Teachers seek postponement, concern over the closure of Albanian-language classes in North Macedonia

Although the responsible institutions declare that interest in vocational schools is rising, the situation on the ground appears different. At the “Boro Petrushevski” vocational high school in Skopje, several Albanian-language classes are facing the risk of closure due to an insufficient number of students. Teachers warn that this situation could also leave them without jobs.

Instead of the 200 students projected for enrollment, only 164 were enrolled during the first two enrollment periods. The most pronounced difficulty is in the transport-related programs. In the “Road Transport” and “Freight Forwarding” profiles, only 8 students each have enrolled, while the minimum set by the Ministry of Education is 12 students for one class.

“From the decisions we received this year from the Ministry of Education, it is stated very clearly that for a class to survive, the number must be 12 students, so with these student statistics we risk having nearly three classes disappear if some decision is not changed by the Ministry of Education, if they do not show understanding. I would appeal to the Ministry of Education because it holds the key to the functioning of the classes. It is a bit of a problem because the Ministry of Education counts the second period as the final one, and that is where the classes are cut. We also have another period on August 20,” said Kastriot Kasapi, teacher at the QSHA “Boro Petrushevski” vocational school.

According to Kastriot Kasapi, the closure of these classes would also bring consequences for the educational staff. He says the lack of students threatens the teaching hours allocation for both vocational subject teachers and those teaching general subjects.

“A vocational subject teacher has 3 or 4 hours a week. Imagine one program not existing, let us take freight forwarding as an example, there the teaching hours allocation becomes impossible and they may even lose their jobs. Not only vocational subjects but also general subjects: history, English, mathematics, Albanian language, in a word, all of us are extremely at risk,” said Kastriot Kasapi, teacher at the QSHA “Boro Petrushevski” vocational school.

On the other hand, school director Aleksandar Strezov says that student interest has been concentrated more in machinery and in four-year profiles. At the same time, he is asking the state to provide more financial support for vocational education.

“The machinery program, traditionally this year as well, both the three-year and the four-year one, attracted greater interest from students, while the transport program had somewhat less interest, but this is the overall number. Some programs require major investments, especially in laboratories. We are trying to achieve this in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, but also with sponsors. However, I can say that there is still a great need for funding in vocational secondary schools,” said Aleksandar Strezov, director of the QSHA “Boro Petrushevski” vocational school.

The August 20 deadline is seen as the last opportunity for new enrollments, but only semi-graduates who have make-up exams can take part in it. Vocational school administrators assess that the only way to save classes with low student numbers remains a decision by the Ministry of Education, if it lowers the required student threshold per class. /Alsat.mk