Protest of High Schooll Seniors

Half an hour before it was announced that the demands of Serbia's high school seniors have been accepted, a car carrying Mirjana Markovic strolled by the protesters. A "close encounter" was very brief and only some of the students, protesting for 19 days in front of the Education Ministry, recognized the first lady. But when a few days later we asked a student if Mirjana Markovic helped them get what they wanted, he bluntly said: "Yes."

The first time Serbia's Education Board met to discuss the students' strike was on February 25, a day after Mrs. Markovic wrote the following words in her (then unpublished) column in Belgrade-based bi-weekly Duga: "...I'm personally inclined to believe that behind their (the seniors') protest over the final exam stands the final exam itself. And with the exam such as it is, I as well am joining the protest."

It's hard to believe that Mrs. Markovic read out her notes to the February 25 Board meeting, but it's even harder to believe that she kept silent about the entire affair. Anyway, the students were informed after the meeting that one subject (mathematics in general high schools) will be excluded from the final exam.

In the first week of March, a good and a bad news reached the protesters. They were received at the Serbian Parliament and promised that all their demands will be met, including the protection of any possible repercussions. But at the same time, education minister Milivoje Lazic met with high school directors and instructed them to apply Article 62 of the Law on secondary schools. The decision was prompted by the reports that schools in 36 towns in Serbia had joined the strike.

Under Article 62, the student with over 24 absences from school is to be expelled. Most of the protesters were just about to fulfil the main requirement - the minimum number of absences.

Schools in southern Serbia responded readily. In Vranje, seven students were expelled, but their expulsion was soon frozen. In Belgrade, Milica Arezina-Simonovic - a Board member and director of the First Belgrade Gymnasium, expelled 13 students but left to the professors the unpleasant duty of informing the expelled students.

A few days later, Simonovic told reporters she was only complying to the law. And the Law is almost as explicit as the minister's order which the school directors are bound to carry out . Simonovic, who rushed to show her obedience, couldn't have been resented about anything.

Later that same week, Belgrade daily Politika carried Mirjana Markovic's notes, previously published in Duga, and the public in Serbia realizes that the first lady is upholding the protest. Suddenly, the events took a different course.

Simonovic, in the meantime pressed by both students (who protested outside the school on Friday) and their parents (whose pressure Simonovic later described as an attempted lynch) changed her stand. She revoked the expulsions and even promised to apologize.

On March 7, the Education Board met again (with Mrs. Markovic, director Simonovic and minister Lazic present) to announce that the students' demands will be fulfilled. The next thing to be done was to whitewash the exponents in the anti-student war - they had to withdraw and take back all their hasty words and acts.