NEW BUILDING OF THE SUBOTICA FACULTY OF ECONIMICS’ DEPARTMENT IN BUJANOVAC OPENED

Bujanovac  - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said  at yesterday’s opening of the building  for the use of the  Subotica Faculty of Economics’ Department in Bujanovac that the conditions for studying in Bujanovac didn’t exist even at the Law Faculty in Belgrade, and asked the students to study, stating that knowledge was more important than any policy.

While addressing the students, Prime Minister Vucic said that their success included their finding the strength to overcome all the local tensions, since Albanians, Serbs and Roma were studying together, and urged them to talk openly about all the problems instead of putting them under the carpet.

“It’s good while we talk and I’m confidents that the talks won’t be interrupted. All talks contribute to providing a better life for the citizens of Bujanovac and Presevo "said Prime Minister Vucic.

Serbian Prime Minister Vucic said that the Government of the Republic of Serbia would, in the forthcoming period,  be dedicated to the opening of new factories and to creation of jobs.

“It was the request of the unemployed people who were waiting for me in front of the faculty’s building.  Neither Serbs nor Albanians mentioned their nationality or religion, while all of them asked us to open more factories in Bujanovac. I’m positive that we will reach serious and important results in the future, by which both Serbs and Albanians will be satisfied, since the Serbian Government doesn’t discriminate among its citizens ", said Prime Minister Vucic.

On the occasion of the opening of the building for the use of the faculty in Bujanovac, the ceremonial delivery of diplomas to the students was attended by the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Peter Burkhart and by the Swiss Ambassador to Serbia Jean-Daniel Ruch.

“It is now up to you to break down all the prejudices, which so often limit the region, by means of education, persistence and accord, to take advantage of all your incredible capacity and stand shoulder to shoulder with the rest of Europe, "said Ambassador Davenport.

Ambassador Ruch underscored in his address to the students the importance of bilingual education and pointed out that education alone wasn’t sufficient. 

“You need to study, but you also need to work, since it is important to develop work habits and apply what you have learnt in practice, because it is the best way to contribute to the development of your municipality and your country, "said Ambassador Ruch.

The Mayor of Bujanovac, Nagip Arifi, said that South Serbia wasn’t a crisis point, but a place where different cultures would prevail and where ethnic differences would constitute richness.

Representatives of the Government of the Republic of Serbia that attended the event included  Education Minister Srdjan Verbic, President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, Zoran Stankovic, Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic and Dean of the Faculty of Economics in Subotica Nenad Vunjak.

Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Srdjan Verbic said that the opening of schools and faculties was very important for every community, especially for the environments with mixed population.  He pointed out that "the opening of the Department of the Faculty of Economics was carefully planned and that many important elements of the local conditions, as well as numerous organizations and institutions, were included in it.” 

Dean of the Faculty of Economics in Subotica Nenad Vunjak said that four years ago, when he the Faculty’s Department in Bujanovac was opened, it was uncertain whether the students would complete a four-year cycle of education, because there wasn’t any proper space for it, but that thanks to the joint efforts, the first twelve students graduated from the Faculty’s Department in October.  

While addressing the students in the amphitheater of the new building, Dean Vunjak said that despite all the uncertainties, the joint curriculum and bilingual education in the Serbian and Albanian languages "received grade 10 out of 10".

Prime Minister Vucic’s address to the students was several times interrupted by the President of the Albanian National Council (ANC) Jonuz Musliu, who insisted on being provided with the answer to why the textbooks donated by the Ministry of Education of Kosovo and intended for primary schools where teaching was conducted in the Albanian language, were held at the customs in Presevo for two months.  

Upon delivering his address at the amphitheater, Prime Minister Vucic told the press that "the textbooks under which Adem Jashari was a national hero couldn’t be used in Serbia, and that the Inspection Service would decide whether the Kosovar textbooks would get permission to be used in teaching in Serbia.”  

The building of the Faculty of Economics’s Department in Bujanovac was built and equipped thanks to the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the EU Delegation to Serbia, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the embassies of Switzerland and the US and the municipality of Bujanovac.

The Faculty of Economics’ Department in Bujanovac was located on the premises of the Community Center in Bujanovac since its establishment four years ago. It was then moved to the rented premises of a residential building in the center of Bujanovac, while, yesterday, all study programs and all four years of studies found themselves under the same roof.

Source: “Beta” and “FoNet” news agencies and Coordination Body