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THE ABC BOOK FOR CHILDREN FROM THE ALBANIAN COMMUNITY

15. September 2011.

Yesterday, Minister Milan Markovic, President of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, Spetim Causi, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania to Serbia, Dimitrios Kypreos, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Galip Beciri, President of the Albanian National Council presented in Bujanovac the ABC book for pupils from the Albanian community.   

The ABC book, along with a workbook, are the result of the Albanian National Council’s effort to provide textbooks in the mother tongue to the children, which was achieved owing to the excellent cooperation with the Coordination Body, the Embassy of the Republic of Albania and the OSCE Mission to Serbia. This is the beginning of a systemic solving of the issue of textbooks in Albanian.

Minister Milan Markovic pointed out that the use of the ABC book and the workbook were in accordance with the Law on Textbooks of the Republic of Serbia. According to him, the said textbook was imported from Albania based on the approval of the Ministry of Education and Science, while it was printed in Serbia, at the recommendation of the Albanian National Council. Minister Markovic thanked the Albanian National Council and the OSCE Mission to Serbia for the cooperation in publishing the ABC book. At the same time, Minister Markovic expressed great gratitude to Spetim Causi, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania to Serbia, for the assistance provided regarding the solving of the issue of textbooks in Albanian.

Galip Beciri, President of the Albanian National Council, expressed satisfaction with the fact that children had got the textbook and added that the ABC book and workbook in Albanian were a drop in the sea for the needs of the local pupils. Mr. Beciri thanked the Coordination Body, the OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Embassy of the Republic of Albania for the assistance that they had provided.

Dimitrios Kypreos, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, welcomed the approval of the first ABC book in Albanian and voiced expectations that the same would be done with the other textbooks that are necessary for classes in Albanian.

Spetim Causi, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania, said that the ABC book was a gift to the children from South Serbia and he pointed out that he would continue providing assistance with further education of the children from the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. He voiced hope that new textbooks in Albanian would be published faster, which would simultaneously contribute to a better and more open cooperation between two peoples and two states.

Minister Milan Markovic, Dimitrios Kypreos, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Spetim Causi and Galip Beciri, President of the Albanian National Council, paid a visit to a form - one classroom  at the “Naim Fraseri” elementary school and  handed the ABC books and workbooks to the children.