​The Minister of Education and Culture Željka Stojičić and the General Director of the MTEL company Jelena Trivan signed a Cooperation Agreement based on which it will be possible to introduce the safe internet service in all primary and secondary schools of the Republic of Srpska.

The Minister of Education and Culture Željka Stojičić pointed out that the test phase in 37 primary and secondary schools has shown that there is a need to filter internet traffic in schools, because the access to unauthorised content has been confirmed.

  "The main objectives of the signed Agreement are to protect children when using the Internet in schools, to prevent the access to certain contents that are harmful for school-aged children and to effectively direct and use the time spent in school for the educational process." We hope that this service will contribute to that," said Minister Željka Stojičić.

 She explained that the schools shall pay for the service based on the signed contracts, however, for two years, which is the duration of the Agreement, the costs of the service will be borne by the Government and MTEL.

"Hopefully, the Agreement will continue to live beyond those two years. By the Government decision, all schools are obliged to sign a contract with M.tel", said Minister Željka Stojičić.

The General Director of MTEL Jelena Trivan pointed out that MTEL has introduced the Internet in the most remote schools in the Republic of Srpska in the test phase so the children in the Republic of Srpska have the opportunity to be educated in the most modern way and be protected from any danger from the Internet.

"We can say with our heads held high that we have provided schools with a standard that most European countries do not have," said Jelena Trivan.

She noted that some of the most developed countries have made it a rule that schools must have the Internet filtering software in order to prevent children from misusing the service and turning the Internet into its opposite.

"We have imported software from the EU for the needs of schools in the Republic of Srpska and BiH. If there is interest in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are prepared to implement it, because that service does not exist there at the moment," said Trivan.

The signing of this Agreement represents one in a series of activities implemented within the Programme of Measures for Strengthening Safety and Prevention of Violence in Primary and Secondary Schools and Dormitories in the Republic of Srpska  adopted by the Government of the Republic of Srpska in 2023.