“The Communist Manifesto: The establishment of communism requires the destruction of the family, the nation, private property, religion, and private education. Cultural Marxists on the website Spletna Mladina are continuing the old totalitarian tradition,” Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote in response to the cover of Global magazine.
It is a well-known fact that in socialism, there is not much room for diversity and private initiative. In the former system, many (perhaps with the exception of the elite) drove old Zastava cars, which were already falling apart on their way over from Serbia, where people went to buy them in the factory in Kragujevac. The situation was very similar when it came to many other products as well, and if the stores ran out of certain goods (which happened especially often with coffee and bananas), you had to cross the border and go into the capitalist Trieste, where the communist elite also acquired (or stole) the luxury goods they enjoyed, which were not as easily accessible to the common folk.
The situation in schools was similar: they all offered the same, moulded upbringing with a uniform view of the world that did not allow for even the slightest deviation from the outlined guidelines. This is how Tito’s loyal “carriage horses” were trained. It was nice to be young in our homeland. But even though people were plagued by poverty, the main thing was that they were all as “equal” as possible. God forbid that anyone would stand out a little in one way or the other, and it would be even worse if they had a dinar or two more than the rest in their pockets.
When Slovenia gained its independence, it seemed as if we had left these “golden times” behind us and that, as individuals within a society, we were finally allowed to be different (which is something the transitional left likes to advocate), and that some of us could even earn a tolar or euro more than the rest. We also hoped that private initiative would no longer be a problem, which includes private educational institutions, as it is known that competition (usually) brings higher quality. But this does not seem to be the case in our country. Prime Minister Janez Janša highlighted the example of the cover of the Global magazine with a socialist headline, reading: “Private schools are something perverted.” The Global magazine is edited by Marcel Štefančič Jr., who is also a columnist at Mladina magazine, and the host of the Studio City show on the public RTVS.
The days of the old regime “breeding” of “hardworking citizens” are over!
The cover is really stupid in its own way and only points to the fruits that we are still reaping decades after the end of Kumrovec’s “University,” where the system raised its “doctors” (or rather, “useful idiots), preferably people without any real education. It is known, however, that in our country, it is not just the private schools and kindergartens that are the “problem,” but also the private higher education institutions, as they represent a threatening competition for many who acquired their statuses of full-time professors decades ago and then got too comfortable in their offices.
Similar to the monopoly in the field of taxi services, it is this way of thinking which causes us to be in the grey zone of the average or lagging behind our own potential. The phrase “the second Switzerland” should not be used because it only shows a sense of a second-class status, which we as a nation do not deserve. Just why would we be second-class? But perhaps we could look to Harvard University as an example, which is at the very top of the best universities, and which has given the world many Nobel laureates.
The Alojzij Šuštar Primary School should thank Global for the ad: Why not enrol your child in a quality private school?
Finally, let’s take a look at a short presentation of the Alojzij Šuštar Primary School: “Every human is searching. Especially children. They are learning new words, fractions, animals and chemical formulas. They are discovering the world around them. Not only are they learning to survive skilfully, but a school must also teach them how to live. In order to be able to live as fully as possible, we also open the spiritual dimension of life to children. Alojzij Šuštar Elementary School in the St. Stanislav’s Institution is a private primary school that implements the publicly valid nine-year primary school programme. School education is based on Christian and universal values.”
“The school supports the holistic development of children, and thus also the spiritual side of shaping the child’s personality. We strive for a good education and upbringing of children for socially responsible and active citizenship. In our work, we share the goals of education with all Slovenian schools, and the path to the set goals is our own – THE SCHOOL OF THOUSANDS OF TALENTS, as we call our school with its programme and a set of activities and skills for students. A touch of classicism, artistic creation, sports, science skills, mathematical and computer literacy, language diversity, learning in nature and in our outdoor classroom – these are the building blocks of a network of knowledge and opportunities for our students.”
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