During a television debate, Ana Brnabić and university rector Mirjana Nikolić clashed sharply over the administrative upheaval at Jovina gimnazija in Novi Sad, where 60 professors lost their jobs and dozens of students left the institution.
Clashing Perspectives on Jovina gimnazija
The turmoil at Jovina gimnazija in Novi Sad took center stage during a recent debate on N1 television, exposing a deep political and institutional divide over the direction of secondary education in Serbia. Ana Brnabić, appearing as the third candidate on the electoral list United Serbia – Aleksandar Vučić, defended the gymnasium’s long-serving director. She argued that the administrator, who has held the post since 2002, represents a proven standard of excellence and acted correctly by refusing to permit a school blockade.
How did it happen that for 22 years you were the best, and then just because you respect the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Serbia and want children to go to school, you become the worst? Brnabić said. She maintained that the personnel decisions had nothing to do with politics or the ruling party, but rather reflected a director enforcing legal requirements against staff who acted contrary to the rules.
The Human Toll of the Dismissals and Classroom Disruption
Nikolić countered that an institution relies on its entire academic community rather than a single administrator, pointing directly to the displacement caused by the mass firings.
Mirjana Nikolić, Rector of the University of Arts and candidate for Studentske liste – studenti pobeđuju, stated that the school does not rest on the director, but on the entire collective, and that in Jovina Gymnasium 60 professors lost their jobs, and the children are scattered among other schools.
Beyond the faculty departures, Nikolić noted that more than 60 students had abandoned the gymnasium to escape the prevailing instability. She criticized the appointment of a school director who had not been able to be a professor at the school, describing the intervention as an attempt to enforce order that ultimately treats critical feedback as a social anomaly.
Broader Electoral and Political Stakes
The debate expanded from local gymnasium administration into a broader confrontation over governance, past achievements, and future policy. Brnabić framed the gymnasium as a wider paradigm for educational standards in Serbia, praising the director’s two-decade tenure and asserting trust in his leadership. I believe that a man who has produced the best results in Serbia and this part of Europe for 22 years knows what he is doing with that gymnasium, she stated.
Nikolić dismissed that defense as backward-looking rhetoric designed to obscure concrete plans for the future. Accusing her opponent of repeatedly pivoting to the past without offering substantive policy proposals, the rector emphasized that younger voters are paying close attention to how current leadership handles institutional crises. This is one of the rare moments in our history where the future will choose the future, Nikolić said during the broadcast.