Alternative instruction begins tomorrow for over 400 Kamenica students, Kastrati: I do not back off from reform

Kamenica's municipality undertook a series of actions where the closure and fusion of several schools in several Kamenica villages took place due to the low number of students. This was rejected by students, parents, and teachers who had organized protests and strikes.

Returning to the decision of Minister Nagavci, Kastrati says convinced that the same has political background, but says he will organise an alternative lesson for students who have not followed the lesson.

The “is an irresponsible behavior, it is biased that tries to undermine reform in the Kamenica municipality, in particular reshuffle the school network. At the end of the day, the decision itself has not been precise, nor has it the right to correct, how organization is done, that it is the competence of the Communists, but it is a tendency to intervene in the competence of the Communists. However, the minister (Arberie Nagavci) has its competencies and I invite him to remain only within its competencies and mandate, I do not allow to interfere with the competencies of the municipality”, he says.

Kamenica's first one says they will organise such a lesson because these students have almost lost the year.

“The supplementary learning, we were willing with the ministry to organise it, only that we determined which are the functional school objects and the teachers to organise and the additional cost to cover the ministry. However, so far it does not seem that there is will from the ministry to make a solution, but we are willing and needed because these children have almost lost the year”, Kastrati says.

Kastrati, since receiving Kamenica's first mandate was part of the Vetevendosje Movement, says he is convinced that such a decision by Minister Nagavci is for political purposes, all of this says it is being done to undermine it in local elections to be held in the fall of this year.

“For the sake of truth this issue has wanted to begin Arberie Nagavci himself when he was the director of the Pristina municipality, but he once withdrew that he did not consider it worthy of such a challenge, as well as the programme during the campaign. So yes, I think this has a set goal aimed at local elections and they try with the problem of keeping the current problem up until the elections, he says.

Although it does not indicate whether he will enter the race for a term at the helm of Kamenica, Kastrati says he will not back off from reform launched in the municipality that he has been running for four years now.

He says such reorganisation of schools is necessary if they aim to improve quality in education.

This is not an adventure that I have entered and to prove whether or not it is done, it means I am deeply convinced that this is an even necessary right if we want to adjust education in Kosovo. As long as I'm right, that almost everyone accepts it, even the ministry itself legally has money to do as we have done, it's also the Kurti Government's proposal to do so and the legal side we're right, there's no reason to withdraw”, he claims.

Opposition to reform by some parents in this municipality, Kastrati says it has also been made because the same have faced threats and links to oppose reform in education.

We've done surveys, for example 43 per cent of citizens think it's really good after problems that there were 82 per cent in advance. Almost half of parents in those countries also feel that it is good, there has been contact and communication with psychologists, professors, and everyone else feels that it is good. But they're facing a stigmatization, it means threat, lynching all the others, and that's the problem of why everybody's getting in the way. Now if you listen to the opposition generally in a lack of ideas, knowledge, you try to return that this is the only problem and consider that only with this problem would you then have the opportunity to win in the election”, he points out.

Based on the decision of the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and innovation, by May 5th, alternative education accelerated for 441 students from five Kamenica villages will begin.

The accelerated alternative lesson will be arranged for SHFMU students “Hasan Pristina” in the village of Busavate, SHFMU “Aslan Thaqi” in the village of Karace and Downside, SHFMU “Jalalal Sopi” in the village of Petroca, for physical elite students in the village of Shipashica and Pome village, as well as for physical parallel students in the village of Kopernica.