The Committee on Education of the tenth legislature approved today, in its first meeting, its scope of work, which included numerous proposals from both ruling party and opposition MPs.

Fahrush Rexhepi, a member of the Committee from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje, proposed that the committee’s work also include oversight of scientific and educational institutions.

“I propose including oversight of the implementation of legality in some other scientific institutions, namely the Institute of History, the Albanological Institute, and also the Pedagogy Institute,” he said.

Meanwhile, Enver Hoxhaj, a member from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), suggested, due to the absence of a government plan, that the Minister of Education, Hajrullah Ceku, as well as the directors of the Municipal Education Directorates, be heard.

“We have a new government that has been supported by the Assembly, but we still do not have the government’s program to see what its approach will be in the field of education. I’m not saying this as the opposition that we should wait for the minister to contribute what he plans for education, but perhaps it would be good to have a meeting with the ministry before the program comes to the Assembly, so we don’t face the usual confrontation in the Assembly,” he stated.

Jehona Lushaku, an MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo, also made proposals regarding the committee’s scope of work.

“The word ‘university’ is missing when we talk about higher education. I propose that it be mentioned, even if it may be implied. We need to increase our oversight of the activities and decisions made by universities. It is important that topics such as the European agenda and aligning our goals with the European agenda be a priority,” she said.

Former Minister of Education and now Committee member, Arbërie Nagavci, requested that the committee’s workload not be increased beyond what has been determined..

“The proposal is that the scope of work not be increased further as outlined, while other topics can, of course, be reviewed depending on the needs,” she said.

However, Nemanja Bisevac, an MP from the Serbian List, opposed oversight of higher education in the northern part of the country, stating that this issue belongs to the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

“Nevertheless, I consider this a matter for dialogue and one of the competencies of the future Association of Serbian Municipalities, so I think we should not deal with this issue now,” he emphasized.

A response to this came from former Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj, who said that education topics should not be a matter of daily politics.“The university in northern Mitrovica emerged as a result of the Ahtisaari process; it has nothing to do with dialogue. It is part of our education system, and as a member of parliament, I can monitor and oversee any institution within the territory of a sovereign state. I don’t want to argue, but I believe that topics of education and knowledge should not be subjects of daily political debate, because at the end of the day, they concern all citizens of Kosovo,” he stated.