At 6.30am, I go to the bus station. If you saw the minivan I get to school, you’d think it was from a museum. It breaks down often, and we end up trapped on the road for hours.
I travel from the city of Bitola to the remote village of Ivanjevci to teach pupils at Koco Racin School. Despite being recognised for my teaching on international stages, I can’t get a job transfer to the city in which I live. It’s an embarrassing and sad situation. If you have no time and ambition for total political engagement, you have no chance of progress. As a country, we’re sinking lower and lower.
By the time I’ve reached school, I’m exhausted. But I put that to one side: every child deserves a smiling teacher waiting to greet them in the morning.
During the day, I try to fulfil my students’ needs and wishes and discover what might stimulate their curiosity and keep their attention. I see them all as my partners in the creative teaching process.
One day we are The Smurfs and the next day we are at the North Pole, practising reading and writing skills, maths and science through games and stories.
Vese Vesela Bogdanovik is a primary school teacher at Koco Racin School, Ivanjevci, Macedonia
