Minister Bytyqi warns teachers' assessment

The first of this ministry, Shyqiri Bytyqi, says that this assessment of teachers will not be formally done, but will do so professionally.

The little test word is heavy and there are different reactions from different teachers, but the assessment will be there. It's going to be pretty much identifying the training needs, so I'm not going to call it a test, because the test might be understood to have to go through someone or I shouldn't go through that test. Ours is to appreciate, to identify additional needs to train teachers, we will certainly do so. Normally, we're not going to do formal things just to identify the additional training needs, we're going to do the professional training that exists, and then normally it's going to be an assessment”, said the education minister.

MA UNMIK has trained teachers about the new curriculum, but that Minister Byqyqi says a great measure of teachers have been held for formalities and that they have not maintained training to achieve the level of access to information to implement that curriculum in practice.

Also, the minister has said that teachers should be aware that they are not teachers only when they go to school, he said that the vital lesson must be applied in Kosovo.

The teacher must be a teacher and he must know that at school he goes to teach, to enable a young person to be available for the job market tomorrow. This teacher should not be a teacher only when going to school and taking the journal for just three hours or four hours. He must know that the minimum is eight hours of teaching, but why not another 24 hours, so the whole vital lesson must be applied to Kosovo that we are determined to apply it for this. There may be objections, but we are determined to send things forward. If the teacher doesn't continue to apply an eight-hour preparation, then we'll be forced to keep our teachers at school for eight hours so that they can understand that they have a minimum eight-hour obligation to be teaching”, Bytyqi said.

International test to be held in 2018 P ISA, which for this, Minister Bytyqi has announced he has asked P ISA for this test to be postponed in a year, which has not been accepted. He also said that it has been the opportunity to withdraw from this test and start all over again in 2021, but that he has not seen fit to do so.

Bytyqi said that following the refusal of the application, they have established a commission where they have made a dynamic plan to take concrete steps in this very short period to be prepared for this test.

The “Commission has taken on duty and made the dynamic plan that until the Pisa 2018 test, which will be held somewhere in late April, early May, we hold two pro-tests, so the commission is working to have a trial test in all of Kosovo's schools and see what the current situation is and then take measures that in the second test we pretend to keep only in schools that will be selected by Pisa. I believe we'll have the information that we can select schools and take the second test test test, where the second test will eliminate weaknesses identified by the first test, second, and will familiarise students with the form of the test. You realize that in 2018, so the Pisa 2018 will be held digital form of test that this too may cause us a problem that did not exist in 2015”, the minister said.

Digital, and that's why they're going to do these two pro-tests.

A problem with Minister Bytyqi also sees the nature of questions, where at the Pisa 2015 test the questions have been logical and have also sought logical answers, which he says is the logical lesson in Kosovo schools is missing.

The priorities for the next few years is professional education, where Minister Bytyqi has said he is very interested in developing it at the right level so that Kosovo's young can prepare and be skilled in the labour market.

In this direction he said it will work hard to develop professional schools, equip professional schools with adequate equipment, a close co-operation with businesses so that students can have access to practice. He also said they are making a national plan for professional schools.