Regarding the decision to change the name of Primary School “Desanka Maksimović” in Bujanovac to Primary School “Ismail Kadare”, the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and President of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa, Aleksandar Martinović, PhD, hereby informs the public of the following:
“The Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa implements the Government’s policy on the territory of these municipalities. The Coordination Body is a political body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia which ensures the conditions for the smooth development and progress of these municipalities in the central part of Southern Serbia. All the activities of this body are carried out in accordance with the predetermined policy of the Government, with the necessary coordination of the work of state bodies in whose direct jurisdiction are areas of strategic importance for improving the quality of life of all citizens in this part of Serbia.
The conceptual goal of its founding and the strategic goal of the Coordination Body’s activities is the preservation of peace and security, which is a prerequisite for the creation and preservation of a true multi-ethnic and multi-confessional society based on democratic principles. In order to maintain full political stability and maintain the principle of the rule of law, the Coordination Body ensures the improvement of the living conditions of all citizens, regardless of their nationality, taking into account the peculiarities of all national identities, in the sphere of health, education, social issues and all other areas of social life.
As regards the change of the name of school institutions, according to the Law on Fundamentals of Education System, the institution can perform a status change, a change of its name or seat, whereby the decision on changing the name or seat of a public institution is made by the governing body, with the consent of the Ministry. The request for obtaining consent to change the name of the institution shall be submitted to the Ministry by no later than 31 December of the current school year. The school cannot perform a status change, change its name or seat during the school year. Exceptionally, if there are circumstances which prevent the smooth running of classes, the seat status change can be performed during the school year, with the consent of the Ministry.
The Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa believes that the decision to change the name of the Primary School “Desanka Maksimović” in Bujanovac to Primary School “Ismail Kadare”, which was made at the session of the MA Bujanovac on 15 November of this year, was made without the support of Serbian councilors who participate in the work of MA Bujanovac, was hasty and absolutely illegitimate.
Consultations with political parties and councilor groups that represent the Serbian people in MA Bujanovac should have been carried out beforehand, in order to make a decision that would be harmonized with the wishes of the Albanians and the wishes of the Serbs.
Instead, Serbian councilors, as well as all Serbs in the Municipality of Bujanovac, were faced with fait accompli of changing the name of the primary school, whereby the notable person after whom the school was named is none other than Desanka Maksimović, one of the greatest Serbian poets, a woman who had a pure soul and an open heart towards all people, without distinction.
The Coordination Body, the President of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Republic of Serbia are still extending their hand to the Albanians and their representatives in the southern part of the Republic of Serbia, but, as can be observed from this example, it still remains out of reach,” Martinović has said.