Ministry of Education published a calendar of educational work for primary and secondary schools, in which the days scheduled for one-day visits to exhibitions are marked EXPO 2027 in the period from May 17 to June 25. The president of the Forum of Belgrade High Schools, Ana Dimitrijević, tells Nova Ekonomi that not even field trips are included in the educational work calendar, and that this is the first time that a visit to an exhibition has been included in the calendar.
"This is not even an excursion, they have to go through the committee and the Council of Parents. This is a visit to the exhibition," said Dimitrijević, adding that the excursions are not even recorded in the calendar published by the Ministry of Education, since the schools organize the trips at different times, which is why they are planned within the annual work plans of each school individually. writes the New Economy.
Dimitrijević explains that visits to exhibitions, museums or plays are organized outside of working hours, that is, classes, but also that these activities are financed by the students and parents themselves.
"I assume that for the visit to the EXPO exhibition, fees will not be provided for the professors who will guide the children either. The state does not pay the per diem for us and for the excursion, but the parents pay the fee for taking care of the child," says Dimitrijević.
A member of the Council of Parents of the Ninth Belgrade High School, Boris Bogdanović, tells Nova Ekonomija that the parents learned about the planned visits to EXPO 2027 from the media and that they were not consulted about it beforehand.
"The first question is how, why and on the basis of which curriculum EXPO is something that students should visit. The second question is who will bear the costs of the organization," said Bogdanović.
Parents already pay for everything
He adds that parents already allocate significant funds for excursions, recreational classes and other school activities, which is why it is important to clarify in advance whether eventual visits to EXPO 2027 will represent an additional financial burden for families.
All organized visits that parents pay for should also go through the Council of Parents and receive approval, as is the case with excursions, he said.
Mirjana Avramović, master of pedagogy, employed at the company EXPO 2027, told Beta today that this will be the first generation of students who will have the opportunity to come and stay at the exhibition for free, and that each age group will have an adapted program.
"The organization of the study visit means that we, through various programs and contents, will certainly respond to the educational goals attributed to the curricula of our educational system. This generation of students will be the first to have the opportunity to come and stay at the exhibition for free," said Avramović.
New economy contacted several principals of primary and secondary schools in Belgrade and we received a reply that they were not officially informed about this nor did they receive the calendar of educational work for the year 2027.
Stormy public reactions
The publication of the calendar caused violent reactions in the public, after which the Ministry of Education issued additional announcements clarifying that the visit of students to the EXPO exhibition is not mandatory.
"Students' visits to EXPO exhibitions are not part of compulsory school activities. The decision on possible participation in such programs is made at the level of each school individually, in accordance with the interest of students, teachers and parents", announced the Ministry.
It is added that, as in the case of other optional excursions, excursions and extracurricular activities, minor students can only participate with the prior consent of their parents or legal guardians.
"In this way, the right of families to independently decide on children's participation in activities that are not part of the regular curriculum is respected," the Ministry states.
However, it remains unclear why the optional activity is officially marked in the calendar signed by the Minister of Education Dejan Vuk Stanković.
Ministry of Education: This is a long-standing practice
Civil society organizations, Union of High School Students of Serbia, Civic Initiatives
The umbrella organization of the youth of Serbia and the Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia expressed precisely those ambiguities in their joint statement today.
"If it is only about the possibility, why is the wording used in the rulebook that the school will foresee this visit in the annual work plan? It is controversial that an activity that includes an organized departure of students outside of school is introduced without a clear answer to the questions of who decides, who pays, who is responsible for safety and what rights parents and students have," said the organizations.
The Ministry of Education did not answer New Economy's questions about who will bear the costs of organization and transportation.
At the same time, in the Rulebook on the educational work calendar, it is stated that schools will determine the method and time of compensating the teaching days that are missed due to excursions and other activities outside of school.
The Ministry of Education stated that the organized visits of students to EXPO exhibitions represent a long-standing practice in the host countries of this event, citing Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Japan as examples.
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