Ulcinj: Parents meet with President Milatović to find out why their children are not going to school

The President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, was met today during his visit to the "Maršal Tito" Elementary School in Ulcinj by the parents of first-graders who are still not attending classes due to a dispute between parents and the administration over who should teach the first letters to the children enrolled in the Montenegrin language department.

Although the school year is well underway, thirteen first-graders are still not attending classes because their parents are requesting that they be taught by a teacher who meets all legal requirements and speaks the standard CSBH language at the level necessary for working with first-graders.

They are protesting because their first-year students were assigned a teacher who completed her education in her native Albanian language and holds a certificate of proficiency in Montenegrin.

One of the parents, Anela Spičanović, informed Milatović in front of the school entrance about their problem, about which the competent institutions have been silent for days.

"The President was informed that the parents contacted the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and the Education Inspectorate, which came and seized the documentation, but that they still do not have any official information about whether, when and under what conditions their first-graders will start school," Spičanović told Vijesti after talking to Milatović.

Milatović responded to Spičanović that he was not relevant to resolving the problem of language proficiency or lack of proficiency, but promised that he would contact the Ministry about it today and seek answers so that the unpleasant situation could be resolved as soon as possible.

"Parents have no other demands than to assign their children a teacher who is educated and has completed studies in the language in which they will teach. I reiterated that children cannot be taught by someone who only has knowledge of the language, but by someone who has been educated and has completed studies in that language. The president is of the opinion that children should go to school, but parents are in doubt about where to go when they do not have educated teachers and the solution is not to transfer them to another school," said Spičanović.

She stated that the parents' demands were not politically, nationally or religiously motivated.

"We don't care whether the teacher is Orthodox, Muslim or Catholic, Albanian or Montenegrin... The only criterion is that she is educated for what she is supposed to teach our children," she said.

Parents also refer to Article 78 of the Law on Primary Education, which states that "teaching in schools may be conducted by teachers whose native language is the language in which the teaching is conducted or by teachers who have graduated from an appropriate faculty for teacher education in the language in which the teaching is conducted."

Milatović paid a working visit to Ulcinj today, during which he visited the Boško Strugar Elementary School, the Maršal Tito Elementary School, and the "Bratstvo-jedinstvo" Mixed High School and spoke with the leaders of the Municipality.

Open competition

School principal Ferida Hajdinaga said that a vacancy for a Montenegrin language teacher position was announced on Monday.

She repeated that even in the case of champions who do not attend classes, everything was done in accordance with the law.

"Due to the lack of staff, the first-year students were assigned a teacher for a month who has knowledge of the Montenegrin language, and this is in accordance with the law because primary education is mandatory," Hajdinaga told "Vijesti".