The Municipality of Prishtina considers education one of the main priorities for development, viewing it as a strategic investment for the future rather than just a budgetary expense. This was emphasized during the event “Education in the Next 10 Years in the Capital,” organized on the occasion of International Education Day.
The Mayor of the Municipality of Prishtina, Përparim Rama, said that the municipality takes education seriously and has already made investments in this area.
“As the capital, we naturally see education as a strategic investment in the city, because education is interconnected with all other spheres. Its main impact is felt across various areas in the capital, in our society, in the economy, in social aspects, in culture, in art, and in technology. All of these are supported by the quality of education we provide, the skills we enable and create for the new generations in the capital. As such, we do not see education as a budgetary expense; education is in fact an investment in the future infrastructure of our society. You know that in our first term, these first four years, we have shown that we approach education in the most serious way possible, and we have invested heavily, starting with full-day learning. We started with five schools, then continued with twelve schools. We have also made other investments, such as digitalization. Today, every classroom and every student has access to the digital curriculum. Also, smart panels—Smart screens, Smart panels—have been installed in over 600 classrooms. Additionally, we have constructed and renovated a large number of schools, including the construction of ten new schools. We have also doubled early education capacities,” he said.
The Director of Education in the Municipality of Prishtina, Samir Shahini, said that the situation regarding infrastructure is quite good.
“Of course, there is still much work to be done, but overall, the situation regarding infrastructure is quite good. Regarding equipment, digitalization, and technology in general, it is noticeably better than perhaps in any other municipality, if we make a comparison. However, neither of these two aspects of infrastructure makes us comfortable enough to consider the mission or process complete. We still have a lot of work to do to increase these 600 classrooms mentioned by the mayor to 1,000 and to fully equip all classrooms in the capital with digital boards.
One of the more evident challenges, especially in urban areas, is overcrowding in certain schools, which requires investment or the completion of the ten schools the mayor mentioned, in order to finalize and stabilize school spaces. This will then allow the full implementation of full-day learning even in urban areas, which remains more challenging than in rural areas,” he said.
The Chairman of the Parents’ Council in Prishtina, Nexhmi Hoxha, said that parent-school cooperation has increased in the municipality.
“As the Parents’ Council at the level of Prishtina, we have seen that cooperation is growing in the city, both in terms of the role of parents in schools and in decision-making. As the Parents’ Council, but also as the School Board, given that the Ministry and the applicable laws in Kosovo are somewhat contradictory regarding the Parents’ Council and the School Board, the role of the Parents’ Council and the School Board—whether it is decision-making, advisory, or simply approving decisions—sometimes we as parents misinterpret our role and interfere with the directors’ competencies, which is not correct. As parents, we should not interfere with the directors’ competencies.
However, I believe and know that in Prishtina there is an exceptionally strong and good cooperation between school management staff and parents. Naturally, we seek even more cooperation, more reporting, and greater transparency,” he said.
