Following the series of texts of CIVIL Media about kindergarten “Pcela” (Bee) in Cair where there was abuse of children with religious contents, which were published on the portals of  CIVIL-Center for Freedom  in Macedonian and Albanian and which emerged from a story of a citizen journalist about the unregistered kindergarten “Pcela”, the reactions of the media interested about the topic just do not seem to stop, as well of the institutions and the wider public.

The building in which the “kindergarten” is located in is owned by the organization “Mustafa Pasha”, which is registered as a Foundation for education, culture and humanitarian aid. The Foundation has been registered in 2012 and has 11 owners.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy checked whether the kindergarten is registered, who stands behind the kindergarten, what is the official act and on what basis it violates the constitutional provisions of a secular state such as Macedonia. As a result, they discovered that religious teaching is being carried out on children aged 6 to 11 years old, in a private house that has been adapted to a kindergarten.

“Both the children and the kindergarten teachers confirmed that religious rituals (prayers, worshipping and teaching of religious books) are taught there from 11:00 – 16:00h every working day. Following the request of the State Labor Inspectorate for insight in the documentation for the functioning of the facility, it was told that the owner of the humanitarian association “Mustafa Pasha”, who is a Turkish citizen, had the entire documentation. Furthermore, from what the kindergarten teacher who was present there had said, this humanitarian organization had several facilities with the same educational character, but that she did not know where they were”, announced the Ministry.

The Ministry informs that in the interest of the children’s safety, who are unlawfully taken care of in a so-called humanitarian institution, that they will request the MOI and the Ministry of Education and Science, within the framework of their competencies, to examine the justification, character, goals and intentions of this humanitarian organization.

Upon the request of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the State Education Inspectorate yesterday went on the ground to examine the situation. The Ministry of Education also announced that the inspectors were on the ground and that they would have more information in the following days. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy continues with extraordinary inspections of the facility. The kindergarten is empty these two days.

The existence of the kindergarten “Pcela” was also condemned by the head of the Islamic Religious Community, who announced that he would institutionally oppose the teaching that is contrary to the laws and the Constitution.

“No one can do this without our consent, nor can they even think of doing such a thing. We will not allow anyone to unconsciously infect them (children – nn).  As much as it can be informing and educating, it can be just as much contaminating! I guarantee you and I tell them that we unanimously oppose with all the bodies of the Islamic Religious Community”, stated Sulejman Rexhepi, President of the Islamic Religious Community.

Representatives of the Ombudsman also went on the ground in order to determine what specifically is happening in and with the children’s kindergarten “Pcela”. They demand responsibility from this institution for the persons who allowed the work of the kindergarten.

The two major political parties in the country, SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE, have also demanded responsibility.

From the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they say that they have received the information and that it has been handed over to the competent organizational units.

In addition to the condemnations, the Children’s Embassy “Megjashi” came out with a somewhat different position in terms of this issue, and their statement says that “the children visiting the center are children of parents practicing Islam. The parents willingly and by their own conviction sent their children to that center and knew that here, besides other things, basic religious rituals were being taught. In fact, that was one of the reasons why they enrolled their children in that ‘kindergarten’”.

At the same time, Megjasi also add that kindergartens are public institutions and that all those who work in the kindergarten need to adhere to the positive regulations of the Republic of Macedonia, which guarantee the protection of children’s rights and the best interests of the child and their development in the spirit of accepting, sharing, receiving, as well as other values in the spirit of multiconfessionalism.

According to the Constitution, Macedonia is a secular country, whereas religious teaching is not allowed in pre-school classes and primary schools.

Маја Ivanovska