Halfway down the Danube

Serbian Education Minister Fired

Well, headlines don't get much more attention-grabbing than that.

But actually, it is pretty interesting. See, the Minister in question was Ms. Ljiljana Colic -- the one who was going to ban the teaching of evolution in Serbian schools, at least until Biblical creation could be given equal time.

Apparently the evolution proposal was the last in a long string of blunders and questionable policy decisions, from halting foreign aid to eliminating English classes. I'm not privy to the inner decisions of the Kostunica government, but one has to suspect that the international wave of negative publicity made the difference this time.

Some of you may remember our Serbian friend, "Anna". I asked what she thought about the whole thing. "She (Colic) was a mean and stupid woman," said Anna, "a political appointment made with no thought for what children or young people need."

"My heart was full of joy seeing her leaving the ministerial stage. I even loved the tears in her eyes... Am I becoming an evil and cynical person? Maybe, but I can't help it right now!"

-- Actually, I agree with Anna. From everything I've been able to discover, Ms. Colic was mean and stupid, at least in her capacity as Minister. When mean and stupid people get into positions of power, they make a lot of misery for everyone else. Simple justice says that we'd rather see that misery go where it belongs.

Mind, it's not all smooth sailing for the Serbian education system; Anna tells me that the next Minister may be, in a different way, just as bad. More on this in a bit, if anyone is interested. (Is anyone interested?)

Posted by douglas at September 17, 2004 10:23 PM