VV failed text hearing, opposition with accusations and warnings

The September 4th extraordinary session was called by opposition parties.

The new school year in Kosovo began on September 1st. But, for the past 15 years, this year the responsibility for buying textbooks belongs to parents, who will be restored through government platform E-Kosovo.

Despite the failure of the debate, Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca gave the word to party representatives present in the Parliament.

Democratic Party of Kosovo Chairman Memli Krasniqi said that with the subsistance of textbooks, August is a legal offense.

According to him, the government led by Albin Kurti has left students without textbooks, while MPs from the ruling party are fleeing the confrontation in the Assembly.

“A can tell us the minister [of education, Arberie Nagavci] whether there are personal, financial or other interests that of 4.8m euros, the cost has been made by 12.5m euros to give to those critical, if the publishing houses”, Krasniqi said.

Meanwhile, former Education Minister, currently deputy of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Hykmete Bajrami asked that “from whom the Government is fleeing”.

The Ministry of Education, according to her, has failed to make “pazar” with publishing houses for textbooks supply, so according to Bajrami this situation has been created. She said the school year could end, and some students may not have all the textbooks.

Meanwhile, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo Parliamentary Group chief Besnik Tahiri accused the executive of lacking courage “to face truth”, as according to him, textbooks are not in schools, but in libraries.

Education Minister Arberie Nagavci has said on August 24th that the institution she heads has failed to reach agreements with publishing houses, for the fact that, according to her, publishing houses have offered prices far higher than those they place in their libraries.

However, this has been denied by representatives of some publishers.

Subvention of School Texts
MA The SHTI has earmarked between 80 euros for students from the first grade to the fifth, and from 30 euros for those from the sixth to the ninth, after the last are provided from last year.

For subsidisation of necessary texts and other materials, the Kosovo government last week has allocated about 13m euros.

The number of students from first grade to ninth in Kosovo is estimated to be 213,000.

KM LDL urges the case to be clarified to the end
The Council for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms (KMLDNJ) has reacted to the situation created with textbooks. Through a media communiqué, this institution has demanded that the case be clarified to the end and that it should not remain only as a clash between power and opposition.

“MASTI should explain that through this form of compensation, has it managed to save tools from the Kosovo budget”, it was said in the communique.

KMLDNJ said that if it turns out that this form of textbooks is more expensive than the preliminary form, then there should be an investigation and responsibility determined on all levels. / REL/