Neglecting society’s little ones
Many children in Kosovo are denied access to preschool education.
“The whole family gets stuck.”
Shpresa Behluli, midwife and mum
In the absence of a public preschool in Prizren, Shpresa Behluli has for years been forced to find various alternatives for taking care of her 4-year-old daughter while she and her partner are at work. Photo: Naser Fejza.
Preschools in numbers
Imrane Ramadani, a preschool education official at the Ministry of Education and Science, says that the frequent change of governments is delaying the Law on Early Childhood Education, which would regulate many aspects of preschool education. Photo: Erion Vllahiu.
According to a report by KEEN, the 0 to 3 age group has been excluded from almost any investment planning in terms of education.
Arlinda Beka, a lecturer at the Faculty of Education, says that preschool education plays a crucial role during early childhood. Photo: Dorentina Kastrati.
Shpresa Behluli thinks that going to preschool will help her 4-year-old daughter to communicate and socialize with others. Photo: Naser Fejza.
“Based on the information you provided, OIK initiated ex-officio investigations regarding this issue.”
Ombudsperson Institution of Kosovo
Adile Zeqiri and her partner, like many parents in rural areas, cannot send their children to preschool education because most villages do not have preschools. Photo: Gentian Syla.
The Ideas Partnership offices also function as a free of charge preschool education center for children aged 3 to 6. Photo: Dorentina Kastrati.
There are no children aged 0 to 4 from these communities enrolled in Fushë Kosova’s public preschool institutions.
Hysni Hasani is one of The Ideas Partnership’s workers who strive to support access to education for those in the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. Photo: Dorentina Kastrati.
Miloš and Danila Denić’s children do not have access to preschool education in the municipality of Gjilan because of the absence of a nursery in their village. Photo: Gentian Syla.
Although children from Dragash’s villages can enroll for free, currently, only 17 children attend.
Vloran Cenaj, the Municipality of Dragash’s director of education, says that the preschool built in Dragash’s center does not manage to serve children from the municipality’s villages because of the distance between them and the challenging geographical location.
Data collected by K2.0 from the respective municipalities.
Hana Zylfiu-Haziri from KEC says that the Youth Palace in Prishtina’s center is a suitable space to organize preschool education. Photo: Dorentina Kastrati.
Dorentina Kastrati
Dorentina Kastrati finished her Bachelor’s studies in journalism and is completing her Master’s studies in European integration and public administration at the University of Prishtina. She works as an investigative journalist, project coordinator and assistant editor at KALLXO.com. She mostly writes about economic issues, public procurement, auditing, public finance and energy. Dorentina is a K2.0 Human Rights Journalism Fellowship program fellow (2020 cycle).
This story was originally written in Albanian.