EDUCATION IN MACEDONIA - ON THE ROAD BESET WITH HARDSHIPS

AIM Skopje, 18 November, 1997

Manufacturing and economy in Macedonia are just beginning to move from the standstill, 30 per cent of the working-age population of the state are unemployed, income per capita does not seem to be able to exceed the limit of the famous 826 dollars above which a country joins others which do not receive special aid of the international community. All these catastrophic figures are no obstacle for deputies in the parliament to pass key economic, banking and financial laws. They had no problem passing the law on labour relations either, despite fundamental changes in the position of the workers which this law introduced. Health, social welfare, criminal code and the law on criminal proceedings seem to be neither confusing nor exciting for the representatives of the executive and legislative power. But, there are some laws about which it is impossible to reach an agreement. Such is the law on university education.

Three ministers of education wholeheartedly worked on elaboration of this law, swords are crossed in all political parties because of it, and senators in the administration of Skopje University have discussed it on numerous occasions. Perhaps that would not be so surprising if the discussion concerned the quality of university education, some new standards and values which should be achieved by a completely new approach to the problems. But, nobody talks about quality and education standards, nobody is interested in experience and values. The main problem are articles of this law which refer to language in education at the university.

Pursuant the old law, teaching at the university is in Macedonian language. The Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia in Article 48, determines that members of ethnic minorities are entitled to teaching in their own language in elementary and secondary education. The question of an institution called the Tetovo university and teaching at the teachers' faculty has arisen in the meantime.

The problem of the teachers' faculty has appeared at the moment when the teachers' college, where classes were held in Macedonian, Albanian and Turkish, was transformed into the teachers' faculty. The new administration, contrary to decisions of the ministry of education, referring to the still valid 1985 law, carried out teaching only in Macedonian. Unable to reach an agreement with the administration of the faculty and of the university in Skopje (which the teachers' faculty is a part of), the parliament passed the law on the use of languages used in teaching at the teachers' faculty St. Kliment of Ohrid in Skopje. Pursuant this law, in order to educate the necessary cadre for teaching in pre-school institutions and in elementary schools, teaching at this faculty takes place both in Macedonian and in languages of ethnic groups (if more than 20 students apply). However, members of parliament from the Party of Democratic Prosperity of the Albanians, Party of Democratic Prosperity, Liberal Party and Democratic Party of Macedonians did not vote in favour of such a draft law. These parties explained their abstention by saying that passing of this law was a partial solution and that the real solution could be only passing of the law on university education.

In the days that followed we were victims of a vehement reaction of university and secondary school students. Initiated by Macedonian students from the teachers' faculty, demonstrations were organized in order to make this law null and void. Passing of the law brought no changes of the situation at the faculty. The faculty administration used, and still does, all means to postpone and prevent the procedure for choice of professors who should teach in Albanian language. This admionistration is directly responsible for complicating and aggravating relations between the Macedonians and the Albanians among the teachinmg staff and among the students. As a result, students of Albanian nationality still attend classes at the faculty. The law and actions of the administration of the faclty were the immediate cause for the university and secondary-school students' demonstrations in February 1997, which were supported by a significant part of professors and assistant professors of the University in Skopje and of secondary schools. Ideologists of the protest can be identified among professors and assistent professors of the teachers' faculty in Skopje. A great deal of racism, nationalism and xenophobia was manifested at the demonstrations (which can largely be attributed to education and which was not condemned appropriately or at least analyzed in educational institutions in order to take adequate measures for preventing similar developments).

When speaking of Tetovo university, the situation becomes even more complicated. An institution was founded which in the phase of constitution has not passed a single of the prescribed procedures for such an institution pursuant the law which was in force at the time. Such procedures were neither initiated nor begun. The institution started work as a form of pressure on the authorities to prescribe the possibility of teaching in languages of ethnic groups in Macedonia by the new law. The language of teaching was the initial and the ultimate goal of establishing of this institution. The staff, the infrastructure, the equipment, curriculum and general standards of university education were not even put on the agenda and discussed.

Results of such an approach are clear. The young people who attend classes have no guarantees that their effort will be recognized or that their diplomas on completed unuiversity education will be valid, the teaching process is not standardized and it is often carried out by incompetent and unqualified persons, the attention is diverted from specific problems in education of members of some ethnic groups in Macedonia (the Albanian inclusive) which are concentrated in elemetary and secondary education. Students of Albanian ethnic origin who graduate from elementary and secondary schools are faced with the problem of their incompetence at entrance exams in comparison with the Macedonian students. This implies lower quality of education in elementary and secondary schools where teaching is in Albanian language, which indicates the need for a broad action in order to raise its quality. The problem which is often very readily neglected is the very low percentage of female students who continue education in secondary schools which leads to a very high loss of potential secondary-school students.

The law on university education has not come to the end of its road beset with hardships yet. Those who are profiteering because it has not been passed yet are political parties which are using the situation for their immediate daily political needs. Those who suffer because of it are young people who like citizens of this country should live to see its future and ensure not only its prosperity, but mere survival.

AIM Skopje

MIRJANA NAJCEVSKA