A new school for minorities encourages return in Kosovo

In recent years, the various ethnic communities of Lipjan/Lipljan, a small town some 15 kilometres south-east of Prishtine/Pristina, have been living together peacefully. Tensions are rare and freedom of movement is at a reasonable level.

Still, greater efforts are needed to encourage people from minority groups to stay and those who have left to return. A lack of educational opportunities is the most common concern, followed closely by unemployment.

Real joint effort

But changes are being made. The opening of the "Braca Aksic" primary school marked a new era for students being taught in Serbian. Thanks to the OSCE Mission, their new school has four classrooms, two science labs, a small gym, office space and, soon, a large playground and sports field.

Planning began in 2003, when Lipjan/Lipljan Municipal Assembly members - made up of both ethnic Serbs and Albanians - agreed that a new school for minorities was a top priority. According to Borivoje Vignjevic, the Additional Deputy President of the Municipal Assembly, it was a real joint effort.

"Though we had no funds for new schools, we knew that we had to do everything in our power to make it happen," he says, adding: "In 2003, the least we could do was allocate a plot of land and start looking for money."

School becomes a reality

Luckily, help was not long in coming. Kosovo's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Contingency Fund of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Kosovo jointly contributed 300,000 euros for the school. However, when construction was completed in late 2005, there was no money left to equip the building.

In autumn 2005, the OSCE Office in Lipjan/Lipljan called on the Mission's Ethnic Community Sustainability Fund to help. With 15,000 euros from the Fund and an additional 2,000 from the Municipality, the school project was completed. The funds helped purchase the required furniture, laboratories, teaching toolkits and sports equipment.

Teachers now have a professional environment where the school's 60 students can study. Katarina Palic, a fifth-grader, is much happier. "We have better conditions and more space, so we learn better," she says.

Parents and teachers are all grateful for the new school. "We wanted all children in the community to have a proper learning environment," says Edit Kovacs, Deputy Director of the Mission Regional Centre Prishtine/Pristina.

She says it was encouraging to watch the municipal political leadership acting maturely and constructively. "In this regard, Lipjan/Lipljan is an example for the rest of Kosovo to follow."

Encouraging returns

According to Kovacs, providing good education in a language that can be understood by students, including those from minority groups, is a basic human right. "In Kosovo's context, it also contributes to the return of minorities," she adds. Because ethnic Albanians form the majority of Kosovo's population, Albanian is the common language of instruction.

Slavomir Miric, Sanja's father, is a Kosovo Serb who has never left the small town. He has begun walking his daughter to school - not for safety reasons, as many parents do - but because he is a teacher and the school's Deputy Director.

"Parents are keener to return and stay when they know their children will have a proper education," says Miric, adding that improvised classrooms did not encourage parents to stay in the community, let alone attract more returnees.

"It's the most beautiful school in Kosovo," he says. His only regret is that it was not built earlier: "Had it been built two years ago, we would have close to 100 students by now."