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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Two weeks before the start of the new school year, parents in the Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo do not know if their children will sit in the school desks or attend online lessons.
They assess the situation as "complex" and told Radio Free Europe that they are still waiting for instructions from the authorities.
Educational institutions in the Serbian community in Kosovo work according to the Serbian system. Classes in the four municipalities in northern Kosovo – North Mitrovica, Zveçan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq – were suspended at the end of May, when tensions rose after the new Albanian mayors entered the municipal buildings with the assistance of the Kosovo Police.
Serbian institutions responsible for education did not respond to REL's questions regarding parents' concerns about the uncertainty surrounding the start of the new school year.
What are the parents' concerns?
Marina from Leposaviqi has a son who should start first grade on September 1. She expresses concern that instead of her son going to school, he will meet his teacher and friends through the computer.
"I am very worried, it is not at all clear how her son will learn the learning materials from the Internet. I really don't know what will happen", says Marina for Radio Free Europe.
However, Marija from Leposaviqi hopes that the children will start the new school year in schools.
“I have three children who go to school, most of their learning has been online or they have not gone to school at all. We don't know what will happen," she said.
Even Dragan from North Mitrovica does not support the idea that children should not go to school from September 1, but emphasizes that he is worried about the large presence of the police and the uncertainty regarding the security situation.
"From a parent's point of view, nobody cares when their kids have to go to school," he says.
Maja from Zveçani emphasizes that children should go to school, but only if the special units of the Kosovo Police withdraw from the north.
"I have a child who will start his first year in high school, imagine him starting online. I have three children who go to school, I cannot devote myself to all of them. So I think it would be best for the police to withdraw and the children to go to school", says Maja for Radio Free Europe.
Why is the beginning of the new school year uncertain?
The start of classes in schools in the north of Kosovo on September 1 is uncertain, since in Zveçan, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok, educational institutions are located near municipal facilities, where the Kosovo Police is also located. Also in front are the members of KFOR - NATO's peacekeeping mission in Kosovo - who have been taking care of security in the north since the end of May.
Serbs in northern Kosovo boycotted local elections in April, in which new Albanian mayors were elected. The new mayors are not accepted by the local population, who since the end of May have been protesting in front of municipal facilities in Leposaviq, Zveçan and Zubin Potok.
Tensions escalated on May 29 in Zveçan, when Serbs clashed with KFOR members. In that case, there were dozens of injuries from both sides.
Një nga arsyet e protestave të përditshme është fakti se deri më tani në ato objekte kanë funksionuar komunat paralele serbe. Vetëm në Mitrovicë të Veriut ka një ndërtesë të posaçme komunale që funksionon në bazë të sistemit të Kosovës dhe për këtë arsye atje nuk ka pasur protesta.
Praktikat e mëhershme të ndërprerjes së mësimit
Përveç në muajin maj, mësimi në komunat në veri të Kosovës ishte ndërprerë edhe më 12 dhjetor të vitit 2022 për shkak të “situatës së përkeqësuar të sigurisë”.
Ndërprerja u bë pasi dy ditë më herët ishte arrestuar ish-polici serb i Kosovës, Dejan Pantiq.
Arrestimi i Pantiqit nxiti serbët të ngrinin barrikada në të cilat morën pjesë kryesisht punonjësit e institucioneve serbe, përfshirë edhe ata të arsimit. Nga barrikadat, profesorët mbajtën mësim online për gjimnazistët.
Also, students and teachers of schools in the north have participated in recent protests in front of the municipalities in Zveçan, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok. Through various performances, they have called for the reduction of tensions.
REL has addressed the Ministry of Education in the Government of Serbia, which is responsible for educational institutions in municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo. This ministry was asked what the beginning of the new school year in the north depends on and why parents have not yet been informed.
Neither the Serbian Ministry of Education nor the education department for Kosovo in this institution have answered REL's questions./ REL
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