Premier-Designate Says Reinstating Normal Work of Schools, Faculties Will be His Cabinet’s Priority

Djuro Macut (PrtScr: RTS)

Presenting his Cabinet’s platform before the Serbian Parliament on April 15,  Premier-Designate Djuro Macut said that Serbia was tired of divisions and blockades, that all had to work toward reaching harmony in the society, and that harmony could be achieved through dialogue. He stressed that his cabinet’s priority would be to reinstate normal work of schools and faculties. 

Macut called for an urgent dialogue with all rectors, deans and all students, in order to find acceptable solutions and enable universities in Serbia to continue working, because the current situation, he said, “is a direct threat to the survival of universities and must be discontinued.”  

“It is unacceptable to have schools that are not working and the Law on Strike which is not implemented. Primary and secondary schools must return to their mission of educating, and also of raising children,” Macut noted.

Macut said that protests were a natural manifestation of youth, “but not blockades or denying others the right to work, study or live normally”, noting that in this case they could be described as “usurpers.” “Education reform is needed for to ensure that such divisions never happen again,” Macut added.

Pupils and students, he said, must “respect universal values, namely the authority of elders and their life experiences”, adding that all should know their place, namely “who pupils, students and professor are.” 

Macut also said he supported potential changes to the Law on textbooks for to ensure that “the highest quality textbooks for key subjects of national importance, which will be created by our most respected experts, will be the same throughout Serbia.”