OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint submitted by A. A, on behalf of her minor son B. B, against the secondary music school V. V. and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development. In the complaint, among other things, it was stated that B. B. has developmental difficulties, that he attended regular elementary and lower music education according to an individual educational plan with adjusted goals of the content and methods of achieving the teaching and learning program and the outcome of educational work (IEP 2), that he passed the entrance exam for enrollment in a secondary music school that was not adapted to his IOP2 program, and that he failed this entrance exam. In the school’s statement, it was stated that it acted following the Guidelines for adapting the entrance exam for secondary school for students who need additional educational support for the 2021/2022 school year. The school submitted evidence that it informed the District Enrollment Commission and the Požarevac School Administration about the need to change the content of the entrance exam, as well as that it requested a written opinion from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development on the possibility of changing the content of certain parts of the entrance exam, that is, the exam as a whole, for students who need additional support in education. The Ministry’s statement specified, among other things, that the purpose of the entrance exam is to recognize students with exceptional affinities, abilities, and talent and that changing the content of the entrance exam would make it impossible to assess “exceptional affinities and abilities”. During the proceeding, it was determined that the music school undertook all activities in compliance with the Professional Instruction for Enrollment of Students in Secondary School, as well as that the provisions of Article 6 of the Rulebook on Enrollment of Students in Secondary School prescribe that candidates with developmental difficulties and disabilities take the entrance exam for checking special abilities according to their motor and sensory abilities, that is, the conditions required by their type of disability, that is, in accordance with the needs for providing support in relation to the manner the exam is conducted, and that this article does not stipulate the provision of support for taking the entrance exam in relation to the content of the exam, as well as that the school was obliged to act in compliance with the mentioned regulations. In the analysis of the established factual situation regarding the part of the complaint that refers to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development it was established that the Commissioner had already decided on the same issue by recommending measures for achieving equality and protection against discrimination number 021-01-345/2021-02 of July 19, 2021, as well as that the Ministry informed the Commissioner about the measures and activities that will be undertaken to act on the recommended measures. Thus, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality issued the opinion that in the proceedings carried out based on the part of the complaint by A. A. against music school V. V, it was established that the school V. V. did not violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, while in the part of the complaint against the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, it was established that the Commissioner had already decided on the same matter by recommending measures for achieving equality and protection against discrimination number 021-01-345/2021- 02 of July 19, 2021.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković