The letter of the Panevėžys municipality official shocked parents: you can’t make fun of people like that

It’s true, according to the leaders of Panevėžys city municipality, such a message should not even have been sent, because Vilma Bartašienė, the chief specialist of the Education Department of Panevėžys city municipality, published incorrect information and thus misled club leaders and parents.

After receiving the letter, more than one complaint from the father reached the news portal JP. And, after learning that the specialist of the Education Department sends misleading information and thus scares not only the parents, but also the children attending the clubs, they questioned whether she should do such a job.

When the journalists of the news portal JP started to clarify the situation, it became clear that V. Bartašienė, the chief specialist of the Education Department of the Panevėžys city municipality, had published incorrect information.

Silvija Sėrikovienė, head of the education department, regrets the mistake and says that all children will receive funding.

“It remains to be regretted that the false information that reached the NHS providers caused unnecessary tension. We are glad that so many children are choosing the NVŠ programs offered in Panevėžys, so we will ensure that all the NVŠ baskets of children who have signed contracts are financed. The missing funds will be allocated from the municipal budget”, S. Sėrikovienė assures.

Last week, the leaders of the clubs received news from V. Bartashienė, the chief specialist of the Education Department of Panevėžys City Municipality, which shocked everyone.

“The good news is that you will all receive funding, but the bad news is that you will receive reduced funding for a smaller number of children,” V. Bartašienė wrote to the group leaders and added additional information that all SEN providers will need to reduce their funding by 7%. the number of children, and those with a total of more than 300 children (over all programs), to be reduced by 9 percent. of children.

After this news, the heads of all clubs that signed contracts with the Municipality were left without him. Gitana (real name known to the editor), a dance teacher at the Vienna dance studio in Panevėžys, said that the situation was very unpleasant for both the managers themselves and the children’s parents.

“I am not only the leader of the group, but also a mother. From the manager’s point of view, we were under pressure to sign contracts with students as soon as possible and deliver them to the Department of Education by September 15. In the previous letter, it was explained how much funding an ordinary person will receive, how much a child with special educational needs will receive, etc. It was only mentioned the fact that maybe children living in the Panevėžys district may no longer need funding. Even then, the parents rebelled and called the Education Department. Finally, it was ensured that the children would really receive the funding and be able to attend the clubs. We signed contracts and presented them to the Municipality”, said Gitana.

“There are a lot of people like me who are not satisfied, because managers are now like scapegoats.” Last week, we received a letter, a few days before October, when the funding is to start, that it is not enough and first of all we have to remove from the list all the children who study in Panevėžys district schools. I don’t understand how an official says something once, then a few days later sends letters with completely different information,” the head of the dance club complained.

“I wrote a letter to the Department of Education and asked what to do, how to act. The worst thing is that her official just sent a letter saying that several children need to be removed from the list. I wondered why I had to be the executioner deciding which child would get funding and which wouldn’t. V. Bartašienė wrote to us that I have to remove the children from the list myself. Such mistakes by officials are the result of their undone work, which causes parents, children and leaders to suffer,” said Gitana.

The children’s parents were also indignant when the financing of the student’s NVŠ basket hung in the balance. Loreta from Panevėžys, whose child attends two clubs, who wrote a letter to the news portal about the mistakes made by the official of the Panevėžys education department, does not hide her indignation and says that people cannot be mocked like that.

“I know families who are among the last to send their child to the club. What angers me the most is that at the last minute, someone in the Municipality came up with an idea and suggests removing children from the clubs. Some kind of mess. You can’t make fun of people like that,” said Loreta.