Pressure from RS authorities: Child allowance revoked for 81 children from Vrbanjci!

Parents of 81 children from Vrbanjci near Kotor Varoš are not giving up on their goal for their children to attend classes in the national group of subjects, despite the pressures exerted on them since the beginning of the school year by the RS Minister of Education Goran Mutabdžija, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria. 

One of the parents revealed to us in a conversation that Mutabdžija personally called some of them by phone, inviting them to have their children attend classes at the Elementary School "Sveti Sava" and that they would supposedly receive the subject "language of the Bosniak people," but they did not give up. 

Currently, they have organized instructional classes in the premises of the Islamic Community Council in Kotor Varoš. The classes are conducted according to the federal curriculum, and teachers and instructors from the Elementary School "Prvi mart" in Jelah come to teach the children. 

The official transfer of 81 children from Vrbanjci, from the Elementary School "Sveti Sava" to the Elementary School "Prvi mart," is underway, so their education will be recognized in the Federation of BiH. 

In addition to Mutabdžija giving false promises, because several children of Bosniak nationality who started attending the Elementary School "Sveti Sava" are still learning the Serbian language, and the national group of subjects is not included in the curriculum at all, 81 children have also been denied child allowance in the amount of 35 to 140 KM, depending on how many children the family has. 

However, neither the withholding of money (although it is sorely needed by Bosniak returnees, very few of whom are employed) nor any kind of pressure, says our interlocutor, will shake the parents in achieving their ultimate goal - which is for their children to learn the Bosnian language and have a national group of subjects. 

Although their lawsuit against the Ministry of Education and the Elementary School "Sveti Sava" for violating the provisions of the Interim Agreement was dismissed as untimely by the Basic Court in Kotor Varoš in the first instance, upon the parents' appeal, the District Court in Banja Luka returned the case for retrial.

The parents hope that this time they will receive a final ruling that their children have the right to classes in the national group of subjects.