Efendić: We built a school in Aneks and it functioned, then the Trojka came and the agony began!

(Patria) - We invested a lot of effort, work, energy and enthusiasm to build the school in Aneks. The school was completed and opened in 2018 to great joy and worked as a wonderful collective until the Ministry of Education of the Sarajevo Canton decided to ruin it.

This was stated by the president of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the mayor of Sarajevo's Novi Grad, wishing to point out the agony of the school in Aneks, which functioned well until the arrival of the new authorities.

"They wanted at all costs to drive away the principal Omer Begović, who in a record time of just 10-odd days in 2018 managed to form a collective, carry out the formal legal registration of the school, receive the teaching staff and start the school year. Instead of thanks, they sent him to the unemployment bureau and left him without a job. But not only that, after the new competition for principal, the next candidate also did not appeal to them because they probably want someone political who will work for them and not for the children," states Efendić.

As he says: "for more than a year now, they have kept the school leaderless and in agony."

"That is the same ministry for whose sake another ministry of the same government - the Ministry of Internal Affairs, banned a peaceful protest of educational workers in primary education. You can do as you please, but you won't get away with it forever, sooner or later the people will stop this torment of children and educational workers," Efendić said.

Below is the statement of the Novi Grad Municipality in which they call on the Government of the Sarajevo Canton to solve the problem:

"The Novi Grad Sarajevo Municipality calls on the Ministry of Education and the Government of the Sarajevo Canton to stop the activities that caused the agony of the school in Aneks, which has been without a principal for a year, more precisely since the end of the mandate of the then principal Omer Begović.

Due to the chaotic situation in this school, the parents of the school's students, whose children suffer the most, as well as the school's teachers, are outraged. However, regardless of the dissatisfaction of parents and teaching staff, the Ministry of Education of the Sarajevo Canton wants at all costs to impose its will and appoint a principal contrary to the will of the school collective, parents and the local community.

The school was built in 2018 and started operating very well, but then the Ministry decided to ruin it, and for a year now they have been 'holding' the school in unprecedented agony.

Although the former principal Omer Begović, who would be in his second term and who initially received support from the Ministry during the principal selection procedure, as well as representatives of teachers, parents and the Municipality, applied for the public call for the selection of the principal of the 'Aneks' Elementary School, the Government of the Sarajevo Canton, for reasons known to them, refused to give consent for the appointment of the school principal, citing events that occurred at the 'Grbavica 1' school where Mr. Begović was previously principal.

We note that the relevant Ministry never had any objection to the work of Principal Begović, who successfully carried out the process of establishing the 'Aneks' Elementary School, which functioned very successfully during his mandate.

However, by not giving consent, on the proposal of the School Board, and by not conducting the procedure for appointing an acting principal, the agony of the school began, which was kept without a responsible person from April 2023 until October 2023, when an acting principal was finally appointed.

A new competition for the selection of a principal was announced only in October 2023, which has not been completed to this day, although the voting was conducted in November 2023, and after the Ministry established that the candidate who received the support of parents, teachers and the Municipality was not to their liking, they refuse to complete the process and appoint a principal, thus keeping the school in agony.

Due to all of the above and the lack of an authorized person, the 'Aneks' Elementary School is the only school where new free textbooks for students from 1st to 4th grade have not been procured.

The parents of the school, disappointed and outraged by this treatment of the competent Ministry towards their children, contacted the Novi Grad Sarajevo Municipality informing us that the children will once again be 'collateral damage' of this irresponsible attitude of the Ministry, due to which their departure on a field trip is also in question, seeking the help of the Municipality to finally end the agony over the appointment of the school principal.

We believe that it is high time for the Ministry and the Government of the Sarajevo Canton to get serious and stop this irresponsible and insolent attitude and neglect towards the students of this school, their parents, but also towards this local community and the school, which is motivated exclusively by political reasons, because unfortunately, through schools, to the detriment of our children, attempts are being made to appoint suitable principals, which has been unprecedented in the area of Novi Grad Sarajevo so far".