After the mother of a boy with Down’s syndrome shared a video on social networks where she claims that her son was discriminated against by not allowing him to participate in the ”Trnoruzica” kindergarten’s Christmas play. They have now spoken out and strongly reject all criticism.
“During the event, which was prepared by educators, children from all groups took part, and among those groups, there were also children with developmental difficulties. The allegations that a child with difficulties was singled out or that he was not allowed to participate in the event are absolutely untrue. The discrimination of any child was not the intention, nor is it the practice of kindergarten staff, to discriminate or endanger anyone, especially not children with developmental difficulties. On the contrary, the ”Trnoruzica” kindergarten is the only kindergarten in Siroki Brijeg that accepts children with special needs, who are cared for professionally and responsibly, paying particular attention to their social inclusion. Regarding the controversial moment seen in one of the videos, the boy went on stage, spent a certain amount of time on it, and after that, the kindergarten teacher took him in her arms, after which the child spent the rest of the time in her arms. It was absolutely not the intention of the teacher or any of the staff to exclude the child from the performance, but the intention was to protect the child from falling while another group of children was performing their short dance,” they wrote in their denial of the mother’s allegations.
“After that, the child remained at the performance until his mother left the hall and took the child to the dressing room. In the dressing room, a second controversial recording was made in which the mother, Dragana Mandic, created an untrue narrative that the kindergarten staff isolates the child from the others. All the kindergarten staff responsibly claim that none of them had the intention of isolating the child from the other children, nor did any of the employees take the child to the dressing room,” they said.
They pointed out that they are “sad and surprised by the views expressed by Mrs. Dragana Mandic” because “her attitude does not realistically reflect the entire situation”.
“None of the educators, as well as myself, have experienced this event in the way that the child’s mother described it. We especially emphasize the fact that we have never had any objections to our treatment of children with developmental difficulties from their parents, nor that we discriminate or set them apart in any way. We are extremely saddened that we have to react in this way to the expressed views of Mrs. Dragana Mandic as a mother of a child, but her allegations have created a toxic atmosphere in the public space, and the public deserves to know the truth. Objective and well-founded criticism is always welcome, but that’s really not the case here,” it was concluded from the kindergarten.
E.Dz.
