Serbia’s teachers’ union calls for urgent inspection at Novi Sad high school

Serbia’s Union of Education Workers has called for an urgent inspection of management decisions at Jovan Jovanović Zmaj High School in Novi Sad, a dispute that has drawn in teachers, students, parents and police.

The union wants inspectors to examine dismissals, the failure to issue new contracts, workload allocation and the employment status of staff. It also asked authorities to determine whether teachers faced discrimination, pressure or retaliation because of union activity, their views or participation in protests.

The union called on the Education Ministry, inspection authorities and the school board to stop watching as the school deteriorates publicly. “Silence is no longer neutrality,” it said. “Silence by institutions in a situation in which the court makes decisions, teachers lose their jobs, students stop attending classes, and parents protest becomes part of the problem.”

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Silence is no longer neutrality. Silence by institutions in a situation in which the court makes decisions, teachers lose their jobs, students stop attending classes, and parents protest becomes part of the problem.

Ten more teachers employed on fixed-term contracts lost their jobs on Sept. 2, according to the report. Unofficial information indicated that they were dismissed after attending a student-organized protest supporting teachers who had previously lost their jobs or been suspended. Five teachers had been dismissed and another five suspended near the end of the 2025-26 school year.

A court ordered four suspended teachers to return immediately, but the union said school director Radivoje P. Stojković has refused to comply. Students then protested the latest dismissals and sought a meeting with the director. They received one the following day and said he insulted them. The union said the school, known as one of Serbia’s oldest and most respected high schools, should not become a symbol of fear and arbitrary action.

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What has happened in recent days at one of Serbia’s oldest and most respected high schools stopped being an ordinary labor dispute or an internal problem at one school long ago.