MINELRES: Fwd: TOL/BRR: Divisive Tetovo (Albanian-language Tetovo University:
segregation or equality?)
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Divisive Tetovo
Opponents say legalizing the Albanian-language Tetovo University is
tantamount to condoning segregation, while proponents argue it
promotes equality.
by Biljana Stavrova
SKOPJE, Macedonia�For nearly a decade the debate over the legal
status of the Albanian-language Tetovo University has been one of
Macedonia's most divisive issues.
Though the government had agreed in June 2003 to recognize the
institution as the country's third state university, parliament
sidelined the final solution on 16 December following a seven-day
marathon session that ended without conclusion. The session was
resumed on 15 January.
The December session, intended to approve the government's decision
to officially recognize and secure state financing for Tetovo
University, was interrupted by Parliamentary President Ljupco
Jordanovski, who said the controversial issue had been blocking
parliament's other work.
At the heart of the controversy is the question of whether the
legalization of Tetovo University, an exclusively Albanian-language
institute of higher education, would mean condoning ethnic
segregation in a country that has seen recent bloody ethnic conflict
and a rocky, at best, peace process.
The university has been the symbol of the ethnic-Albanian struggle
for broader minority rights since it was forced underground by the
government immediately after it opened in 1995.
For ethnic-Albanian students, banning the university has meant
denying them the right to higher education and further preventing the
emergence of cadres capable of representing them and sharing in the
country's governance.
But ethnic Macedonians saw the university as a dangerous center of
separatist indoctrination promoting the "ghettoization" of the
Albanian minority and endangering the cohesion of Macedonian society.
Amid this controversy, the government partners� Prime Minister Branko
Crvenkovski's ethnic-Macedonian Social Democratic Union of Macedonia
(SDSM), and the ethnic-Albanian Democratic Union of Integration
(BDI), led by Ali Ahmeti�have agreed to grant official recognition
and state funding to Tetovo University.
Proponents in the government say that after eight years of illegal
operation the ethnic-Albanian university is ready to come above
board. They also say the move is in accordance with the government's
obligations under the Ohrid Framework Agreement, the internationally
brokered peace deal that ended the 2001 ethnic conflict.
On 17 July, the government followed through with its promise,
agreeing to draft changes in the country's education law that would
allow for the commencement of the complex accreditation process.
"We are responsible for the solution of the problem of Tetovo
University. Education can only help Macedonia," Deputy Prime Minister
Radmila Sekerinska said during a two-day meeting with ruling and
opposition parties in Mavrovo in early December.
Abduladi Vejseli, a member of the ethnic-Albanian opposition Party
for Democratic Prosperity (PPD), says his party is proud that the
Macedonian parliament is finally working to adopt its initiative to
legalize the university. PPD has been pushing for a state-funded and
recognized Albanian-language university since 1994.
According to BDI Vice President Teuta Arifi, the legalization of
Tetovo University should finally bring full equality to ethnic-
Albanian students.
But the interruption of the December parliamentary session was
another setback.
Both the ethnic-Macedonian and ethnic-Albanian opposition in
parliament have blocked the adoption of the draft amendments�albeit
for different reasons.
Zamir Dika, a representative of the opposition Democratic Party of
Albanians (DPA), opposes the draft amendments, citing the fact that
only three of Tetovo University's 13 faculties would be officially
recognized and that "10,000 Albanian students will still not have the
opportunity for a legal education."
Ethnic-Macedonian opposition parties argue that legalizing Tetovo
University is not an obligation laid down by the Framework Agreement
and that its official recognition would amount to condoning ethnic
segregation. They also argue that the quality of education offered at
Tetovo University does not meet the standards of Macedonia's two
other state universities.
According to Ganka Samuilovska Cvetanova, a representative of the
largest opposition party--the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary
Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-
DPMNE)--the party "is not against higher education for Albanians in
Macedonia, but it is against a faulty education."
WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK?
The question of whether or not the Framework Agreement calls for
official recognition of the ethnic-Albanian university has been a
major sticking point.
Opposition Liberal Party leader Stojan Andov believes that the
Framework Agreement does not require the government to sign off on a
deal to recognize Tetovo University.
"This is a mutual agreement between SDSM and BDI, both parties in the
ruling coalition," Andov said.
The obligations laid down in the Framework Agreement are indeed open
to interpretation and do not specifically mention Tetovo University.
The final paragraph of the agreement states only that "The parties
invited the international community to provide assistance for the
implementation of the Framework Agreement in the area of higher
education."
That part of the agreement has been met with the opening in 2001 of
the South East European University (SEEU) in Tetovo. The Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Mission to Macedonia,
led by Max van der Stoel, established the university in an attempt to
meet both Albanian educational needs and government requirements.
