Ljiljana Čolić (; born 1956) is a Serbian politician who previously served as Minister for Education and Sport in the

Government of Serbia The government of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-cyrl, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Governme ...

Academic career

Čolić holds a graduate degree in philosophy and a Ph.D. in

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. She is a professor of Ottoman language and

paleography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

as well as an associate professor teaching Turkish at the

University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology The Faculty of Philology is one of the constituent schools of the University of Belgrade. The school's purpose is to train and educate its students in the academic study or practice in linguistics and philology] History The study of philology ...

; and in

Priština Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...

, she worked as a guest lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy. She is a self-avowed "devout Orthodox Christian". Čolić was a deputy in the Federal Parliament and one of the founders of the

Democratic Party of Serbia The New Democratic Party of Serbia (, , abbr. NDSS), known as the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) until 2022, is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. Miloš Jovanović serves as the current president of NDSS. DSS was formed as ...

. She speaks English and French fluently.

Political life

Čolić was named Minister of Education and Sport in March 2004. As a conservative government superseded a reformist one, Dr. Čolić worked to alter and reverse changes from the previous government. Čolić garnered controversy in September 2004 when she ordered

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n schools to suspend the teaching of

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

unless they introduced

creationism Creationism is the faith, religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation, and is often Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific.#Gunn 2004, Gun ...

. Researchers, teachers, the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts and some 40 non-government organisations and human rights groups voiced their concern over such a move, including

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. After widespread protest, on September 9,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Vojislav Koštunica Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last President of Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...

reversed the decision and announced that Čolić would be replaced. On September 16, 2004, she resigned after a meeting with Koštunica.

Slobodan Vuksanović Slobodan Vuksanović ( sr-cyr, Слободан Вуксановић, born in 1965 in Belgrade) is a poet, essayist, translator and former Serbian politician, who served as Minister of Education and Sport in the Government of Serbia from 2004 to ...

replaced her in October 2004. In June 2006 she published a book titled ''Put'' (''Path''), staunchly defending her actions as a minister of education. During the official promotion of her book, she claimed that during her tenure, when she asked foreign advisors why they pushed so hard for the reform of Serbian education, she was told that ''they need

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

s, not educated people''. In an interview in November 2019, professor

Milan M. Ćirković Milan M. Ćirković (born 11 March 1971 in Belgrade) is a Serbian astronomer, astrophysicist, philosopher and science book author. He has worked in the fields of astrobiology, global catastrophic risks and future of humanity where he also co-author ...

discussed

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

. He mentioned Čolić's short ministerial stint, adding that because of her removal of Darwinism, she was "depicted as a heroine in the magazines and books of the global creationist movement". Čolić responded with a letter, underlining Ćirković's claim that some pseudoscience are life threatening, though he specifically used it for other movements like pseudo-medicine, quackery and

antivaxer Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities expressing opposition to vaccination, and these collaborating networks have often sought to increase vaccine hesitancy by dissem ...

s. Čolić wrote: "difference between us - adherents of the "life threatening pseudoscience", and them - serious scientists, is that we accept that incomprehensible is indeed incomprehensible, unlike them who claim that incomprehensible is comprehensible. They unlimitedly believe in limited science, and we believe in super-science - impervious to the limited human mind. As for the two 8th grade biology lessons in elementary school which I "plucked" from Darwin's ape, I added them to the previous lesson: Family and health - healthy family. Role of the family. Delinquency. Restraining and treatment of addiction illnesses."

References

External links

Interpress Service News Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colic, Ljiljana 1956 births Living people People from Zemun Politicians from Belgrade Academic staff of the University of Belgrade University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology alumni Democratic Party of Serbia politicians Government ministers of Serbia Women government ministers of Serbia 21st-century Serbian women politicians 21st-century Serbian politicians Christian creationists Education ministers of Serbia