PRESIDENT OF THE COORDINATION BODY FOR THE MUNICIPALITIES OF PRESEVO, BUJANOVAC AND MEDEVEĐA, ZORAN STANKOVIC, VISITED STUDENTS, WHO ARE THE COORDINATION BODY’S SCHOLARSHIP HOLDERS

President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, Zoran Stankovic, visited the first and second generation of scholars who study at Novi Sad University.  Mr. Stankovic met with 30 students and while he was talking to them, Rector Miroslav Veskovic, the deans and associate deans, he was informed about the experiences of young people who come from the three municipalities, as well as about the studying conditions and their integration into the new environment.

11 first-generation students from the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja got enrolled in Novi Sad University’s faculties , while the condition for furtehr studying was met by 9 students. 21 freshmen began their academic education in the 2012/2013 school year. The Coordination Body’s scholarship holders are studying at the following eight faculties:  those of  Philosophy, Natural Sciences, Medicine, Law, Economics, Faculty of Engineering, Sports and Physical Education and at the Academy of Arts.

Rector of the University of Novi Sad, Miroslav Vesković, thanked the Coordination Body for the considerable help in implementing the project that refers to the studying of ethnic Albanian   students, as well as of students of other ethnic backgrounds, and expressed the hope that the students would successfully complete their education and contribute to the progress not only of  the region from which they come, but also to that of the entire society. 

This kind of cooperation is very important, while the fact that 30 students from Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja study  at the University of Novi Sad’s faculties, as well as  the success that the first generation of students achieved and the fact that as many as 48  young persons from that region applied for the Coordination Body’s scholarships are very encouraging, Zoran Stankovic said. 

“The students didn’t have any problems whatsoever.  On the contrary, they made new friends and contacts, so that we expect to have a larger number of  students from the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja that are intersted in studying at the University of Novi Sad next year“, Mr. Stankovic said.  

President of the Coordination Body particularly thanked the rector and the deans for their effort and help in  making it possible for students to overcome the  language barrier, which made the young people feel as if  they were  at home.

A second-year student of tourism at the Faculty of Science, Dafina Aliu, said that she  was very pleased  that she had successfully completed the first year and began the second one.

“I fitted very well into the new environment, as well as into the city and society, which is multi-ethnic and which doesn’t differ from ours, but the way things operate here is much better. That’s why I'd like to use all the experience and habits that I had acquired here when I get back, so that I could apply them there for the purpose of improving  our multi-ethnic community.”  

A representative of the second generation of students, Milica Stojanovic, said that she had already been at the Law Faculty’s Department of Internal Affairs for three months. She also said that she had good cooperation with the teachers, and that she and her colleagues had adapted to the new environment very well. She thanked everyone for the support, which means a lot to her and to all the students from southern Serbia. 

Mr. Stakovic pointed out that dialogue and understanding among people who live and work in an area were very important, and that without them, it would be very difficult to pursue any policy, particularly the policy of reconciliation and prosperity in a region. Mr. Stankovic said that one of the priorities was the solving of basic economic problems, which include unemployment and a lack of investments, and that the young people who compleated their studies at the University of Novi Sad would, with their experience and knowledge, surely contribute to the gradual resolution of the problem, and with their work, to a better life of the residents of that area.