PRIJEDOR – What is practically impossible in normal European countries, and even in our surroundings, is a reality in Republika Srpska. Our citizens are accustomed to many things that initially seem almost unimaginable, from various job placements and astronomical figures that Srpska pays on rigged tenders, to dubious job competitions that are conducted daily and are a public secret to be tailored to party members. Thus, we have come to a situation where even for the most sensitive social area, which is education, “connections” must be found, otherwise, regardless of qualifications, you will be left with nothing.
A very interesting example comes from Prijedor, a city that has been plagued by controversies in recent years. This time, the main role is played by the director of the Public Institution “Centar Sunce”, Sladjana Radaković.
Radaković, namely, announced a competition for a professional associate – a psychologist indefinitely, with a passed professional exam for independent educational work with experience, and she won and employed herself in the same competition. In addition to the director Radaković, Boško Adamović also participated in the competition.
Only testing and interviews, as you can see, were conducted on November 29, 2023, on the school premises, and Radaković scored the maximum number of points, enough for first place in the competition.
The Public Institution “Centar Sunce” stated for our portal in a written statement that the competition procedure was conducted in accordance with the Labor Law, the Law on Primary Education, the Law on Secondary Education, the Regulation on the Types of Professional Qualifications of Teachers and Professional Associates in Secondary Technical and Vocational Schools, the Regulation on the Procedure for Employment in a Secondary School and the Method of Scoring Criteria for Employment, as well as the Regulation on the Procedure for Admission, Criteria for Employment, and the Method of Scoring Candidates in Primary School.
“An extraordinary inspection was carried out for this competition based on an anonymous complaint, where no irregularities or discrepancies with the laws were found”, they said from the Center.
We also contacted Sladjana Radaković by phone, who told us that the entire procedure was carried out in coordination with the recently elected advisor to the Minister of Energy and Mining, Gojko Kličković, and other people from the Ministry of Education and Culture. She does not hide that schools in Prijedor are “politically divided”.
“After the collapse of DNS, Darko Banjac, or rather his party, gained control over a large number of schools in our region, and so far, this school, of which I am the director, has remained undistributed. My term as acting director expires on August 15th of this year, and I had to align myself with someone, so I decided on SNSD”, says Radaković, who is also a councillor in the local parliament.
Interestingly, Radaković was an independent councillor until March 27, 2024, when she suddenly changed her party affiliation and joined SNSD.
We sent an inquiry to the Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs of Republika Srpska, from where they also informed us that there is nothing questionable in the conducted competition process, even though Sladjana Radaković is simultaneously the director of the same institution. However, they emphasize that their control is exclusively related to the competition procedure.
“At the beginning of this year, the Republic Education Inspection conducted an inspection at the subject of the Public Institution ‘Centar Sunce’ Prijedor, regarding the implementation of the competition procedure for the recruitment of a psychologist. At the time of the inspection, the procedure regarding the competition from January 4, 2024, had not yet been concluded, and in recent days, this body has not received any complaints related to the outcome of the specific procedure”, they stated for the Infoveza portal from the Inspectorate of RS.
On the other hand, Damjan Ožegović from Transparency International has a different opinion and claims that there could be a conflict of interest here.
“The problem is that the director of the institution appoints the commission. After the procedure is conducted, the commission proposes a list of successful candidates to the director, and the director selects the most successful one from the list. In this situation, the independence of the commission cannot be ensured if it is chosen by the director who is also a candidate. But the accompanying problem is that the director signs the decision to choose themselves. The independence of the commission may also be questioned regarding the implementation of the procedure in which their colleague or supervisor is involved, especially in the oral part of the exam”, emphasizes Ožegović, adding that establishing an employment relationship in another position within the same institution in this case, regardless of when the position is assumed, represents classic job protection by the director.
“Unfortunately, the legislator cannot foresee all potential situations, but fundamentally, this is a conflict of interest that should be reviewed by the competent public authorities”, concludes Ožegović.