SUCCESSES IN THE SCHOOL “LAZAR KOLISHEVKI” IN BELA TSRKVA

SUCCESSES IN THE SCHOOL “LAZAR KOLISHEVKI” IN BELA TSRKVA

One of the many victories in Bela Tsrkva was the opening of a primary school for the refugee children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia and the ability to teach them in their native Macedonian language. More about this can be found in the newspaper “Glas na Egeitsite” (Voice of the Aegeans), including the following:

“By decision of the Yugoslav Ministry of Science and Culture, a school that appropriately bears the name ‘Lazar Kolishevski’ was opened in Bela Tsrkva for the academic year 1949-50…”

The number of students attending this school was 221. In total there were six classes from which four were first grade and two second grade. The total number of students, together with those attending elementary school, was 522. These were all refugee children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia. The number of teachers at the end of the year was 12, including the director.

Despite the various difficulties the school had to struggle with, thanks to the persistent efforts of the teachers and the educational materials supplied by the People’s Republic of Macedonia’s Council of Education, Science and Culture, the students were given exactly what was needed.

Here is what a journalist wrote about this:

“Recently a celebration was held, at the end of the school year, on the premises of the gymnasium “Kolishevski” in Bela Tsrkva. The ceremony highlighted the learning success of refugee children from Aegean Macedonia, who are under the care of the Yugoslav Red Cross…”

With the persistent efforts of the teachers and educators who work hard with the refugee children from Aegean Macedonia in Bela Tsrkva, the success the school achieved at the end of the school year was quite satisfactory. It did considerably better compared to last year. The success factor (average) last year was 3.65 (out of 5). There were 45 students who had to repeat a grade. This year the success factor (average) of this gymnasium was 3.90, while the primary school success factor was 4.07, or overall 3.98. Only 12 students had to repeat a grade.

Among other things that contributed to this success was the discipline demonstrated by the children, which was quite high.

The excellent students who demonstrated greater success in learning and behaviour were rewarded with a book. During the school year the students from the gymnasium gave an excellent performance for the citizenry of Bela Tsrkva, for which they received great attention.

The newspaper “Glas na Egeitsite” (Voice of the Aegeans) published a lengthy article entitled “Bela Tsrkva - centre of education for our children”, which described the life of the refugee children housed in the buildings and homes. The article informed its readers about the work carried out; the effort of the women caregivers and “mothers”, the artwork and its exhibition, the choir, as well as the kindness and commitment demonstrated by the

administrators running the homes in Bela Tsrkva, - Stanoie Obren. Among other things the article said:

“A woman about 40 years old greeted us at the entrance. She looked familiar to me. She immediately recognized me and greeted me warmly.

‘And here too it is a struggle, my friend…’ said Pandovitsa cheerfully, from the village Turie.

‘Many of these children have lost their parents in the struggle back home. Now I am both their mother and father…’ she added modestly while peeking cautiously towards the bathroom checking on the children taking a bath...”

Further down the article said:

“Exhibited here are sketches painted with blue paint, various toys, dolls, toy cats, elephants, roosters, rabbits, and what not... One side of the sea presentation is surrounded by palm trees and swimming in it are boats of various sizes. Hanging on the wall is a well-made frame with a picture of Marshal Tito... The swallows Leta Dimova made are hanging from the ceiling by a thread otherwise they would have flown off to the warm south a long time ago. The various images that Rina Ponsirova and Tsena Popova have made immediately draw the attention of every visitor. The popular children’s stories ‘Snow White’ and ‘Red Riding Hood’ occupy their place here. Lenka Siderova, who has now gone to Australia, Ristana Kostadinova from Turie who played the piano with four fingers, Tinka Spirova and Tena Bamova, the ballet dancer who danced well, are now all far away from here, from their beloved home, but they have not forgotten their contribution to this exhibition. Hot tears spring up from these children’s gentle eyes when they are reminded of their joyous life and the time they spent in Bela Tsrkva. But now they are far, far away...”

A little further down the article said: “Outside, in the corridor, with knitting needles in her hands, knitting something, sat Elena Shulevska, the “mother” of a group of children from Gorno Kotori. Her husband, a partisan who fought in the Democratic Army of

Greece, was killed in Grevena. While knitting she listened to the children’s conversations and smiled.

She then looked at me and said: ‘We took the children out of the wolf’s teeth. We then traveled for seven days and nights over the mountains to get away…’ after which two large tears rolled out of her eyes. She remembered the horrors well… those difficult days when the Monarcho-Fascists bombed and destroyed the villages and killed frail elderly people and children. ‘They who did this to us will never be able to hide it… the burned down houses and the gaping ugly ruins in Bapchor, Besfina, Rudari, Orovnik and wherever else they caused destruction, are witness to it! The school in the village German was the most beautiful building in the entire region. Today it is in ruins, torn apart from the bombing. If the students had left that school a half hour later that day in the spring of 1948, there would be over 300 less gentle creatures enjoying life today,’ she said.

Here is what else was published in the same article in the newspaper “Voice of the Aegeans”:

“The skilled movements of fifteen year old conductor Stavre Dzhigomanov gave the audience the appearance of a mature artist and musician. Stavre also played several pieces of music on the piano. He is a villager from Lerin Region. After him came young Vangel who also demonstrated his talent on the piano. When I asked them if they played piano at home in the village where they were born, the children just laughed... Together with them was singer Stoianka from the village Lichishta, Kostur Region. That poor girl had no sight in both eyes but she learned to sing and to even play the piano…”

With regards to the upbringing of the children, the following was highlighted in the same article:

“The refugee children were raised in line with the principles of child-rearing in a socialist country. They were taught to be honest citizens, good patriots and true internationalists. The teachers and educators made great effort to give the Macedonian children the sense that they are Macedonians and that they belong to the

Macedonian nation and to the Macedonian people. Much effort was made to educate the children so that tomorrow they would become fair and productive citizens in our society.

There were various activities organized to raise the children. The most important ones were physical education and sports. The children had football, basketball, volleyball and other athletic teams. They also belonged to various chess teams. Every day they started their day with morning gymnastics.

The school had a hygienic and intellectual section, in which children were taught in groups or individually. They also formed various circles to read books, learn history, learn about nature, organized literary evenings, and so on.

Included among the other activities that the children enjoyed and supported were drama, folklore, ballet, choir, music and dancing. Last year alone the choir section learned 14 new songs. The ballet section had 172 members who achieved outstanding results. There were 35 members in the music section who learned how to play the piano, how to read music notes and how to do various other things. The folklore section had 42 members who last year alone learned 14 Macedonian folk dances. The drama club had 75 members.

The children also had home economic, sketch work and modeling sections. Last year alone they did 11 successful performances in the various programs. Some of the handicrafts made by the children were even sent abroad.

The home had its own library with about 800 books. The school also had its own library. The children were very interested in reading newspapers. They read the newspapers “Borba” (Struggle), Nova Makedonija (New Macedonia), “Glas na Egeitsite” (Voice of Aegeans) and “Pioner” (Pioneer). There were also organized outings and excursions.

The home has two educational institutions: a primary school named “Gotse Delchev” and a high school named “Kolishevski”. The school staff consisted of 11 teachers but was in need of more. It called upon the teachers from Aegean Macedonia to fill that gap.

Last year the primary school achieved a 4.02 average (out of 5) and the high school achieved a 3.70 average.