Bosniak Children Confused: School Year in Vlasenica Begins with a Priest

The first day of school for returning children in the BiH entity of Republika Srpska did not start happily. Although the new school year officially began in this part of the country on September 1, most Bosniak children only started school today due to the holiday of Eid al-Adha, which began on Friday.

Parents of Bosniak children in Vlasenica are dissatisfied with the fact that this morning, a Orthodox priest taught their pupils in the school desks how to pray in Orthodoxy.

- My daughter goes to the second grade of the Vuk Karadžić Elementary School in Vlasenica. Instead of feeling like a real schoolchild today, she came home scared – says the father of this seven-year-old girl for the Patria agency, who wished to remain anonymous, explaining that the priest taught the children how to make the sign of the cross and pray.

- There are more Bosniak children in that class. I consider this a provocation and I am concerned – adds this returnee.

He says that returnees in Vlasenica are particularly left to their own devices, because, he claims, they have no one to turn to, nor do they see anyone interested in helping them resolve their daily problems.

This parent says he will ask the school principal to explain why a religious figure began teaching the class. Returnees in Podrinje have been facing great hardships for a long time. They are belittled by the President of RS, Milorad Dodik, as well as other entity officials. The authorities in this BiH entity deny Bosniak children the right to the language they speak.

- During school excursions, both Bosniak and Serb children are taken to visit Serb sites of suffering. Who needs this? What do they want to teach children, especially at an age when they cannot distinguish between truth and an attempt at abuse – says this father from Vlasenica, who returned with his family to his hometown after being expelled during the aggression against BiH.