YOUNG ALBANINS LEARNING SERBIAN ON A MASSIVE SCALE

Source: Politika / Young Albanians from South Serbia learn Serbian on a massive scale and this is proved by the number of Albanian students who applied for admission to the school of the Serbian language organized for the first time by the Office of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. The school will have 310 students, who will, over a seven- month period, twice per week, be improving their knowledge of Serbian with the assistance of a teacher and who will finally get certified diplomas. Director of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, Danijela Nenadic, says that members of the ethnic Albanian minority want to learn the Serbian language as well as possible, so that they could receive education for free, find  jobs and easily integrate into the social life of Serbia. The school is scheduled to begin working in three weeks on the premises of Bujanovac and Presevo primary schools.  The classes will be organized twice per week, on Saturdays and Sundays, in the course of seven months. The classes will be provided by teachers of the School of Foreign Languages from Nis, including two teaching assistants from Presevo and Bujanovac, who are members of the Albanian community.  The school will be free of charge, while the school beneficiaries will receive free textbooks and certified diplomas.

“The Coordination Body’s Office knew that the response from people who live in this area would be great, as the practice has shown that young people are very interested in learning Serbian. We aren’t surprised by the number of applicants, but the number of 400 persons interested in the Serbian course shows the confidence that young people have in the Coordination Body’s projects and intentions. So far, we have organized the Serbian language courses for students of the Faculty of Economics in Bujanovac, scholarship students of the University of Novi Sad, and supported the projects and the courses of Serbian NGOs from Presevo and Bujanovac at the competitions issued by the Coordination Body’s Office. The Serbian language courses have, so far, been attended by over 300 students, while the number of interested people has always been much higher than the planned one, "said Ms. Nenadic.

She pointed out that the Embassy of Great Britain in Serbia donated the funds for organizing the school of the Serbian language. The British donated 38,220 pounds for this purpose, whereas the plan was to enroll 160 students in the school, 80 students from Presevo and Bujanovac each.  The project was designed so that beneficiaries, over the period of seven months and depending on the level of the knowledge demonstrated during the testing, attend the initial first and second levels, as well as the intermediate first and second levels of the Serbian language. However, 400 interested persons of different ages applied for the course. Although the project’s age limit was from 15 to 30, a lot of older people applied for the course.  

“310 candidates took the test, while the majority of them showed that they had the knowledge of the initial level. We contacted the British Embassy and suggested that it would be good for all the tested candidates to go through the Serbian language school, which they accepted and approved an additional donation, "said Director of the Coordination Body. 

One of the teaching assistants in the “School of the Serbian Language" project, Fejzuli Fidan, who is Albanian,   points out that the great interest in learning Serbian is good news.  Explaining the reasons for such a great interest in young Albanians, Fidan provided several motives: 

“One of them is studying at the University of Novi Sad, as the Coordination Body, for the second consecutive year, funds the studying of young people from Presevo and Bujanovac municipalities at Novi Sad University’s faculties. Also, students of the Faculty of Economics in Bujanovac, as well as those who intend to enroll, know that it will be easier for them to study if they speak Serbian, since classes are held both in Serbian and Albanian.  One of the motives may also be the internship program for young members of ethnic minorities in state institutions, since one of the conditions for it is the knowledge of the Serbian language,” Fejzuli said.