The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) rejected the initiative to extend the holidays until January 26th.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", this is an initiative of the Board of Directors of the Ski Resorts of Montenegro (SCG), which was forwarded to the department of Anđela Jakšić Stojanović by the Ministry of Tourism.
The same sources claim that the Board of Directors of Serbia and Montenegro asked the relevant Minister Simonida Kordić to, if possible, initiate a proposal to extend the leave to the Government.
The Board of Directors is reportedly of the opinion that "this would not reduce the quality of educational work, given that the school calendar provides for 184 working days, and the mandatory minimum is 180."
However, Jakšić Stojanović's department does not agree with these assessments. According to unofficial information, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports responded to their colleagues from the tourism department that this could, however, jeopardize the quality of teaching, which is why they do not agree with the proposal to extend the winter break.
They recalled that there had been cases of postponing the start of the second semester before, but that these postponements "were to the detriment of the organization of educational work."
According to the same information, the Ministry of National Education and Research consulted professional services and institutions before considering the proposal.
Based on this, sources at "Vijesti" claim, they once again took the position that extending the winter break is not a good solution for any participant in the educational process.
They explained, allegedly, that the number of teaching days was planned in accordance with the legal minimum, so any additional shift in the School Calendar would have significant organizational consequences - it would lead to disruption of established family and work habits, the introduction of classes on Saturdays, or the extension of the school year by five working days in June. This, they assessed, would call into question the quality of the implementation of the teaching process, but also its organization in a period that is already burdened with external testing.
The Ministry of Education and Science also reminded that this year's snowfall occurred during the winter break, so students will have the opportunity to use part of the break until January 19th for skiing, sledding and other winter activities, but that it is realistic to expect that, even in the event of a possible extension of the break, most parents would be able to take their children to the mountains only on weekends, due to their work obligations.
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