Just 15 kilometers from Podgorica, the school in Komani has more memories than students. Once there were over three hundred of them – today there are only 22. The classrooms are the same, but the children are becoming fewer and fewer.
"What affects these numbers, besides that, the fate of all rural schools and besides those migrations and emigrations, the search for better living conditions, is the decreasing number of young families, which immediately affects the enrollment of first-year students," says Dragana Radulović, director of the "Boško Radulović" Elementary School.
Some classes only have one student. But this school doesn't give up. Teachers combine classes and plan lessons with care and creativity.
"Right now, this year we had a combination of first and fifth grade, classroom teaching, fifth graders are reminded of something they learned earlier, and first graders are probably left with the material they learned since fifth grade," says Radulović.
In this school, every student is visible – both when they progress and when they stop.
"The commitment is much greater, not only in a professional sense, but also as people, as parents, as soon as we see that a child is lagging behind somewhere, or that a certain period is stronger, we notice it and know how to adapt," Radulović points out.
Although the number of students is decreasing, the school is fighting for survival. It has recently been renovated and is ready to follow modern teaching methods.
"We hope that those from those preschool groups, kindergartens that are closer to us, Gornja Gorica, Donja Gorica, Blok, will come and decide for our school, yesterday with the help of the media, thank you to the media, with the help of the media, a parent came who wants to enroll their child from a city school, I am happy, one but valuable," said the director.
She invites all parents who want their child to receive additional individual attention to enroll in this school in Komani.
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