Appeal from preschool institutions: New measures an attempt to abolish kindergartens for Serbian children

Directors of preschool institutions in Kosovo have sent an appeal to the general public aiming to highlight the danger posed to them by the new measures of the Central Bank of Kosovo, which they say are an attempt to abolish kindergartens for Serbian children.

"We are in the preschool institution 'Danica Jaramaz' in Kosovska Mitrovica, which has been providing education and upbringing for children in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija for 63 years. Together with representatives of other preschool institutions, we address the public, primarily representatives of the international community, to appeal for help and to highlight the danger looming over us," the Director of that preschool institution, Suzana Aleksic said.

She added that in the field of preschool education today, thousands of children of all nationalities acquired their first experiences, social skills, and initial knowledge in collectives across Kosovo.

"More than 900 colleagues are employed, providing their families with income for a normal and dignified life. Without intending to interfere in politics, at this conference, we want to draw attention to the danger posed by the intention of the authorities in Pristina to abolish educational institutions by abolishing the use of the Serbian dinar and payment transactions, thereby depriving our children of their basic human right to education," Aleksic emphasized.

She stated that the CBK decision if implemented, would prevent the operation of their institutions and deprive the families of employees of the livelihood earned through honest, responsible, and honorable work.

"I don't want to dwell on the past, but I will remind you that the first blow to our organization was on June 1st, 1999 when we were expelled from our premises in the southern part of the city. You can imagine how many memories are left just a few hundred meters from here. Today, when we have managed to build all of this from scratch and establish a system serving the youngest across the entire territory of Kosovo and Metohija, enabling them to develop into good, responsible, and honest individuals, someone has decided to abolish the use of the Serbian dinar and payment transactions for us. To understand the extent of this shameful and terrible decision, we want to point out that its implementation would hinder the procurement of food for our children staying in our institutions. Similarly, it would deprive us of the ability to acquire teaching aids, didactic materials, educational resources, and necessary supplies for our work," the Director emphasized.

She says that in the absence of financial resources, they would not have the possibility to renovate and expand their capacities.

"I won't even talk about the personal incomes of our workers. In a word, this would be the abolishment of Preschool Institutions in Kosovo and Metohija for the Serbian community. Instead of going to kindergartens, our children would be left on the streets. Although our profession is universal and has no connection with politics, our obligation is to act in every way to help and prevent the occurrence of catastrophic consequences. Our children do not deserve what is being done; they deserve a carefree life with their parents in their homes, with the right to education and upbringing like their peers all over the world, and above all in our Europe," the Director stated.

She emphasized that representatives of EU countries, the United Nations, UNICEF, and all others must react urgently.

"We call on our state leadership to help us and protect our people in these areas from those who would like us to disappear from here. A blow to the education of children is something unheard of in the 21st century," Aleksic concluded.