Bochvarski questions Janevska on education restructuring consequences: School closures threaten teachers and communities

In today’s parliamentary session, LSDM MP Blagoj Bochvarski posed three questions to Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska regarding the proposed changes in primary and secondary education laws, the announced optimization of the school network, and the potential effects on teachers, students, and local communities.

Bochvarski expressed the opinion that the legal proposals do not constitute a fundamental education reform but raise important issues about the centralization of powers, increased financial burden on municipalities, and the future of small rural schools.

He emphasized the announced optimization of the teaching staff as a particularly contentious point, asking whether the process could be achieved through natural staff attrition, with gradual retirement, rather than measures that, according to him, could have severe consequences for teachers, students, and school operations.

He also warned that the possible closure of schools, especially in rural areas, could accelerate migration from the countryside to the city, as in many settlements the school is the only public institution that helps sustain local life and community. /Telegrafi/