Textbooks could become free in all of Serbia, outgoing Prime Minister Miloš Vučević announced. How the authorities finally remembered just now
In all the hubbub, hardly anyone noticed, but Milos Vucevic, the outgoing Prime Minister, announced on Monday (January 27) that starting the next day, he will negotiate with Finance Minister Sinisa Mali on the possibility of textbooks for students in Serbia and public transport will be free everywhere. Many questions are being asked about why the announcement comes at this very moment, when the political situation in the country is boiling over, and where the money for the announced free textbooks and public transportation comes from.
Less than 24 hours passed from Vucevic's announcement to his resignation. That is why the question is whether this announcement will be forgotten.
From the organization "Kreni-Promeni", which previously started the initiative for free textbooks, they see this kind of announcement as another attempt to flatter the people in a heated political atmosphere.
"In the midst of the new events, where students, as well as educators, have been successfully resisting this regime for two months, at a time when their strength is clearly felt on the streets, members of the government are trying to woo the people," Senka Kostić from "Kreni-Promeni" told "Vreme". He welcomes the idea of free textbooks, but adds that "it is clear that it is now marketed to win over parents and the general public."
That textbooks should be free everywhere has been mentioned in public for years. More than a year ago, "Kreni-Promeni" launched a campaign so that all primary school students in Serbia have free textbooks. They submitted the petition to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance and, as they reported for "Vreme", they received the answer that free textbooks are not the subject of discussion of the national budget, but are the responsibility of local governments.
The initiative for free textbooks throughout Serbia was also launched by the "Alek Kavčić" Foundation. The idea was to create a program of free textbooks, which would also be available on the Internet.
Aleksandar Kavčić, the founder of the Foundation, stated for "Vreme" that the Prime Minister's promise in Vucevic's resignation about free textbooks should be considered, especially in terms of the quality and price of the textbooks.
"If the government's plan is to use taxpayers' money to pay for textbooks at a price five times higher than the real price and in this way to fill the pockets of individuals through corruption channels, and all under the guise of fighting for the rights of students, that is essentially no different from the corruption machinations related to the canopy in Novi Sad. We collectively must not allow such combinations", says Kavčić. The essential question, he adds, is what have they been waiting for until now? "Is it possible that it took fifteen people to die and for the people to take to the streets en masse, so that only then did they remember the students and the right to free education, all in the hope that they will now calm down the society?" And how does he suddenly have money?"
In recent years, parents of students in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, have been receiving free textbooks, that is, money for their purchase. Previously, students in Surdulica also received free textbooks, and some local governments give them to students in the first grade of elementary school.
If Miloš Vučević's announcement comes true, negotiations will be held with the Ministry of Finance on whether there are funds for such a move in the budgets of local self-governments. No additional details are known, but economists say that the funds could be taken from local budgets or the state coffers if there is no money for it in the local budget.
In that case, the money could be secured from budget reserves or dedicated funds, and be subsidized by local governments, economist Ljubodrag Savić explains for "Vreme".
"Probably there are no dedicated funds for that in the budget, but there are budget reserves from which financing is possible," says Savić. He adds that overflows from other budget funds are also possible, and he does not expect that there could be additional borrowing. They keep records of local budgets in the Permanent Conference of Cities and Municipalities, but they did not want to comment on the announcement of these types of funding for textbooks and transportation for "Vreme".
In order for such an initiative to be implemented, the root of the problem should first be looked at - why textbooks are expensive in Serbia, according to economist Nikola Altiparmakov. "For the last quarter of a century, we have had a completely irrational system of publishing textbooks," says Altiparmakov for "Vreme". If an economically optimized textbook publishing system were introduced, their price would be several times lower. "When you lower the price of textbooks, then you can talk about free textbooks. This should be discussed at the republican level, not at the local self-government level," adds Altiparmakov.
Less than two days of blockade - that's how long it took to see how weak and powerless the public media service is, both from the outside and from the inside. At the moment of writing this text, it is the eighth day of the blockade, and the sixth that RTS is not broadcasting its program. They also seem to be facing a strike inside the house. And the essence of blocking RTS is not in what it publishes, but in what it keeps silent
In the months after the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, the flames of rebellion spread throughout Serbia. The first protests started in Novi Sad right after the tragedy. The authorities responded with arrests, police cordons and intimidation, but instead of calming down the protesters, new protests followed.
The rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, has been the target of top state officials and regime tabloids for months, who label him as an insidious instigator of student protests, an opportunist, "the face of evil" and "the leader of the criminal octopus." How and why a rector became "state enemy number one"
"I'm standing in the cordon, and my daughter is shouting at me 'aw, aw, killers'. What should I do? If they ordered me - I would throw down my baton and bulletproof vest and stand on the side of my child," a police officer from the south of Serbia, who works as needed in the Belgrade Police Brigade, told "Vreme"
The recent formation of the Đura Macuta government is part of the regime's revenge and cynicism. This can be seen most in the "black troika" of new ministers appointed to deal with the parts of society that are the leaders and symbols of the big rebellion that lasted for several months, the cause of which was the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, which claimed 16 human lives. Education, universities, unsolicited media and parts of the judiciary that refuse to listen to orders, either publicly, with announcements, or hiding behind legal procedures, should be dismantled. Those who will have no problem doing everything they are told, even reinforcing the orders with their own inventions, are chosen for this.
Who mentions the extraordinary elections when the rating of the party in power is falling, and according to all surveys, Vučić is not the most important political factor in the country, but the students?
The brutal beating of students and citizens in Novi Sad shows that the regime is not only ready to take revenge - it is actually carrying it out
If in reality the principle of balance is violated - the way the incompetent regime violated the relationship between the concrete elements at the Novi Sad Railway Station - reality will behave like a canopy: it will fail to obey
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