Kosovo students reward in Paris: We're better off than we are. PISA

Periskopi

29 July 2023, 21:25(3 years ago)

Sitting in a room on Abdel Frasher Street in Pristina, Kron Selmanaj's eyes are enlightened by the gold medal reflection. Looking around at that medal, 11-year-old recalls how he won it about a week ago. On July 21, over 1,300 miles [2,300 km] from his home in Pristina, [...]

On July 21st, over 2,300km from his home in Pristina, Cronin was sitting in a testing hall at the University of Paris in France, known as the Sorbonne.

At the right corner of that hall's final row, he says he felt “pak as stressed”, when confronted with the full tract of mathematics tasks he had to choose.

I've been under a lot of stress at first, I haven't expected to win”, says Kroni, who took third place in the international math competition, the STEM Olympics (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), which took place in Paris.

Kron Selmanaj, a Kosovo student who took third place at the STEM Olympics in Paris, France, for mathematics.

Kroni and 13 other contestants represented Kosovo for the first time in the third edition of this Olympics. They were selected after the two testing stages, which held the Infini Centre, where a total of 450 students from all over Kosovo participated.

Kosovo also took two second positions with Arijon Syla in the math competition and Kayosh Concert in the science competition. Gold, silver, and bronze medals took other racers.

Upon learning that he was successful in testing, Cronin called his mother, who had urged him to compete at the STAM Olympics.

When my parents are proud of me, I feel proud of myself. So, I'm very happy, I still can't believe”, he says.

Eleven-year-old says he is proud even to represent Kosovo in this race, where more than 11,000 students from over 114 countries participated, according to data on the Olympics website.

Very few have recognised Kosovo. I think now, at the end of the race, they know him better because Kosovo has won a lot in this race. I think they will keep Kosovo in mind even the foreign people who have been in that race”, Kroni says.

A day after testing, Kroni landed on a stage at Europe's largest science museum known as Science and Industry City (CSI) to take his medal. Along with him, surrounded by the Kosovo flag, were several students, including Emir Lezin.

Students from Kosovo, at the STEM Olympics in Paris, France.

Amy held a gold medal around his neck, showing his success in the science competition. Among the 40 questions Amy answered was this:

Which of the following are solid crystals?

Salt
Sugar
Kwarci
Diamond
All

The exact option was what I did, all solid crystals. I've also learned it at school, but logically, salt and sugar look like crystals and they're solid, so they're solid crystals”, Emiri tells Radio Free Europe.

Emir Lezi, the student from Kosovo who won medals in the science contest at the STEM Olympics in Paris, France.

He says he is proud of himself for his success, but he says he would like not to have been so hasty because he believes that he could have achieved even better results.

I took the test in 20 minutes, but others did it in an hour. I would say [to others] not to be hasty, because some students who are at the same age as me have done better because they have waited and examined the questions well”, he says.

Students who participated in this Olympics also had the opportunity to visit the Eiffel Tower, CSI Science Museum, and Disneyland Park.

Amy's mind remained an activity in which he participated during his visit to the Science Museum. With wings raised high, Amy had learned how planes fly and practiced learning on a test.

“I put my hands in T form and then it flies, moving hands and body. There were three possible results. The best result was the one I took: that I landed the plane at the right time”, recalls Amy.

A Kosovo student doing the exercise on how to fly a plane to the Paris Museum of Science in France.

The STAM Olympics, attended by Amyri and other students from Kosovo, are aimed at, as said on her website, teaching students how the scientific “des can apply to daily life”.

Merita Alicaj, co-ordinator of the Infin centre that has been licensed for Kosovo's representation in this Olympics, believes that this very thing should be done in Kosovo's educational system.

And what I think should apply to our system is this: to be practical, because we teach [the students] a lot of theories, we get a lot of work on kids with information they don't need. But there [at the Olympics] was all concrete and accessible: [the student] learns something and then practices it immediately”, she says.

“Many tests mentioned P ISA. I think that's exactly why we have to change the way we appreciate it, but it's also about providing information for our kids. Because, we testified that unless they're in step with the children of the world, we're among the first to reach”, Alchaj adds.

Merita Alikay, coordinator of Infin center.

She says Kosovo had better results than many other states, citing the US, France, Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In two tests of the international student evaluation programme, P I SA, Kosovo is nearly at the end of the world ranking. In 2015, Kosovo was the third worst in this test in the world, while in 2018 it was ranked only a better position.

This test is held every three years, but it was finally held in 2022 and not in 2021 because of the pandemic COVID-19. The results of the last test are expected to be released in December of this year. / REL/