While the government is disintegrating, Education Minister seems ready to accept resignations of expert group members.
In a situation where the government is falling apart, comments like these are inappropriate. Furthermore, it is not true that Minister Šustar tried to persuade us to return, said Zrinka Ristić Dedić, a member of the expert group for curricular reform, reacting to a statement which the Education Minister gave today, reports tportal.hr on June 8, 2016.
After today’s cabinet meeting, the Minister said that the dismissal of the expert group members was something that could no longer wait. “We have talked several times, I tried to persuade them to return. There is a lack of time, and this is too large a project for us to keep arguing. The reform will go on and we have to depersonalize it so that no one person can bring the process into question”, said Šustar.
Ristić Dedić said that there was no contact between the expert group members and the Minister after his last press conference in which he accused them of making delays to the process. “We have no intention of returning, because nothing has changed. Our conditions have not been met. We have submitted our requests for dismissal. All documents, new versions of the curriculum required for public debate, we have sent everything to the Ministry”, she added.
Expert group members’ term of office would otherwise last until the end of the public debate. However, the terms of office for those who participated in the reform from schools will end as early as 15 June. People are leaving, and there is no money to continue with the project.
Recently, numerous peaceful protests with tens of thousands of participants were organized in several cities in support of the reform, but it seems that the government has decided not to accept the protesters’ demands to come to an agreement with the head of the expert group Boris Jokić and his associates.
