28.08.2023.
Agreement signed between Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Education on organizing writing competition with prizes
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Miloš Vučević and Minister of Education Prof. Slavica Đukić Dejanović, PhD, signed today, at the Old General Staff’s Great War Hall, an Agreement on organizing a writing competition for students of grammar and secondary schools in the Republic of Serbia.
In order to bring traditional national values closer to the children, students of all grammar and secondary schools will have the opportunity from September 1 to December 4 of this year to apply for valuable prizes prepared by the Ministry of Defence by submitting their compositions and poems on the topic "Momčilo Gavrić – a Little Hero of the Great War".Addressing the audience, Minister Vučević said that it is a great honour for the Ministry of Defence to partner up with the Ministry of Education in an effort to strengthen the patriotic feelings of our students.
- So that we would not be ashamed of our sense of belonging to our nation and country, so that we would not be ashamed of our heroes or our history, so that we would understand the present and prepare for the future, and history should be and is the best teacher of life. In the previous two years, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education collaborated on a campaign that included a writing competition entitled "Our Soldier, Our Hero”, and this time we have focused on grammar and secondary school students giving them a more precise writing topic. It is a very inspiring topic dedicated to Momčilo Gavrić, who may have been small in terms of his age, but was essentially a great hero in the Great War - said the Minister of Defence.He expressed his belief that grammar and secondary school students will not be lacking in inspiration, that they will demonstrate their writing skills and creativity in the best way possible, and that the judges will not have an easy task evaluating their works.
- I hope that we will learn some lessons, not only about our heroes and their heroic deeds and that glorious part of our history, but also about something that we should not be proud of, and it concerns Momčilo Gavrić, whom we have sinned against. That same Momčilo Gavrić, the youngest corporal, hero of the Great War, was later forgotten, arrested, persecuted, brought before a firing squad several times, by the same or a different country, but with the same people living in it. Let this also be a reminder to future generations to always respect those whom our country is indebted to, and a reminder to our students not to be ashamed or afraid to love Serbia, and not to allow anyone to convince them that expressing their patriotic feelings is not good for them - stressed Minister Vučević and told the representatives of the Ministry of Education to always count on the support of the Ministry of Defence in its efforts to preserve the traditional values of our people within the education system, because only the nations that strive to preserve their identity stand a chance of surviving in the future.The Minister of Defence said that he eagerly awaits December, to find out what the grammar and secondary school students have written.
- We might even publish the best works. Instead of merely presenting them with awards, perhaps we will immortalize and preserve them, and not only mention in history those who fought against that same Momčilo Gavrić in the Battle of Cer. We need to put things back in their proper places, if we want to understand the present and the future - Minister Vučević said.Minister Đukić Dejanović expressed her satisfaction with the agreement signed today pointing out that the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education have an exceptional cooperation.
- Over the last five years, 93 percent of secondary schools have welcomed the proposal to talk about defence during their classes and the results are obvious. Our youth shows an increasing need to foster their national identity, love of the motherland and everything else that is needed to view the defence of the country with a sense of honour. The competition we are organizing is dedicated to Momčilo Gavrić - "a little hero of the Great War", who was only eight years old when he crossed Albania with our army in the First World War and arrived in Corfu. His personality should inspire all the children, all talented students of grammar and secondary schools to show in their written works the qualities that this little boy nurtured as a child, along with his soldiers, Serbian soldiers - said the Minister of Education and expressed her belief that the best poets and prose writers will participate in the aforementioned competition.
Today's signing of the Agreement was attended by Acting Assistant Minister of Defence for Human Resources Siniša Radović, principle private secretaries to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Žarko Mićin and Brigadier General Goran Momčilović, Special Advisor and Principal Private Secretary to the Minister of Education Đorđe Đoković, Assistant Minister for Secondary Education and Adult Education Miloš Blagojević and Special Advisor to the Minister of Education Miodrag Milovanović.
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