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Education Reform – 2003

On 17 July 2003, government changed the education law and allowed the ethnic-Albanian Tetovo University to operate on a legal basis. “The move is a decisive step towards ending a standoff that has become one of the most divisive issues in Macedonian politics. Education has been the source of significant tension between the ethnic-Macedonian majority and the country’s 30% Albanian minority, which currently forms only 3% of the student population at the two official universities of Skopje and Bitola. The recognition of Tetovo University was a key demand in the 2001 clashes between ethnic Albanian rebel forces and the Macedonian government.”¹ According to the law, “the Albanian language is raised to the level of official use in the institutions of higher education, and will at the same time enjoy the right to funds from the state budget in the same way as the University of Shkup Skopje and that of Manastir Bitola.”²

1. “Macedonia Moves to Legalize Ethnic-Albanian University,” World Markets Analysis, July 1, 2003.
2. “Macedonia’s Tetovo University receives state funding under new law,” BBC Monitoring Europe, July 19, 2003.