During June, on the eve of Vidovdan, the network of Prosvjeta supplementary Serbian language schools in Austria organized a number of important activities and on the day of that significant Serbian holiday, Prosvjeta students participated in Vidovdan celebrations and academies throughout Austria. At the same time, before and after Vidovdan, all thirty Prosvjeta schools in Austria presented diplomas to children, and completed successfully this school year, the tenth in a row!

At the central celebration held in the church of St Sava in Vienna, the founder and head of the school, prof. Srđan Mijalković presented diplomas to the students and youngest participants of the preschool Mala Pričaonica (little speaking room). Prosvjeta’s little choir sang, and the students recited their favorite verses. Mijalković wished all Viennese schoolchildren and their families, co-workers and teachers a blessed Vidovdan and said: ‘Let’s remember Vidovdan, because it makes us what we are. That day is a symbol of fight for one’s people. It is our day of remembrance and endurance. And you children, with your learning and hard work, your memory of Kosovo’s heroes, Serbian knights, your knowledge of the Serbian language, are now fighting for yourselves and your people. So that we do not disappear and forget who we are. That is why schools are the most important instrument for preserving our people in the diaspora. Vidovdan unites us, because on that day all Serbs, everywhere, remember their Vidovdan heroes, without whom there would be no us.’ Mijalković said and added: ‘I am proud of all of you, your teachers, your parents and families, as well as all others who have made us last all these ten years. Thank you to everyone who supported our schools, Bishop Andrej and the clergy, the diaspora office and its director Arnaud Gouillon, our Embassy, the Prosvjeta team and many other friends. We are preparing our 10th anniversary celebration in the autumn and everyone is invited!’

During June 2023, the teachers of Viennese Prosvjeta schools, in cooperation with colleagues from various parts of Austria, organized a series of visits to Vienna for Prosvjeta school students from other cities throughout this country. Children from Gmunden, Wels, Graz, Salzburg, Enns, Steyr and Linz had the opportunity to visit Vienna, to socialize with their peers, to meet and talk with Bishop Andrej, to meet Serbian ambassador and to walk the streets of Vienna in the company of Prosvjeta’s president, historian Marko Sarić.

Source and photo: Serbian Educational and Cultural Society PROSVJETA AUSTRIA