Hoxha, PDK: Government failed to manage pandemic in schools and online learning

He said many schools across the country were washed by the government without disinfectant and did not become the disinfectant of school spaces.

MP Hoxha also stressed the fact that the current Avdullah Hoti government, like Albin Kurti's government, is failing to deliver online learning, where Kosovo students are losing a whole school year by watching only repeated TV lectures.

He said that in addition to the complete failure in organising teaching in the pandemic, the current government is entirely sponsoring University boards, and warned the minister of education's call to parliamentary responsibilities.

Full statement by MP Sejdiu Hoxha:

Honored citizens of the Republic of Kosovo,

Dear media representatives, thank you for responding to the PDK's invitation to this organised conference.

Of course, one of the topics we're very concerned about these days is the health of our citizens from the Coddy-19 pandemic.

The PDK is very concerned with the responsibility of this government over its failure to implement safeguard clauses against Covid-19 in educational-educial institutions.

Today schools in Kosovo are not supplied with disinfectant, regular disinfectation of public spaces in schools is not being sent at all to medical teams that need to take care of the health of students, teachers, technical staff and administrative staff, as a result of this lack of the virus is spreading at great speed in many schools around Kosovo.

The Kosovo government, even though it made a review of the budget in pandemic time, did not foresee additional financial means that could increase the level of respect for safeguard clauses in schools.

Albin Kurt's previous government at the time of the pandemic left unannounced in online teaching about 32,000 students in Kosovo, or about 11% of the general number of students, mainly children of households under social assistance, and children with special needs.

The same failure is taking place with the Hoti government, which tried to challenge a strategy of teaching in time of pandemic through three scenarios A, B, and C. A government that comes out with three scenarios shows there's not one left.

Even during the application of scenario C, so following online instruction through RTK, in many schools no online learning was applied through digital platforms like zoom, Google meet, or even other platforms.

We're just giving a concrete example where at the School “Mihal Grameno” in Fushe Kosova”, about 3400 students, in this school for 14 days has not been organised at all, according to a simple calculation, turns out that about 5,200 hours are lost in lack of online learning.

This case, and many such cases in Kosovo, is disturbing for all of us.

A tired government that is unable to manage the prosperity of learning in cities, imagine what a serious situation we have in villages. There is not even a smaller information about what is happening in Kosovo's deepest villages.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo demands that the Hoti government organise regular visits to school psychologists so that we have increased concern for the students' mental health, especially at this time of pandemic.

In addition to the numerous failures of this government in primary and secondary education under pandemic conditions, this government is undermining higher education through political interference.

Sad to say, this government is politicising public universities by naming political militants who have no academic and professional preparations to manage universities. The board of Haxhi Zeka University in Pec was appointed chief of the AAKA Councilrs' group and the sister of an MP.

Former Minister Hykmete Bajrami acted likewise when she threw up the UP's board and then on that, Bord appointed perosas who work in private colleges.

This government is also openly interfering with independent agencies. The latest case of a scandalous intervention is the education minister's decision to increase the number of students at the Faculty of Medicine. We're about raising medical students, but not interfering illegally with independent agencies.

We consider the letter of the Commission for Education, directed at the Ministry of Education and Science illegal intervention.

This decision should not be accepted by the University and Agency, much more so that the minister well knows that no student beyond the AKK's quota, does not prove his diploma, and therefore is not recognised at all. So, here for the worse, we also have manipulation and instrumentisation of applicants, without their knowledge and guilt.

Therefore, this intervention of the education minister in UP's autonomy is illegal, and we consider it aimed at apprehending public educational institutions from politics.

As a result of such political interventions, the European Committee for the Security of Quality at Higher Education (EQAR) has ruled out Kosovo's accredited agency, and this agency in 2019 has also been excluded from the European Association for the Security of Quality at High Education (ENQA).

Leaving ECAR and ECQA has serious consequences for Kosovo students whose diplomas would not be recognised by other universities, so because of such political interference in agencies, our students would be isolated.

This government, unfortunately, has so far no strategy or preparations for restoring Kosovo in the two most important international education mechanisms -- namely, in ECAR and ENCA.

So like the PDK, from next week we will take our actions by inviting the Minister of Education and Science's responsibility for all his actions and his actions, the consequences of which are only being seen every day.