High school students in Aleksandrovac since they have been in the blockade, they have been under pressure. This was brought to the attention of fellow citizens on the "Students of the Parish" Instagram account. At the beginning there were 13 departments High School "Saint Tryphon" with a house of students who voted to block classes, then two more classes joined in the following week. They were supported by seven professors.
Now classes are blocked by five high school classes.
They come every day at 8 a.m. and sit in the school corridor until 13 p.m. From 11.30:12.07 a.m. to 15:XNUMX p.m., they are conducting a noise campaign and XNUMX minutes of silence. On a daily basis is carried out on the sidewalk in order to remain fellow citizens were informed that part of the school is still blocked because the students want to contribute to the changes.
Dušan Savović, a graduate of this school, told "Vreme" that there were mostly the same people standing with them on the street in front of the school, a dozen of them.
"The parents of high school students supported us, except for the first year of high school, where the parents voted to continue classes." Almost everyone remained in some fear, whether because of work, some think it's a waste of time. They say: 'What can a little Aleksandrovan do' and the like," he explains.
During the blockade, they play puzzles, quizzes, watch movies and the like.
On the first day of the second semester, they went into a blockade. "We had an agreement to be in the gym, but it was locked. It is likely that the information reached the school principal somehow. Then we decided to be in the amphitheater, but it was also locked. In the end, we decided to stay in the school's main hall," explains Savović.
He adds that from the first day they drew banners and held a 15-minute silence from 11.52:12.07 a.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.
Pressures on students
Already from the first week, some class teachers put pressure on the students, threatening them with unjustified absences and banning them from attending the delivery of mail, the high school students wrote in a statement.
Nevertheless, Savović says that the professors who do not boycott classes did not enroll them from the beginning, that they started later, but the class teachers are obliged to justify the classes to those who are in the hall and participate in the blockades.
"That's why we started keeping records of who comes to the school hall and who doesn't." "He who did not come to class or to the blockade gets an unjustified absence," says this high school graduate.
He adds that professors are enrolling teaching units because the school is not in lockdown, but only a few classes.
"When the first plenum was supposed to be held, the director of the school appeared with the entire administration and said that there is no way to make up for classes, that we will receive unjustified ones, that the year will be extended, that we will not be able to receive certificates and the like", indicates Savović.
Regular parent meetings were held at the beginning of the semester. However, the principal of the school also appeared on them and mentioned absences, testimonials and the like. That's why, says Savović, the parents were scared and influenced the younger students to attend classes regularly.
"We still hold the plenum, but not in the amphitheater, because that's how the information gets to the school director, we're already getting close." There will be one or two representatives from each department that boycotts classes, we also have a chairman and then we discuss further proposals for actions and the like," he explains.
What does the school principal say?
School director Branko Rajčić told "Vreme" that all this is not true.
"This morning we had the student parliament, which we have every week, to reduce the situation - which students are blocked and which are not." The five high school classes that remained in the blockade, no one mentioned to them that they would not receive certificates, that their classes would be unjustified. Class teachers keep track of who is here, since our students are in the hall. The amphitheater is open to them, they can watch some movies there to 'kill' time. And no one can enter the gymnasium without sneakers, and physical education classes are held," explains the director.
He adds that out of 23 classes, only five are blocked and emphasizes: "Out of 415 students." samo is 100 in lockdown.
"Today we had the parliament and I asked them: 'Do you have any demands'? And the fact that someone tells them that they won't get certificates doesn't depend on me at all, it depends on whether they will have grades or not until the end," says the director.
As far as absences are concerned, those who attend school "will probably be excused for classes, and those who do not come must provide an excuse."
"Professors must definitely go to class and record who is present and who is not." That's right, it has to be registered. "What if it happens that a child is not there and something happened to him or he committed a robbery," emphasizes Rajčić.
He says that there were classes where the parents were not in favor of the children being in the blockade, but they still left.
"What should you tell them now?" So here they are very, very relaxed and have a lot, a lot of freedom in a way," the director believes.
By the way, Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia prescribes freedom of opinion and expression.
Protest on Sretenje in Župa too
Students of the Parish announced a protest in Aleksandrovac on February 15 under the name "Freedom begins where fear disappears" at 17 pm in the city center.
Savović says that high school students will also be at the protest and says: "Even though we are a small community, we cannot wait for Novi Sad, Belgrade, Niš and others to do something, while we pretend that nothing is happening, and we know the situation we are in."
And they want to make sure that the citizens are not afraid of us, because formally we live in a democracy where the people should rule, not an individual.
At the end of the announcement, the high school students told their fellow citizens: "Join us today - because together we can do what we could not do alone!"
