Centre for Civic Education (CCE) points out that the allegations of Slavica Stupić, acting Director of the Gymnasium in Kotor, that CCE did not request the dismissal of Veljko Botica when he violated the General Law on Education and Upbringing are incorrect.
As a reminder, immediately after holding the pre-election political rally of then-presidential candidate Milo Đukanović, in the sports hall of the School Centre in Dobrota in Kotor on 4 April 2018, the CCE submitted the Initiative to the competent minister requesting to dismiss Veljko Botica as a director of that school due to violation of the General Law on Education and Upbringing. On that occasion, enclosed evidence indicated that the premises of the school were used for party promotions, which is contrary to the General Law on Education and Upbringing.
By this Initiative, the CCE has also requested for every director who allows abuse of school facilities for political purposes to be punished, regardless of which political party is holding gatherings in schools. In addition, after this initiative, the CCE submitted numerous urgencies, but the competent Ministry is still keeping silent.
Also, it is important to mention that during the meeting of CCE representatives with Minister Vesna Bratić, at the end of December 2020, the CCE pointed out, inter alia, this unresolved case of abuse of an official position of director, but Bratić did not dismiss him for this. Namely, Botica was not dismissed until the adoption of amendments to the General Law on Education and Upbringing, when the “general dismissal” of all directors of educational institutions was carried out, based on the misapplication of that Law – which is the reason for the overburdening of that ministry with lawsuits.
The CCE considers that the role of the Education Inspection in the process of controlling the legality of the work of educational institutions and their staff is extremely important. Unfortunately, the previous governments did not consistently respect the decisions of this body, but often made exceptions when it came to supporters of the government, and we note that this tendency is going to continue. Non-compliance with the decisions of the competent authorities collapses the institutional framework, and this cannot be in the public interest.
Snežana Kaluđerović, Senior Legal Advisor