Parents of Jovina students protest outside Novi Sad technical school: “Principal Stojković is destroying the school”

Parents gathered outside a technical school in Novi Sad where the Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Gymnasium is temporarily housed, demanding the return of dismissed teachers.

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Our children are sad, outraged and angry. As their parents, we demand that our children’s teachers be returned to them.

The protest followed a series of dismissals at the school. One parent told the crowd that students should be discussing their holidays and preparing to learn new things, not confronting the principal, Radivoje Stojković, to ask for their teachers back. She said at least one more female teacher had been intimidated after the dismissals.

“Our children are sad, outraged and angry,” she said, calling for the teachers to be returned and for the school to regain normal conditions. “We will not give up our teachers, and we will not give up Jovina. Jovina is ours.”

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We will not give up our teachers, and we will not give up Jovina. Jovina is ours.

Jovina teacher Danijela Grujić said the dismissals reflected helplessness and that staff were being subjected to severe violence. She accused Stojković of trying to destroy the school, saying he had already seriously disrupted teaching. Students, she said, were distressed and unable to attend classes.

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These massive dismissals are a consequence of helplessness. We are all exposed to great violence.

Grujić added that responsibility did not rest only with the principal, but also with those supporting him and refusing to end the situation. She told the gathering that the teachers would continue their fight to the end.

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His goal is to destroy this school.