Parents' Council: Mahir Rakovac's Irreplaceable Loss Sounded the Alarm

The Parents' Council of primary and secondary schools in Sarajevo Canton expresses strong sympathy with the parents of the recently tragically deceased student Mahir Rakovac, reports the Patria News Agency.

At the same time, we condemn peer violence in any form and demand an urgent and effective investigation of this event from the competent judicial and police authorities in order to establish all relevant facts and circumstances that led to such a tragic outcome.

In addition, the Parents' Council expresses great concern about the apparently present phenomenon of peer violence in our schools. It is clear that the irreplaceable loss of Mahir Rakovac is an alarm that gives us all a clear signal that something must be done urgently.

Therefore, as an association representing over one hundred thousand parents of students in the Sarajevo Canton, we demand that the institutions of the system, competent parliaments, governments, ministries, police, judiciary, the non-governmental sector, and all other relevant organizations and individuals urgently take appropriate steps to prevent this phenomenon.

- We believe that only planned, systematic, continuous, and long-term measures and activities, which will be actually implemented in our schools, can contribute to the early detection of peer violence cases and thus prevent all negative consequences of such behavior, especially such tragic ones. In order to protect the well-being of our children, the Parents' Council will constantly remind the competent authorities of this obligation in the future – it is stated in the statement of the Parents' Council.