The team of CIVIL Media visited the Municipality of Cashka and the villages of Dolno and Gorno Jabolchishte, after receiving a citizen report that students of the two villages do not have conditions for attending classes, that is, they have classes in a religious building because there is no school facility, as it was demolished and the construction of a new one is being awaited.
In Dolno Jabolchishte we met with parents of the students of the primary school, who through a conversation pointed out that the problem is political, namely, that part of the government is in conjunction with the opposition, so that is why the conditions for holding classes in these areas (the two villages) are not a priority for them. One of the parents accused the Mayor of the Municipality of Cashka for discriminating the students in the two villages, because the conditions in Cashka, where there is a significantly smaller number of students, are much better than in the schools in the villages of Dolno and Gorno Jabolchishte, where about 800 students attend classes. The old school building in Dolno Jabolchishte is demolished, and CIVIL’s team notices that the new building is already in construction, but obviously at a slow pace, and on the day of the visit, there were no workers on the ground.
Most of the students in Dolno and Gorno Jabolchishte in the Municipality of Cashka do not go to the primary school “Lirija”, because their parents are boycotting the classes.
Students up to 5th grade from Dolno Jabolchishte attend classes in the building of a village mosque, while the second classroom is located in a garage ten meters away from the mosque. Right next to the building there are public toilets, where students and residents from the village go.
They have been placed in those two rooms from the start of the school year when the reconstruction of the school started. Some of the parents of more than 100 students have decided not to send their children in the improvised classrooms, since they are not satisfied with the conditions.
Xhemail Miftari is one of the parents from Dolno Jabolchishte who for CIVIL says they have decided as so because their children do not deserve such treatment.
“The old-new Mayor of the Municipality of Cashka, on August 10, when they demolished the school, promised us that by September 20 it would be built. But even today we still have no information and signs what will be done. Are our children supposed to learn in these conditions for two more years?!”, says Miftari.
Xhemail Miftari, parents from Dolno Jabolchishte
He added that an additional reason for boycotting the classes is the pandemic, because there are more than 30 students in one class, crowded next to each other, where there are no conditions in the improvised classrooms.
Ramadan Hamzai, parent of three children from Gorno Jabolchishte, for CIVIL says that in primary school “Lirija” classes are being boycotted for the third week now, because they want to change the principle.
“We collected about 200 signatures from parents who are not letting their children go to school as long as the principle is not changed. We are not sending the children to school because there are no fitting conditions, there is no water, wood for heating and so on”, says another.
Ramadan Hamzai, parent of Gorno Jabolchishte
Hamzai says that the boycott has nothing to do with politics, but that he just wants equal conditions as the students from the Municipality of Cashka.
“Go to the Municipality of Cashka and you will see what kind of conditions students have there, unlike here where there are around 800 students. We want our children to have the same conditions, for there to be a sports hall, kindergarten…”, adds Hamzai.
The school principle of “Lirija”, Jusuf Ahmeti, says for CIVIL that all this is happening due to political reasons, because in the Municipality of Caska a SDSM candidate for mayor won. He considers that the partial boycott of classes is politically motivated for as he says, his removal from the position.
“These problems started immediately after the second round of the voting on October 31, there were no problems until then. They are abusing the children for political purposes, which should not be characteristic for a parent. There are conditions in the school, there is water, wood, heating, hygiene is at the highest level…”, says Ahmeti.
Jusuf Ahmeti, school principle of primary school “Lirija”, Gorno Jabolchishte
The principle assures that the school in Dolno Jabolchishte will be completed by the next school year and rejects all accusations that they had been promised that the entire school would be completed in one month.
“We spoke with the parents of the children in Dolno Jabolchishte and all who were present at that meeting agreed for the students to temporarily attend classes at these places until the new school is not entirely completed, where children up to the 9th grade will be able to attend classes, instead of 6th grade as it has been until now”, says Ahmeti.
The Mayor of the Municipality of Cashka, Goran Stojanovski, rejects all accusations that there is ethnic discrimination in Dolno and Gorno Jabolchishte.
The Mayor of the Municipality of Cashka, Goran Stojanovski
“The residents of Dolno Jabolchishte with a thunderous applause welcomed the start of the construction of the new school on the foundations of the old school. However, after the second round of the elections things all of a sudden changed and some parents decided not to let their children attend classes. I want to believe that such a decision has no political background, because several days ago there was an extraordinary inspection by the State Education Inspectorate, during which not a single remark was found”, says the Mayor of Cashka.
He says that there are no problems in the school, but if there are problems, they won’t be solved if the principle is removed, on the contrary.
After all the conversations and reviewing the school and the general attitude that could clearly be noticed during the visit, it is more than obvious that the students in these two villages are a subject of political manipulations by some of the parents, as well as some of the government representatives in the villages. Parents are signing petitions for removing the school principle without strong arguments that he is the damage, except that he is not a member of an appropriate party, that is, the party that some of the parents are inclined to.
On the other hand, the school principle was more than ready to show us the good conditions in the school, by unlocking the doors of the cleanest classrooms and toilets.
When we asked one of the parents until when they plan not to let their children go to school, the answer was – until the school principle is removed, and thus have decent conditions created for holding classes.
Diana Tahiri
Camera and editing: Dehran Muratov
Photo: Goran Naumovski
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
