The capital did not have a kindergarten on duty during Easter, which led some parents to complain to officials from the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, who sent an initiative to the administrations of preschool institutions, as well as colleagues from the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation, to resolve the issue.
The initiative sent by Mirela Ramčilović, an official from the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, to colleagues from the education sector and the administration of preschool institutions states that, due to the non-working holidays, a major logistical problem has arisen for families who do not have the option of alternative care for their children.
The initiative states that the "Dragan Radulović" educational unit at the Old Airport did not operate in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Celebration of Religious Holidays, without the possibility of organizing on-call kindergartens or groups.
The letter states that, due to the non-working holidays, "a major logistical problem has arisen for families who do not have the possibility of alternative care for their children."
"... And whose parents had to work, whether they were employed in the public and private sectors, or in activities in which days off were not provided for employees who were not members of the Orthodox or Catholic faith. For this reason, most parents were forced to take their children with them to work, privately hire people to care for them, or take unpaid days of leave. Then, the question arises of the justification and expediency of making a decision to suspend work in educational units whose students, as well as educators, are mainly or in significant numbers members of religions that do not celebrate the religious holidays in question, without providing on-call care or some other alternative way of caring for children," states the Ramčilović initiative.
He also states that the reference to "non-existent legal provisions of the Law on the Celebration of Religious Holidays and the decision to suspend work based on that" is questionable.
"Namely, the Law on the Celebration of Religious Holidays indisputably stipulates the right to paid leave for believers of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic faiths for the purpose of celebrating the religious holiday in question. The same Law, as well as the decision of the Ministry of Employment and Social Dialogue on non-working days during Pascha/Easter, explicitly stipulates the obligation of state bodies, local self-government bodies, public enterprises and public institutions founded by Montenegro, or municipalities, to ensure the performance of work during religious holidays, the interruption of which could have harmful consequences for citizens or the state."
She appealed to the Ministry of Education and Science to "in accordance with its responsibilities regarding the organization of the work of educational institutions, make a full contribution to respecting legal obligations to ensure the minimum work process during all state and religious holidays."
"This would in no way imply a violation of the right to paid leave for believers of the Orthodox, Islamic, Roman Catholic or any other religion - depending on which religious holiday it is about."
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