution, and asked him to advocate for quality teaching in the field of nautical science and protect the integrity of long-distance captains.
"The quality of teaching has been undermined due to the director's arbitrariness in constantly changing teaching staff in the field of nautical subjects, leaving staff who meet all the necessary conditions stipulated by law for teaching in the nautical group of subjects unemployed and rehiring people who either do not have a VII degree of adequate professional qualification according to the profile of a lecturer for that type of subject, or do not have a license to work in a school institution, and even the retired president of the nautical assets is the president of the institution," they wrote to Radulović in a letter, "Vijesti" learned.
They pointed out that professionals who have their own dignity, integrity, an adequate level of education, have completed two probationary periods with a successful professional exam, have a lot of work experience at this school, and have all the licenses required to work in an educational institution, are being removed from their jobs. They also wrote that the director is spreading disinformation that they have voluntarily left the school due to a six-month voyage, when in fact they have been left without notice, which, they insist, can be easily determined by looking at the work record book of one of them.
"Asović kept his daughter, who was teaching a law class at school without passing the professional exam, for a year, so he organized her to take the professional exam, and then announced a vacancy for a permanent position - all during his term," they said.
Last Tuesday, Asović, as they say, through the assistant director, invited them to a conversation regarding the "possibility of further engagement." As the three captains told "Vijesti", they declined this invitation because they did not want to discuss "possibilities" but rather concrete measures that would "correct the injustice done to them," and that they expect an invitation directly from Asović.
Due to the call through an intermediary, after contacting the authorities, one of them turned to the inspectorates again and informed them about it. He told them "not to allow him to announce competitions only from the second semester of each year, because until then he exercises his arbitrariness, then honors the competitions and in the end dismisses us again". The quality of teaching is declining, he warned, and assessed that nautical science urgently needs qualified staff with indefinite employment, because it is absurd to enroll in courses where there is not even one professionally qualified nautical professor with indefinite employment.
"If you let him make a mockery of the school and the courses, you will be responsible for the EMSA (European Maritime Safety Agency) finding, which will not be satisfactory, and the school's international license will be revoked, and then you will have to explain to the students why they cannot sail further than the Adriatic Sea," he pointed out in the letter.
EMSA stipulates that all educational institutions must have programs aligned with the STCW Convention ((International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers) and IMO (International Maritime Organization) courses, a certificate of education quality issued by recognized organizations, mandatory equipment for conducting practical training, and an implemented quality system in accordance with international rules.
None of the employees meet the requirements.
At the initiative of the captain, the case of employment in the nautical department of the Secondary School was also dealt with by the Educational Inspectorate at the Ministry of Education and Science, which determined that none of the professors hired for a fixed-term period in the nautical subject group met the prescribed requirements for that position.
The Education Inspectorate's findings, which were reviewed by "Vijesti", also state that none of those who do not meet the requirements were hired for a period longer than 30 days. Therefore, the responsible person was ordered to announce vacancies for these positions and fill them, after the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has given its consent, and in accordance with the Rulebook on Internal Organization and Job Classification.
When it comes to allegations related to mobbing and nepotism, the Ministry of Justice declared itself incompetent.
The Labor Inspectorate also investigated the events at the Secondary School and determined, according to the notice that Vijesti has access to, that there was no violation of the law. The inspectorate decided that one of them met all the general and special conditions for work at that school, but not the length of the employment relationship in accordance with the law. The former teacher claims that this is because the competition was announced every year in December, before which his contract would have expired. The inspectorate also assessed that the employment of Asović's daughter at that school was in accordance with the law, as was the disciplinary measure of a 10 percent salary reduction for two former employees in July.
The two captains claim that the disciplinary measure is a textbook example of revenge and personal conflict, convinced that they were deliberately asked to make an unintentional mistake in order to be punished and intimidated.
They are not satisfied with these findings of the two inspections, so they requested additional information and specific answers to the controversial questions about the employment of Asović's daughter.
"Someone needs to be held responsible for the entire situation. If this does not happen, and this case goes unnoticed or unpunished, it will create conditions for continued mobbing, the implementation of arbitrariness and revenge, in an even more brutal form. If professional and recognized lecturers do not come to these positions for an indefinite period, the consequence will be that the staff in the nautical department, simply because they do not meet the conditions, will be obedient and in fear, and the lack of reaction will ultimately mean the complete degradation of the nautical department," they told the newspaper.
The next step for them, as they stated, if the institutions of the system fail to protect them, is to seek justice in court.
Radulović written by Jakšić Stojanović
After the captains approached Radulović's ministry, they had meetings and communication with representatives of that department, after which Radulović wrote to the minister. Anđeli Jaksic Stojanović and requested her intervention.
In that letter, which "Vijesti" has access to, Radulović wrote that they received a request from the captain pointing out serious problems in the organization of classes at the nautical department of the Secondary School in Bar.
"It is alleged that qualified and licensed lecturers are being dismissed from teaching without explanation, while persons without appropriate conditions or pensioners are being hired, which threatens the quality of teaching and the integrity of seafarers as teachers," Radulović wrote.
Although the education of seafarers is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, he noted that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs monitors the status, qualifications and employment in the maritime profession and expressed concern about the possible consequences of this practice.
In conclusion, he asked to consider the attached request and take measures to ensure the engagement of professional and licensed personnel, in order to preserve the standards of education and the reputation of the maritime profession.
Will they lose their EMSA license?
The captains, like Radulović, warn that due to the current situation with personnel solutions at the nautical department of the SSŠ, it will be left without the EMSA license, which, they claim, they have been trying to obtain for years. The next EMSA standard check is planned for October, they pointed out, adding that it is very likely that, due to the director's actions, the school and its students will suffer.
Seafarers warn that for students attending this school, this means that they will not be able to board any ship sailing outside the Adriatic Sea with that diploma, nor adequately continue their education.
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