December 3, 2009

3. December 2009.

The Ministry of Education, with the assistance of the Leskovac School Authority, organized the passing of teacher exams or of license exams of the Albanian teachers in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, who awaited the exam for thirteen years.

Over the past few days, over fifty junior elementary school teachers obtained the license, while as of February 2010, elementary and secondary school teachers will be taking the exam.

- The teachers were taking the exam in their mother tongue in Presevo before the board in which a Serbian-Albanian interpreter was provided – said Bratislav Vasic, Head of the School Authority.
According to the estimate of Nedjamedin Ahmedi, who is in charge of the social activities in Presevo, two thirds of teachers in Presevo used to be without the teacher exam.

- If they were to come to a class in Belgrade, where they don’t know anyone and where they were to speak Serbian, I am not sure that they would have been able to manage. We are very thankful to both Minister of Education and Mr. Vasic for making it possible for us to get the license – Mr. Ahmedi said.

The passing of teacher exams ceased in 1996, while the process continued in 2006 when around seventy teachers got the license. The process, thereupon, without any explanation, came to a halt and was renewed by the end of this October.

- It’s easier for us to breathe now. A great many teachers feared that they might lose their jobs – said Mr. Teljat Arifi, the head of school directors in Presevo.