In a show of support for the university students' protests, high school students across Serbia have blockaded schools and teachers have gone on strike. The government responded by not paying the teachers' salaries in February. How long can they hold out?
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00:00Medicine, bandages, water. Simon is checking supplies, while Jovana goes over the list
00:07of essentials. These high school seniors from the Mileva Maric Einstein Technical School
00:13are preparing for a 70-kilometre walk to Belgrade, where they will join a large student protest
00:18on Saturday. For the past three months, they've been blockading their school in support of
00:22university students' demands for justice, following the collapse of the train station
00:27canopy that killed 15 people in Novi Sad last November.
00:57For three months now, these high school students have been spending their days planning protests,
01:07organising campaigns and making banners. But it hasn't always been peaceful.
01:13We had a situation where a couple of us were sitting at the table next to the school, where
01:18a man came and started tearing off all the banners. We had a couple of dozens of banners
01:24in front of us, so he tore them all off and verbally attacked the students.
01:29Since that incident, the banners the students have hung on the school gates have been less
01:33provocative. The students have the unwavering support of their teachers, who have gone on
01:37strike in solidarity. In retaliation, the government has refused to pay their February
01:42salaries. History teacher Ivan PivniÄki says that before that happened, the proper legal
01:48procedures were not observed. The teachers are now considering taking legal action.
01:54Such a decision by the state, according to the existing laws, should be followed by a
02:00certain procedure. Disciplinary proceedings should be initiated against people who do
02:07not receive their salaries, and based on that disciplinary procedure, it should be explained
02:13why that person does not receive their salaries. During that disciplinary procedure, that person
02:20should of course explain their actions.
02:25Since Ivan's wife also works at the school, their family had no income last month. Nevertheless,
02:31they continue to protest.
02:55This is how his students feel too. After everything they've experienced, they say they have no
03:00intention of abandoning their fight for a better country.
03:25To achieve a society like this, the students say they are willing to sacrifice an entire
03:30school year if necessary, because they believe that you can make up for lost time, but not
03:36a lost life.