Student for Radar: The debt is ours to repay

“In Serbia, we have seen a gradual erosion of education, morals, and courage. People have lost courage, they are targeted and attacked, and even when they want to resist, they are held back by fears for their safety. When it becomes normal for teachers to face disrespect and violence, we lose our symbols of excellence. What is happening at the Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj school reflects this broader loss of respect for teachers in our society. It used to be possible to say, ‘Shoot, I’m still teaching,’ but today, that is no longer the case,” Vukasin Djinovic, a brilliant young mathematician and physicist told an interview with Radar. Djinovic delivered one of the most impactful speeches during a rally in support of students and teachers at the prestigious Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj grammar school in Novi Sad.

Explaining his motivation, Djinovic said he felt compelled to act after the school administration’s controversial statement that targeted teachers. “Our school years shape who we become. That is when we develop the values that guide us through life. Everything we become starts there,” he said.

Djinovic also emphasized that young people must recognize that their future is at stake.

“No one else can fight for their better future. Running away is easy, but what happens to our country then? There’ll be no one to protect it. Even though the state has given us nothing, we still owe something in return. If young people want to have a somewhat normal life, without fear, free to make their own decisions, the time to act is now. Now, while life is still ahead of us, we need to step up and build the kind of country that we want to live in, and say, ‘yes, we created this, and we’re proud of it.’

He added that protests are the students’ civic duty.

“If nothing else, we owe it to the victims’ families. We must show solidarity, and support them. I believe they want the responsible parties and the guilty ones to be identified. As citizens, we owe it to each other to see this through and prove we are ready to fight for what we demand. We are aware of this debt - over 20,000 people came to the first protest right after the canopy collapse. We know this debt is ours, and we must repay it,” Djinovic said.

He assessed the progress of the protests, noting that they are proving more effective than past demonstrations.

“Even these supposedly fulfilled demands, which are mostly for show, are something we made them do. They represent some kind of progress, a first step that they wouldn’t have taken before. They acknowledge these as civic protests, but if student protests escalate further, they will become unstoppable. Historically, students’ protests have been the one force no system could silence. This is new hope, a revival of spirit, and energy. I truly believe that if students continue these blockades, we could achieve our demands,” Djinovic told Radar.