The SEEU is a private university funded by donations from Council of
Europe member states and private foundations. Ninety percent of the
school's approximately 3,000 students are Albanian, although
enrollment is open to all ethnicities, and courses are conducted in
English, Albanian, and Macedonian.
Under the former VMRO-DPMNE government in the mid-1990s, Albanian
students were also integrated into the two existing state
universities: the Skopje-based St. Kiril i Metodij University and the
Bitola-based St. Kliment Ohridski University.
A quota system was established in 1997 requiring the universities to
enforce a 20 percent minority enrollment policy, even when that means
lowering admissions standards for ethnic-Albanian students. An
Albanian-language section also was established at Skopje University's
education department.
Tetovo University aspires to be the third state university, with 100
percent Albanian enrollment and courses offered only in Albanian.
Those opposed to legalizing Tetovo University say minority rights for
higher education have been assured with the establishment of SEEU and
the quota system in the two existing state universities.
Even the ethnic-Albanian opposition DPA has said the creation of SEEU
has solved higher education problems for ethnic Albanians in
Macedonia. SEEU was established during DPA's rule in partnership with
VRMO-DPMNE.
Throughout the recent parliamentary debate, ethnic-Macedonian
students protested outside the parliament and government buildings,
declaring the final day of debate a "day of mourning for Macedonian
education."
According to the protesters, the existence of the SEEU is sufficient
to meet the needs of minority higher education.
Arguments to the contrary include the fact that SEEU is a private
university that charges tuition that many ethnic Albanian students
cannot afford.
THE MONEY QUESTION
Aside from issues of minority rights or segregation, other questions
have dogged Tetovo University, such as how the Macedonian government
would fund it should it receive official recognition.
SEEU Rector Alajdin Abazi said he does not expect the official
recognition of Tetovo University to pose a financial threat to other
institutions, adding that the existence of two primarily Albanian-
language universities would lead to healthy competition.
St. Kiril i Metodij University Rector Aleksandar Ancevski has so far
managed to keep his students from protesting the legalization of
Tetovo University but says that if the newly recognized university
proves a financial threat to other universities, he will pull back
his support for the process.
No one is yet willing to offer an estimate of how much funding Tetovo
University would require.
In the meantime, another battle concerning the university has crept
up involving its location. In early October, Tetovo University
usurped a building that used to house the offices of the tobacco
company Tetovo Tabak. Without any legal authorization, the
university's administration adapted two floors of the building for
classrooms and began work on two other floors for the law and
economics faculties.
The international community, which has lent strong support to the
legalization of Tetovo University, has cautioned the university's
rector, Fadil Sulejmani, to avoid any illegal acts that could
jeopardize the legalization process.
On 15 October, OSCE spokeswoman Izabel Ruth called the take-over of
the Tetovo Tabak building illegal and said it "thwarts the process of
legalization of Tetovo University."
BDI leader Ahmeti likewise called for caution.
Prior to the recent move, Tetovo University classes were held in
several private buildings donated by wealthy local Albanians.
Lectures were often held in private homes, as well.
COMING UP FOR AIR
Prior to the founding of Tetovo University in 1995, the only
opportunity ethnic Albanians had to acquire a higher education in
their own language was to attend university in the neighboring
Serbian province of Kosovo, at Pristina's University of Kosovo.
But in 1991, even that option was on its way out as the regime of
Slobodan Milosevic in effect began to ban Albanian-language
education. That year, the number of ethnic Albanians from Macedonia
attending higher education institutions dramatically dropped.
The opening of Tetovo University in 1995 was marred by violence.
Macedonian police closed the university two days later, and violent
clashes erupted, bringing 5,000 ethnic Albanians to the streets. One
was killed and 15 others injured, while 70 police officers were also
injured and numerous police vehicles destroyed.
Following the demonstrations, rector Sulejmani was sentenced to two
and a half years in prison on charges of verbal sedition. He was
released nine months later.
Today, the university's students are more optimistic. Now that the
government has agreed to recognize the university, Spresim Kamberi,
the head of the university's student union, says he sees no more
obstacles, despite the interruption of the December parliamentary
session. In the end, Kamberi, says, everything will be worked out.
"Maybe some of the faculties will not match the criteria regarding
equipment and laboratories, but everyone must have the chance to get
a valid diploma," he said.
Some 500 students already have graduated from Tetovo University with
unrecognized diplomas. University Dean Nexhbedin Beadini has promised
those students that once the government grants official status to
Tetovo University, their diplomas will become legitimate. The
Macedonian government, however, has indicated that the diplomas will
not be recognized until 2005, after being evaluated and compared with
existing state educational programs.
Transitions Online: Balkan Reconstruction Report
15 January 2004
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