The mayor of the capital, Përparim Rama, today organized the first inter-municipal conference on education in the Prishtina region, where the municipalities of Obiliq, Lipjan, and Fushë Kosovë presented their challenges in the education sector.
Key challenges included population growth in the municipality of Fushë Kosovë and the need to build more schools. Meanwhile, in Lipjan, the main issue was the decline in the number of students in rural areas and the increase in student numbers in urban schools.
The Mayor of Prishtina, Përparim Rama, stated that in the capital, challenges have included the implementation of full-day schooling and the integration of digital curricula and digitalization of classrooms. So far, 400 out of 600 classrooms have been equipped with digital boards, with all expected to be furnished by the end of the year.
Rama said that the conference aims to unite the region and provide a platform for exchanging ideas and processes implemented by individual municipalities.
“We’ve undertaken several processes that were somewhat challenging but absolutely necessary for the development of education in the capital. The full-day schooling we started in five schools has had a positive impact on children and on raising educational standards. It includes extracurricular elements such as art, sports, public speaking, drama, and theater—activities that today are part of the creative industry. Over the past three years, we have also digitized the curricula, aiming to reduce dependency on individual teachers or professors. We’ve invested in smart boards—400 out of 600 classrooms are equipped, and all will be by the end of the year. Prishtina is in a better position than other municipalities, but our master plan for Prishtina has been expanded to also include surrounding municipalities,” Rama said.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Obiliq, Xhafer Gashi, said they have managed to secure resources for smooth teaching operations and have also built a semi-Olympic swimming pool for students.
“We have inter-municipal cooperation in various areas. We face several challenges, but also necessary cooperation. All municipalities share similar issues with schools. We’ve focused especially on education and its quality… We have managed to equip schools and prepare them for proper teaching conditions. We’ve built a semi-Olympic swimming pool for our students,” Gashi stated.
The Deputy Mayor of Fushë Kosovë, Besnik Osmani, emphasized that one of their main challenges is the growing number of students—around 400 to 500 new students—which continues to increase. He highlighted a lack of sufficient financial capacity, noting a shortage of 150 teaching positions.
Another challenge, he added, is the limited space available to build new schools.
“In Fushë Kosovë, we are in a very specific situation due to population growth. We have roughly 400–500 new students joining, and this is one of the main challenges we face. We are facing a legal paradox: municipalities are obliged to ensure education, which should be guaranteed, but on the other hand, we don’t receive sufficient financial capacity,” Osmani noted.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Mayor of Lipjan, Diamant Bytyqi, added that internal migration from villages to cities has increased the number of students in urban schools, while decreasing it in rural areas.
The goal of this conference was to build a joint cooperation platform between the municipalities of Prishtina, Fushë Kosovë, Obiliq, and Lipjan in order to address challenges and opportunities in pre-university education in a coordinated manner.
