The Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Arbërie Nagavci, while reporting to the Parliamentary Committee for Education, spoke about the work at all levels of education and science, but also about the priorities and challenges faced by this department.
Speaking about the work that has been done for early childhood education, Minister Nagavci mentioned the approval of the Draft Law on early childhood, the construction of 3 nurseries and the beginning of the construction of 5 other nurseries, while she said that 4 other facilities which will are converted into nurseries are in tendering procedures
As for the pre-university level, the minister mentioned a series of measures that have been taken to improve the situation, including the allocation of 1.7 million euros for teachers in poor health, maintaining the standards for 1,600 teachers, hiring 100 assistants for children with special needs and the allocation of the budget for the employment of 300 more assistants in the next year.
Among other things, the minister said that we have finalized the Law on textbooks, which is expected to be sent to the Government very soon, while she pointed out that a few days ago, we launched the Education Strategy for the period 2022-2026.
The launch of the unique joint Kosova-Albania ABC-book, the start of dual education for the first time 4 profiles, the approval of 520 positions for school psychologists and pedagogues, the opening of the competition for the admission of 20 education inspectors and planning for another 20 for the year next, were also some of the achievements that the minister mentioned. As for higher education, Minister Nagavci emphasized the Administrative Instruction for free public education, while mentioning schemes for financial support for students and pupils.
The finalization of the Draft law on Higher Education was one of the achievements mentioned by the Minister, while announcing that on November 25th, the roadmap for financing public HEIs based on performance contracts will be presented.
For the work that has been done in science, the minister emphasized the fact that Kosova is already a fully associated member of the Horizon Europe program, while also mentioning the functioning of the National Science Council. Minister Nagavci also said that, three years after being expelled due to political interference, the Kosova Accreditation Agency became an associate member of ENQA.
The minister also mentioned the fact that the MESTI budget for education for 2023 will be 82,799,243 euros or 9,712,412 euros more than in 2022, which represents an increase of 12 percent. Meanwhile, she said that the specific education grant for 2023 is approximately at the level of year 2022, which represents success, considering the continuous reduction in the number of students.
While, speaking about the challenges, Minister Nagavci, among other things, mentioned the continuous coordination with donors to eliminate their overlapping in the same fields, the lack of a body at the national level for the representation of all businesses, as well as the identification of the profiles of needed in the labor market.
Also, she mentioned the difficulties in constructive and professional communication with some of the municipalities.
Last modified: November 17, 2022
