Of the planned 11 departments in Gymnasium "Jovan Jovanović Zmaj" in Novi Sadin, in the first enrollment period, only two were completely filled, the parents of the students of that school announced.
The parents assessed that the school recorded a "disaster" during the enrollment of elementary school students.
"Jovina high school is not the most desirable high school in Novi Sad anymore, but it is the last on the wish list of primary school students, and the school will fill only two of the 11 planned classes this year. This debacle has been confirmed today, through the officially published results of the distribution of students by high school," the announcement states.
Empty departments
As they stated, only 90,5 points were required for enrollment in the science and mathematics course this year, which is the lowest threshold among Novi Sad high schools. They remind that last year 97,3 points were necessary for the same course in Jovina.
They added that it was planned to enroll three classes of 20 students each for the informatics course, but only 14 students chose that course, so two classes of this course will be closed.
The parents stated that the competition provided for two classes of special mathematics majors with 20 students each, but only 28 students chose that major on the wish list.
"Just two years ago, as many as 90 students were interested in the biology-chemistry major, and now only 12 students have been assigned to that department, that is, eight places remain unfilled," the announcement reads.
The class with special abilities for physics enrolled eight students, although this class was supposed to have 20 students, according to the parents.
"For enrollment in bilingual classes, the situation is similar - according to the competition, the enrollment of 14 students is planned for each, but only seven applied for Russian, eight for German, and only four for French. Even for English bilingual, where until now there has always been many times more competition compared to the number of places, now only 13 students will enroll," the announcement reads.
The parents point out that the remaining three Novi Sad high schools have filled all the places provided by the competition.
Photo: Printscreen/N1The director of "Jovina" gymnasium Radivoje P. Stojković is kneeling in front of the door of that school
They blame the government and the principal for the state of the school
"For more than a year, we warned about this dark scenario, visited all institutions several times, with constant appeals to change director Radivoj P. Stojković and thus preserve the oldest high school in Novi Sad. "Despite numerous illegal actions of the director, which the parents documented to all institutions, the government decided to keep Radivoj P. Stojković in the position of director for purely political reasons," the announcement states.
According to the parents, the mayor of Novi Sad, Žarko Mićin, the provincial secretary for education, Robert Otot, the minister of education, Dejan Vuk Stanković, as well as the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, were directly responsible for the "failure" of Jova's high school.
The parents state that they also see responsibility in the president of the Serbian Progressive Party, Miloš Vučević, who they claim made false claims about a female teacher taking his son out into the yard to pay respects to the victims under the canopy.
"As the students and professors did not keep silent about that lie, the government and Radivoje P. Stojković decided to punish Jova's high school, which is now on the verge of survival, with a series of decisions, such as the displacement of three schools and the dismissal of a large number of teachers," they said in the statement.
Chronic state of tension in Jovina
The events in the most famous high school in Novi Sad have attracted a lot of public attention in the past year and a half, since the students of Jovina high school blockaded the school.
Displacement of students in three schools, suspension of several teachers initiated a series of protests by parents, students and citizens with the demand to replace the school director due to "illegal actions of the school director Radivoj P. Stojković and violation of the basic rights of students and professors".
The parents repeatedly appealed to the republican, provincial and local institutions with a request to resolve the situation in Jova's high school, but they did not receive a single response, even though, as they state, it was their legal obligation.
Last week, at the invitation of the senior official of the EU delegation in Serbia, Rihard Maš, the parents discussed the situation in that gymnasium.
In the statement, they stated that they informed the high-ranking EU official about "deprivation of freedom of movement of students and professors by Stojković, disciplinary proceedings against students initiated by the principal without any grounds and evidence, targeting of underage students through the school's website and the media", adding that they also informed him of new hearings of students, which were initiated and conducted by the principal during this vacation with the aim of "intimidating all students of the Gymnasium."
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