In total, there are 327,676 pupils in the pre-university education (169,143 boys and 158,533 girls). The primary and lower secondary education system has 224,429 pupils, while 70,850 pupils are in the upper secondary education. According to MESTI data for 2021-2022, the number of the educational staff is 27,915, out of which 23,033 are teachers, 1,606 administrative staff and 3,276 support staff. In total, Kosovo has 1,047 educational institutions.

Pre-university education faces numerous challenges and problems, which reflect in the low quality of education in Kosovo. The Program for international assessment of students resulting in a low level of quality in education. There are many factors that affect Kosovo’s low quality in education, such as quality of teachers, overcrowded schools, big number of pupils in classes, especially in cities, lack of infrastructure in schools, bad management, politicization of educational staff in schools, failure of cooperation between parents, teachers and students, low accountability, etc.

Although continuous efforts are being made toward implementation of the concept of comprehensive education, this process is accompanied by many difficulties, having in mind that Kosovo is still in the process of creating a culture and practice, which is still a long way ahead and which requires human resources and sufficient funds. Steps have been taken in the advancement of policies and legislation, attempting to include the concept of inclusiveness as an integral part of all policies. However, in terms of implementing policies and developing mechanisms that ensure inclusiveness, there is still much work to be done. Amongst the main challenges regarding inclusive education are: inadequate training of teachers, lack of inclusive teaching methods, lack of technological support equipment, social norms and attitudes, curricula, socio-economic factors and lack of human resources and funds.

Schools lack professional and support staff such as psychologists, pedagogues and assistants for children with disabilities. Currently, there are about 200 psychologists and pedagogues in schools nationwide. Having in mind that there are 1,047 educational institutions, it can be concluded that not even one quarter of schools has psychologists. In most cases, one psychologist covers four schools. While there are municipalities that do not have psychologists at all.

According to official data, school dropout rate is low, nonetheless, this is considered more existent and disturbing among Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. Situation continues to remain unsatisfactory regarding education of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. One of the main reasons for not being included in education are: unwillingness to enroll in school, dropping out of school, children involved in hazardous work, lack of motivation regarding education and schooling and lack of parents and family awareness regarding the education of their children.

It is generally considered that one of main challenges of preventing school drop is schools lack of reporting by EWS (Early Warning System). Likewise, teams for prevention and response to dropout and non-enrollment in compulsory education, are not adequately functional. In some municipalities, these teams have not even been established at all, and there are cases where teams are only formally established, which has a negative impact and makes it impossible to take preventive measures to avoid dropping out of school, especially for children from communities. In all cases, these teams do not deal with prevention and response to cases of non-registering in school.

Existing learning centers organized by non-governmental organizations for additional learning, are seen as promising institutions on supporting the education of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian community’s children and preventing school dropouts. But these centers are facing a lot of challenges due to lack of funding and neglect of institutional responsibilities, risking their closure. Currently, Kosovo Government allocates only 200.000 Euros per school year on subsidizing learning centers through a public call for funding projects of nongovernmental organizations that organize learning centers, which contribute to the educational achievement and support of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian pupils and also other pupils. This monetary amount is considered too low to cover the needs for functioning of the learning centers, having in mind that there are over 48 learning centers licensed by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation. Another issue is the ambiguity in the implementation of the administrative instruction no. 19/2018 on the establishment and functioning of the learning centers related to licensing and re-licensing, institutionalization and financing from municipal level. Thus, this is a major obstacle in ensuring sustainability of learning centers, which are currently managed by non-governmental organizations.

Regarding inclusion of children from families with low socioeconomic status in the education system, during the school year 2021/2022, 14,184 children whose families were in social assistance, were included in educational institutions, 4,278 children were with one parent and 132 children without parents. However, there is no data if measures have been taken by institutions to address the educational needs for children from families with low socio-economic status. Schools in Kosovo do not fully meet the concept of childfriendly schools, due to unsafe and unfriendly environment, inadequate infrastructure, teachers approach and lack of cooperation between students, teachers, parents and community.

In Kosovo, the concept of child participation is relatively new. This concept is included in legislation, such as the Law on Child Protection, National Strategy on Children’s Rights, regulations and other by-laws at central and municipal level. Although according to the legislation in force, the role of Pupils’ Council is to work on improving learning environment, and interests related to the health, safety and well-being of pupils and representation in school, unfortunately, practices show that in most cases, pupils’ councils and other children’s organizations, are formally established and through procedures that are not at all democratic, very often imposed by teachers and school management. Instead of properly representing pupil’s interests, Pupils’ Councils remain in function of teachers and school management for controlling pupils.

Recommendations:

• Create child-friendly schools to provide healthy, humane, friendly and safe environments, support from teachers and above all, pupils’ involvement and active participation;
• Implement the Child Protection Policy in institutions that work with children, as a key tool to provide safe and protective environment for children;
• Invest in increasing quality of education, by increasing capacities of teachers, revising textbooks, digitalizing education and adapting to the labor market needs;
• Establish or operationalize (according to the municipality’s specifications) the teams for the prevention and response to dropout and nonenrolment in compulsory education;
• Functionalize the Early Warning System;
• Employment of psychologists and pedagogues in schools;
• Increase funding for Learning Centers in order to ensure sustainability of their services.