The new school year will begin Tuesday for 238.000 students – 174.000 of whom are enrolled in primary school and 64.000 in secondary school. At a press conference Monday, Macedonian Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska said initial data shows 14.952 first graders have enrolled in primary school, while 16.932 students are set to begin their first year of secondary school.
“For three years in a row, textbooks have been purchased on time in the quantities requested by the schools. They have been delivered and can be distributed to students tomorrow. I am pleased that the issue of textbooks is no longer a challenge like in the past. This year, 622 thousand textbooks have been purchased and savings of MKD 50 million have been achieved compared to the year before I took over the management of this institution,” said Janevska.
In 620 school buildings out of a total of 1023 in primary and secondary education, there will be single-shift schedule. Janevska said that this is a concept advocated by the Government, because it provides more benefits, and the most important are the interests of children – greater concentration in classes, greater socialization, staying in school long enough to master all the material and acquire appropriate skills.
The minister indicated that the trend of decreasing the number of students continues. According to the data received by the Ministry of Education, 238 thousand students will start the school year, of which 174 thousand are elementary school students and 64 thousand are high school students. For the first time, 14,952 first-graders will sit in school desks.
Due to the lack of students enrolled, 26 regional schools will be temporarily closed from September. The total number of empty school buildings in Macedonia, mainly in rural areas, is 148. The negative trend also encourages the reorganization of the school network and the work of schools.
