Book subsidies are late, parents: We're buying it all for 80 euros.

Although the new school year is expected to begin Monday, many parents have not yet received the financial means for subsidising textbooks from the Ministry of Education, even though today it is August 31st. They say they have applied in time for the benefit of this subsidy, but the execution of vehicles is delayed. According to parents, textbooks have already been purchased with their own tools.

Some of them also say the amount earmarked for the purchase of books is not enough, forcing them to cover the rest of the cost from their budget.

Zeynep Fyzulla, a mother of a girl who will follow classes in fourth grade, says she is not at all satisfied with the process of subsidizing books. She relates that the girl has purchased her textbooks by her own means until she finds that the tools have not yet been accepted.

The cost of buying books and other school tools has already exceeded 80 euros, says Fyzulla.

We can't buy books with that 80 euros. Which class? Class four. Did they make the tools? No, I haven't made it. I had to be foolish. But there is little. We can't even get our books. I don't know how they put a pencil like that. How much did the books cost you for the girl in fourth grade? Two or three days running behind books, I don't know the bills. They've spent 80 euros? Yeah, sure. With notebooks and other tools, of course they do. Only the books have passed 80 euros? I think so. The cheapest book was three euros. Three euros and higher prices. Did you apply for tools? Yeah, I applied, I still haven't. It's not okay at all. And there are people who can't get away without running the”, says Fyzulla.

Lia Rudi, the mother of a third - grade girl, likewise says that the execution of tools for the purchase of textbooks is delayed. According to her, for parents of two and more children at school, buying books without being executed is difficult.

“Application timed. If it takes more time to execute the payments, then the application logically had to start earlier. This is an issue that depends on the ministry's procedures. Legal engagement is providing textbooks 1 to 9. The best way to do that is to send the books right to schools so that all kinds of abuses are eliminated... if someone thinks that this amount will buy books and textbooks, it's not enough. For texts, I believe that something is enough and too much about teaching tools... in this situation where people should buy books, they learn which books they should buy on September 1st, when kids go to school, because they're different publishers, and schools don't determine all about the same books. The first days of September, 1, 2 and 3 September when books should be bought. Surely they don't have the means for some people who have a slightly more difficult economic situation, says Popovci.

Meanwhile, regarding the process of buying books, Elvim Blakay from the “Dukagini” library, says that this year parents are better prepared with regard to their children's list of books. He relates that this time, the sale of textbooks started earlier than last year to avoid toll.

The view is going well. Our parents are as interested as any year, we have become routines, expecting our parents to complete their purchases. This year we started selling books a little earlier, on the 18th. We've tried to give the parents space to distribute the purchase as much as they can, so it's not the maximum toll in the last 3-4 days... The parents are much better prepared for the books this year. They have lists, they're organised”, Blakaj says.

KosovoPress has tried to receive answers from the Ministry of Education concerning the process of executing tools for textbooks, but until publishing this article, there has been no response.

On August 27th, according to the August 15th public announcement, more than 183,000 applications for textbooks and textbooks have been accepted since the application began.

According to August 27th, the execution of the first payments worth over 9 million and 600 thousand euros for over 120 thousand applications has begun.

Buying textbooks through tool execution is taking place for the third year in a row.

In June of this year, the National Audition Office (ZKA) published the audit report for the annual financial mirrors of the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and innovation for 2024”. Among other things, this report highlights incorrigibly the subventional process for the purchase of books for students in 1509 classes, where part of the beneficiaries have failed to meet the criteria for subvention, at a cost exceeding 60 thousand euros.

From 22 selected schools for auditing in five Kosovo municipalities, ZKA has identified more than 300 beneficiaries from the pre-school level that have received subsidies worth over 24 thousand euros, though this group was not designated a beneficiary according to criteria.

The report also shows that 154 applicants located abroad have benefited subsidies worth over 14,000 euros, while over 20 thousand euros have been distributed to 183 middle school beneficiaries who were also not included in the profitable category.

There are also 18 cases of dropout for which nearly 2 thousand euros had been allocated.

For these irregularities, the ZKA has recommended that the Ministry of Education strengthen the mechanisms of control and supervision so that the distribution of public funds can be made in line with the established criteria and government's decision.

This year AugustI will allocate 80 euros to students from first grade to fifth grade for the purchase of textbooks and textbooks. Meanwhile, from 80 euros will be earmarked for students from sixth to ninth grade for the purchase of labour notebooks and textbooks.

School texts for sixth to ninth grades, according to administrative instruction on equipment, use and preservation, will be used by previous generations./Periscopi/