European Support to the Reconstruction of the “Jastrebački partizani” Primary School in the Merošina Settlement of Balajnac

Over 200 pupils of the “Jastrebački partizani“ Primary School in the Balajnac settlement in the Municipality of Merošina will be attending class and studying in better conditions as of the next school-year thanks to the European Union’s support extended through the EU PRO development programme. The works, worth 133,000 Euros, will include façade renovation, joinery and floor replacement, reconstruction of the sanitary facilities and installation of a pellet heating system. These and other works will significantly improve the energy efficiency of the school building and, thus, result in major municipal budget savings.

Apart from these works, particular attention will be devoted to advancing the social inclusion of Roma in the Balajnac settlement. Namely, over half of the pupils of this school are Roma, and the Roma pre-schoolers will be attending the kindergarten operating within the school as of the next school-year. These activities, involving the application of good governance principles and implemented in cooperation with the Swiss PRO programme, envisage the active inclusion of Roma children and parents in the education process and extracurricular activities.

“Projects like this one are important for local communities because they create equal opportunities for the education of children and conditions encouraging the people to stay in small towns,” said Dragana Sotirovski, the Head of the Nišavski District.

“I am extremely glad that nearly all municipalities in the Nišavski District have submitted quality project proposals and that they will, with EU PRO’s help, implement projects aimed at improving the local infrastructure, as well as those focusing on the development of planning and technical documentation,” said Sotirovski.

“The Municipality of Merošina has been intensively working on advancing the quality of education and we have already renovated three eight-year primary schools. The school in the Balajnac settlement will now be renovated, with the support of the European Union and the Serbian Government,” said Merošina Mayor Saša Jovanović, adding that the local self-government was also planning to renovate the central school in Merošina.

The Sevojno-based company MPP “Jedinstvo” a.d., which was selected in the public procurement procedure conducted by the Merošina Municipality, is to reconstruct the school in Balajnac in 90 days.

“This is one of the 37 local infrastructure projects worth 4.5 million Euors, which the EU has supported through the EU PRO programme and which will help improve the quality of life of the population in the local self-government,” said EU PRO Infrastructure Sector Manager Jasmina Ilić. She specified that 18 projects, worth nearly 1.2 million Euros altogether, were at the moment being implemented in the Nišavski District and that the EU invested over 810,000 Euros in their implementation, while the contribution of the local governments stood at 350,000 Euros.

The “Improvement of School Infrastructure and Roma Inclusion in the Balajnac Settlement” project is funded by the European Union in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia through the EU PRO programme. Complementary project activities involving the application of good governance principles are implemented in cooperation with the Swiss PRO programme supported by the Swiss Government.