Bujanovac – The line ministries of Serbia and Albania are ready, together with other institutions, to finally solve the problem of textbooks in mother tongue for the Albanian students in Serbia.
Bujanovac – The line ministries of Serbia and Albania are ready, together with other institutions, to finally solve the problem of textbooks in mother tongue for the Albanian students in Serbia.
Ragmi Mustafa, the President of the Albanian National Council (ANC), says that the deadlock regarding the issue of textbooks was finally broken:
„Minister Mladen Sarcevic announced that the government would draw up a memorandum of understanding with eight countries that have national minorities in Serbia, including Albania. We asked at the meeting with the Minister of Education that part of the memorandum be the issue of textbooks for primary and secondary schools, the status of university degrees from Albania, and the possibility of professional improvement of our teaching staff in this country, " Mr. Mustafa said.
He points out that this is a complex and difficult process, adding that he is pleased by the fact that there is a will on both sides to solve the problems.
"The ANC has no jurisdiction to solve the problem of textbooks, the Ministry's job is to provide textbooks while we just propose possible solutions," Mr. Mustafa said.
According to him, the law provides three possibilities for solving the problem: the import of books from home country, the translation of textbooks from Serbian into Albanian and the engagement of local authors.
Mr. Mustafa familiarized Besa Sahini, his colleague from Tirana, as well as representatives of the international community in Serbia, with Minister Sarcevic’s idea.
Asked if there was a possibility that the Albanian elementary and secondary school students would start the next school year without the textbooks, Mr. Mustafa answered that he believed in the solution, although he retained a degree of skepticism that something could go wrong, since he perceived reforms in education, which had already entered into force, as the biggest obstacle to achieving the goal by the autumn.
"There is only one textbook for secondary schools, which is the one for the Albanian language and literature, while the situation in primary schools is somewhat better, but far from good. It is unacceptable that children in the 21st. century learn from scripts and notes taken during the classes, "Mr. Mustafa says, pointing out that it is crucial for all children to have the same rights.
Source: Bujanovac News and Coordination Body
