no. 07-00-397/2023-02 date: November 10, 2023.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint of the lawyer …, on behalf and with the consent of AA and BB, against PPI (Public Preschool Institution) … due to discrimination against the minor V.V. based on health condition and disability. The complaint stated, among other things, that the minor V.V. has autism, that he has attended the preparatory preschool program at the PPI … since September 2022, and that the institution shortened the stay of the child V.V. in December 2022 to four hours a day. In the statement of the PPI … it was stated that on December 19, 2022, the pedagogical collegium, as the highest professional body of the institution, after considering the reports of all participants in providing additional support to the child, determined that it is in the best interest of the child to shorten the time spent in kindergarten to four hours (compulsory preparatory preschool program) until 12 o’clock. It was further stated that V.V. was monitored by the Team for Inclusive Education, psychologists, and kindergarten pedagogues, that individual conversations were held with parents, work methods and materials were adjusted, and individualization was applied in the work with the child. In the attachment to the statement, the defectologist’s observation regarding the child’s stay was submitted, which states that the child should stay for four hours, until socialization and group work are encouraged, as well as that an eight-hour stay would be tiring for the child because the child is not used to working in a group. During the proceedings, it was established that the Law on the Basics of the Education and Training System stipulates that the program for preparing a child before entering elementary school, as part of preschool education, lasts four hours a day for at least nine months. In this specific case, the institution submitted evidence confirming that the decision to shorten the stay of the child V.V. in the institution for four hours was based on the monitoring of the child’s behavior. After the analysis, the Commissioner found that the PPI … submitted evidence to support the allegations that the child V.V. was not put in a disadvantageous position in the institution based on health and disability, that he is provided with additional support, as well as that the child’s shortened stay in the institution is in compliance with the legal provisions on the duration of the preparatory preschool program and is a form of additional support until the child is encouraged to socialization and group work. The Commissioner issued the opinion that in the proceedings based on the complaint filed by the lawyer …, on behalf and with the consent of AA and BB, due to discrimination against the minor V.V, the Public Preschool Institution … did not violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković