It is not true that the mayor of Centar Goran Gerasimovski put pressure on me at any cost to enroll the student who was problematic and because of which many classes are now being boycotted in OU "11 Oktomvri", but the parents of the child came to the school to enroll him on a regular basis procedure, saying that it will be easier for them to organize the day's activities. We gave our consent to regularly enroll the child in the school, but we were misled and facts were hidden from us – it was hidden that there were violence measures against the child from the previous school. That's why we withdrew the consent.

He claims this for "Free Press". Danica Blažeska, director of OU "11 Oktomvri" in the Skopje municipality of Centar. In this school, from today, all classes from the first to the fourth grade, together with two classes from the sixth and seventh grade, do not go to classes. The parents of the students have an ultimatum - their children will not go to school if a student who was expelled from the previous school due to violent behavior is allowed to be enrolled in a regular procedure in the new school together with their children. Institutions have no solution to the problem. The boycott of classes tomorrow is expected to be extended to all other classes.

Blažeska claims that she gave her consent for the new student to enroll in OU "11 Oktomvri", but she was misled, because the fact that the child had been punished in the previous school was hidden from her and the school administration. The parents came to enroll him in OU "11 October" following a regular procedure, which, according to Blažeska, cannot be done because it is not according to the Law, and therefore she decided that the consent will be withdrawn.

- As a school, we issued the consent, the parent took it to the school and from his home school, information began to leak to us, to employees, to parents that it was a student who had inappropriate behavior. In order to confirm or deny such allegations that were unofficially reaching us, I made several attempts to contact the authorities in "Lazo Angelovski" OU, but without success. Since in the meantime we did not receive any official information from the school, in the meantime the parents from our school sent us a letter to me, in which they attached the documents confirming that the "Lazo Angelovski" school sent a letter to the Municipality of Aerodrom requesting mediation for transfer of the student to another school. It is important that if a measure of "moving the student" to another school is imposed on a student, the actual process of moving the student is carried out by the school with the local government and the Ministry of Education, whereby the school where the student could be should be familiar with the whole procedure and all the measures and activities taken up to that point towards that student. The new school should be ready to accept the child, be ready with all the resources. In the situation, we issued the consent according to a regular procedure, as for a student who does not have any imposed measure regarding his behavior. When we received those documents from the parents of our school in an official letter, we at that moment wrote a letter to OU "Lazo Angelovski" that we revoke the consent, that it is legally unsupported and that we have been misled, says Blažeska for "Sloboden Pechat".

However, a parent from the previous school where the student studied submitted a complaint to the educational inspectorate against OU "11 October" in which it is said that the student is being denied the right to education by not being admitted to the new school.

Blažeska adds that the procedure for moving the student to another school should be conducted by the old school with the local self-government and Ministry of Education, not the parent following a regular procedure.

- The Ministry of Education, the local self-government and the old school are the ones who should provide an official document in which they will let us know what they have for that student. In this case, the student's right is also lost in a maze and we all need to stand up and protect him too, to give the child's rights but in accordance with the Law and the instructions that were signed and adopted by the Ministry of Education from 2020 . We did not invent the guideline, but it is an official document that provides the procedures when there have been victims of violence. We have come to a situation where our consent has to be withdrawn.

This situation led to a revolt and boycott of classes by the students in OU "11 October".

After the inspection, the parents from my school are outraged and are boycotting, because they think that injustice is being done in our school because the student cannot be enrolled according to the regular procedure. Facts have been hidden from us and we have been misled, adds Blažeska.

The parents of children from the first to the fourth grade from OU "11 Oktomvri" told the "Sloboden Pechat" that in solidarity, with the decision of the Council of Parents, it was decided that the younger children should not go to school from today and that this decision is currently being implemented. If the demands of the parents are not respected, then from tomorrow the students from the fifth to the eighth grade will join the boycott, parents of children in this school told "Sloboden Pechat".

The goal is to send a message that they are afraid that violence will happen again in this school.

The problem arose when the parents found out that the child had previously been dismissed from another school in Skopje, because he undressed a girl in the toilet. "Sloboden Pechat" already wrote about that case. As we reported at the time, (10 months ago), during class a second grade girl was followed by the boy into the restroom, where the boy removed her pants and underwear while she was washing her hands. All this happened in front of the eyes of the teacher who confirmed the incident to the principal, because she ran to follow the student, knowing that he was problematic.

It is about an extremely intelligent boy with above average intellectual abilities, but who said that he was unhappy because the students of his former school shunned him and left him to spend his days alone. For him, there were no invitations to birthday celebrations with his friends and he was shunned. The previous school then claimed for "Sloboden Pechat" that six students from his former class withdrew and transferred to other schools or classes, because they complained that the boy behaved violently towards them.

According to the words of school employees and parents of other students interviewed by the "Free Press", the boy's behavior at the previous school included several incidents. He even hit the headmistress of the previous school, pulled the teacher by her hair, hit and insulted the children, and it all started in kindergarten even before he enrolled in school.

The teaching staff complained of stress and decided on the last option – transferring to another school in order to protect the victims of the repeated violence.

But this has now inflamed the situation at the new school. The student once attended online classes, but now it is uncertain whether he will study with physical presence in OU "11 Oktomvri", because the parents protest against it, and the Center for Social Affairs recommends a change of environment.

The Ministry of Education and Science told "Free Press" that they are familiar with the case.

MES is familiar with the indicated case, in which several other institutions from different areas are involved. The recommendation from the Center for Social Affairs is for the student to change the school environment he was a part of until recently, and the new environment is the choice of the parents. The student should and must get a new opportunity to adapt and continue with the educational process, which by the way is a basic right of every child and we appreciate that instead of obstructing the attempt, support from all stakeholders is needed. Of course, the Ministry of Education and Science is open for communication, remains available and if support is needed from any aspect, we will provide it according to the legal possibilities.