About 75 euros cost textbooks for first-class students

The cost of textbooks for a first-class student, according to prices at bookstores, is about 75 euros. After 15 years, parents will be forced this year to buy their own texts, and the ministry has pledged to remunt. Meanwhile, there are schools in the capital where volunteers have been mobilised to help social occasions provide textbooks for students. And from opposition parties demanded the resignation of Education Minister Arberie Nagavci, after praising that its proposal constitutes inability to manage the education system and that there is a cost of 20 per cent higher than through purchase of books through procurement procedures

About 75 euros cost 16 textbooks of nine classes for a first-class student.

Prices at the bookstores for the basic book range from 5 to 6 euros, while for workshops and textbooks of art, music and physical education are from 4 euros. The same prices vary for classroom books from second to fifth.

This year, after 15 years, the obligation to buy textbooks is under consideration to be delivered to parents, since only 10 days before the launch of the education process, the Ministry of Education has announced it has failed to reach agreements with publishing houses for supply of books schools. She has accused publishing houses of offering prices far higher than those they place in their libraries.

For compensation for buying books, the ministry has promised to deposit the tools in parents' accounts. But former chairman of the Council of Parents of Kosovo, Jeton Demi, has praised that promise as unacceptable.

The latest statement, to measure the public response, so that books are not bought with public procurement, but to be repaid for buying books through transferring tools to citizens is wrong in many dimensions”, Demi has said, who added that with this proposal, the practice of having institutions remove the burden of decision from themselves by carrying it to others.

The practice of distributing books free of charge by the Ministry of Education for Schools has been under way since 2008. According to the administrative instruction, published in 2016, it is up to the ministry to equip students with textbooks.

“MANTUS is tasked with providing education students with textbooks”, writes on Article 2 of the instruction, where the granting of AugustI.

By 2021 the Ministry of Education has chosen from a publishing house for each subject, and it has distributed them to educational institutions. For two years now, the Ministry has decided that there will be more than one publishing house for each subject, and then the teachers will decide which book to work with. And then, the ministry has had to sign the tender with publishing houses for providing textbooks.

As a result of the uncertainty created about school textbooks, parents have said that parents have started mobilizing to help each other if the ministry does not fulfill its obligations.

We have some 30 students with social assistance and it's good news that school parents, schoolmates have expressed readiness that those cases help you buy books if possible, if it comes to buying books for students, even rebassing”, Visar Osmani, director at the school “Emin Durakux> in the capital, said.

And in the ministry on Tuesday, a meeting is held between the Pre-university Education Department and publishing houses. According to the AugustI report, representatives of publishing houses have pledged that they will not raise prices.

“Under regular meetings, the Department for Pre-university Education in AugustI has held meetings with representatives of publishing houses about preparations for the school year, respectively. At this meeting, representatives of publishing houses have pledged that there are sufficient textbooks and that there will be no increase in their” price, it has been said in response from AugustI.

Minister Arberie Nagavci had on Monday accused publishing houses of offering high book prices. After that indictment, the Public House “Dukagini” said they submitted an offer of 4 percent cheaper than the previous year.

Shukri Klinku, owner of the publishing house “Laguas”, has told TIME that Nagavci lied since this year's company has not participated in the tender, due to the procedure delays by the ministry.

Because in 2023, in July, it delayed the tender, we didn't offer at all. From this aspect it is unfair on the part of the minister to mention us in the context of this year, to mention us as the publishing house”, he said.

Under the Law for the Publishing of School Texts, publishing houses send their materials to the Resens Commission, formed by AugustI, and after receiving approval, catalogues with their books are sent to schools for selection.

In addition to criticism from publishing houses, Nagavci's proposal that parents buy their own books for their children, with remuneration, has been conveyed with reactions from opposition party representatives.

On Tuesday, press conferences related to the issue have held on Democratic League (LDK), the Democratic Party (PDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).

Jehona Lushaku, a member of the LDK's Headship, has said the ministry has shown inability with the proposal that the purchase of books be carried on to parents. She has added that the cost of buying books from her parents will be 20 percent higher than their insurance through procurement procedures.

The Ministry's subset will be much more expensive. This will prove that retail purchase will be more expensive. We are not even counting on our parents ' commitment to buying. All of this has not been calculated. The price of books will be minimally 20 percent more expensive”, she said.

For this reason, Lushtaku has demanded the resignation of Minister Nagavci.

We request the immediate resignation of Minister Nagavci, due to mismanagement, systematic violations of the laws in power and anarchy created in the education system. Kosovo does not deserve a minister who has failed to manage every level of education”, she has said.

And Besiane Musmurat, director of Education in the Pristina municipality and member of the PDK, has said the ministry's proposal is the example of ill-governance in education.

“Attempts to hide failure in education with reasoning and hiding behind past mistakes must end. Errors do not improve with greater mistakes. Parents around Kosovo are deeply concerned with the new situation, which is expected to be created where even September 2nd under governance Kurti is finding students with problems to start school year”, she has said.

Meanwhile, Besnik Tahiri, chief of the AAK Parliamentary Group, has linked the Ministry's latest proposal with action to boost the launch of strikes.

This decision is to provoke strikes, undermine public education and create a crisis and financially harm the citizen. This situation could end and stop only with the dismissal of this government”, he said.

Last year, the learning process was launched on October 1st as a result of the salary teachers' strike, launched on August 25th.