School Year in Kosovo

AIM Pristina, September 30, 2000

Although it was expected that the beginning of the new school year in Kosovo would, when compared with last year, take place in improved circumstances, this did not prove true because a number of the old problems remained unsolved: the unsettled issue of the teaching cadre, disagreements about the reform of education, the problem of finances and so on. But, at least, this school year started on time. Elementary and high school pupils took to their seats on the 1st of September. According to UNMIK's Department of Education and Science (DES), 370 000 pupils are attending classes in elementary and secondary schools where around 24 000 teachers are carrying out the teaching process. There are 951 elementary and 79 secondary schools (high schools and training schools) in Kosovo. At the moment, around 6 000 Bosnian and approximately 3 000 children of Turkish descent, are attending classes held in their mother-tongues.

As far as the teaching process involving Serbian pupils is concerned, the DES maintains not having relevant facts at its disposal. One thing is certain. In the regions where their concentration is high, Serbian children do go to school. In nationally-mixed regions, KFOR soldiers escort them to classes and back. The teaching cadre in Serbian enclaves is financed by the Belgrade regime, and it's to be expected that the teaching process there corresponds with school curriculum in Serbia. Whether in days to come relations between members of the Serbian community and the UN Civil Mission in Kosovo are going to change and result in the integration of Serbian pupils and students into the new educational system in Kosovo, will, it seems, depend on Serbian political representatives solely. Up to now, they have either altogether rejected or accepted with great reservations all possibilities of integration into the actual state of affairs in Kosovo. An illustrative example of this attitude is the reserve expressed in connection with the "vague" political status of the posts allotted to them within the UN governed structures of the Kosovo administration.

Moreover, according to international humanitarian organizations, 540 school objects were damaged or completely destroyed ( 70 ) during the war in Kosovo last year. Pupils still attend classes held in tents there.

As far as the overall financial situation in schools is concerned, it's not too rosy. The general opinion is that one of the main causes for this lies in the fact that DES has not adopted the regulatory rules concerning the financing of school budgets, although it has resolved the issue regarding teachers' salaries which - improved as they are - still cannot cover the costs of living even remotely. No wonder, then, that the majority of school administrations still count on non-governmental organizations for support, relying on their previous activities. It has to be said that, owing to the support and mediation of UNICEF, a great number of schools have been equipped with the necessary inventory - computers and copy machines included - financed predominantly by UNMIK and the American-Jewish Committee, the reconstruction of school buildings being for the most part taken care by GTZ, a German organization.

The starting-point of the reform of education in Kosovo was the establishment of the Department of Education and Science headed by dr. Mihail Daksner. But, he met with strong opposition coming from teachers and school-masters who substantiated their attitude with the view that the proposed reform was not thorough enough and doomed to failure. According to them, a platform of the Reform should have been drawn up beforehand, a National Council and work-groups made up of domestic and foreign experts dealing with the matter set up and a financial basis for the realization of the undertaking provided first. Although school management teams often show appreciation for the endeavors of the co-Chairman of DES, Mr. Daksner, there is always a doze of skepticism present, owing to the, as they put it, "gap" between the need for reform (often termed as transformation) on the one hand and the possibility of it being carried out by just one man on the other. But, it seems Mr. Daksner isn't particularly ready to spend sleepless nights because of the objections coming his way from school management teams, like the one stating that "his activities are not based on regulations, since he doesn't recognise the legislature prior to 1989, and no acts have been adopted in the meantime." While claiming that everything is proceeding in the best possible manner, Mr. Daksner rejects all charges of governing things arbitrarily. One of the first steps he took was to initiate the simultaneous signing of the individual (job) contracts in both elementary and secondary schools. In spite of some resistance, they were signed at the very start of the school year. Mr. Daksner has also envisaged that the teaching staff be composed solely of qualified cadres fulfilling the prescribed weekly quota of 20 lessons, with the second phase of the same process encompassing teaching staff without the necessary qualifications - nevertheless meeting the prescribed quota.

Daksner's contracts are seen by many as classic examples of "unprofessionalism" because they do not provide for a school pedagogue, deputy headmaster, school secretary, cashier or librarian, while just one worker is supposed to take care of an area of 400 square metres. When speaking of the "disputed" school personnel, it has to be said that they aren't being explicitly written off, but the funds appropriated to a school with less than a hundred pupils, for example, amount to 150 DM a month and that is a long way from the actual needs. A school with more than 2 000 pupils is expected to get 1,920 DM. Furthermore, teachers over the age of 65 will not be granted the right to sign contracts, in order to make room for the younger cadre. Local headmasters and school management teams believe that those who have contributed to the survival of the teaching process in Albanian in the past decade in Kosovo cannot be lightly disposed of, at least not until they are assigned suitable pensions or social welfare. The second co- Chairman of DES, Naimu Rustemiju, Daksner's right hand, says that the Department has secured a sum of 800 DM per teacher eliminated from the educational process because of age. The sum is to be allotted to the persons concerned a single time, with their social destiny thereafter becoming the responsibility of institutions other than DES.

The reform also anticipates a change in the duration of elementary and secondary education according to the formula 5 + 4 + 3. In effect, it means that elementary school will last five, junior secondary school 4 and senior secondary school three years. However, management teams of a couple of schools we have visited claim they have no detailed information about the matter and state they will carry on as before until formally informed of the intended changes. To a certain extent, that has to do with teaching curricula which, according to many, should have been the starting-point of the Reform in the first place. So, while classes are being held in keeping with the old curricula, for the first time this year six-year-olds were enrolled in the first grade. This resulted in a true and proper "invasion" of the first-graders, particularly in larger cities in Kosovo which are swamped with people flowing in from smaller communities and rural areas. Because there are often more than 40 pupils per class, it is generally considered that the quality of teaching will suffer. It is also not uncommon to see a floor being added to the existing school building. An additional problem schools in Kosovo are facing at the moment is the shortage of professional cadre, especially foreign-language teachers. The phenomenon was brought about by teachers finding employment with various UNMIK services and other international organizations where their salaries are up to five times higher than what they would amount to at their old posts. Zijadin Gashi, general manager of the Education Administration of Pristina, acknowledges the problem, emphasizing the fact that, at the instant, not a single school in Pristine has a qualified foreign-language teacher on its payroll.

The publishing firm "Skolska knjiga" has taken steps to ensure a successful start of the school year by planning a circulation of 248 730 various textbooks for elementary and 34 940 textbooks for secondary education - to be distributed to the pupils free of charge - in the course of the year. At the same time, it plans to publish 76 new titles with a limited circulation of 1,028,000 copies. Another million and 334,195 copies of previously published textbooks should be added to these figures. Hopefully, this will satisfy the needs, if only to some extent.

Nevertheless, the actual task facing the educators has yet to be carried out. The reform of Kosovo's educational system is gradually assuming its outlines. Now it is the question of time and good will on both sides as to when it will get its final shape.

AIM Pristina

Shaip MUSTAFA