Slobodan Milošević and the educational system in Kosovo

As part of Slobodan Milošević’s pro-Serbian campaign he looked to “Serbianize” different autonomous territories in Serbia, one of which was Kosovo. One of his primary methods to do so was to reform the educational system in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, by increasing the influence of Serbian teaching and reducing Albanian teaching. Albanians were the ethnic majority in Kosovo and Serbs were the ethnic minority. In pioneering for the installment of Serbian educational policies in the Kosovo capital, Milosevic was acting on his ambition for a “greater Serbia.”

Milošević in 1996
Map of Kosovo

Prior to Milosevic

In 1968, there was a demonstration that called for the installment of a local university in Pristina. While Josip Broz Tito, the president of Yugoslavia at the time, suppressed this demonstration some concessions were made shortly thereafter. In 1969, subsidiary branches of the University of Belgrade in Pristina were converted into the University of Pristina. The university consisted of multiple ethnic groups, the two most prominent being Serbian and Albanian, and taught courses in Serbo-Croatian and Albanian. The university proved to play a central role in the formation of the Yugoslav 1974 Constitution, which granted Kosovo a great deal of autonomy within the Yugoslav Federation. Up until 1990, this constitution laid out the educational policy in Kosovo and gave Kosovo’s educational authorities the vast majority of freedom over policy control.[1]

Coat of Arms of the University of Pristina

The Importance of the University of Pristina

The university was fundamental in four particular ways:

  1. It was physical evidence of an autonomous Albanian culture in greater Yugoslavia.
  2. It was a haven where the Albanian elite could train and develop in force.
  3. It played a central role in constructing Albanian identity and unity.
  4. The University, its students, and its faculty, played a pivotal role in the fight against Serbinisation.[2]
University of Pristina - Faculty of Philosophy Building

Milosevic's Era

Milosevic's Attitude Towards Kosovo

When Milosevic came into power in 1989, he made it clear that he thought the autonomy provided by the 1974 Constitution was a threat to Serbia’s power. Students in Pristina organized protests following Milosevic’s rise to power and held movements to show their strong support for Titoism. While Milosevic succeeded in suppressing these movements, they strengthened his belief that he needed to act against Albanian nationalism in Kosovo. Because education played such a large role in the rise of Albanian autonomy, it was only natural for Milosevic to look to weaken the Albanian education system through a series of acts and amendments.[3]

Ethnic Composition of Kosovo (2005)

The Dissolution of the Kosovo Assembly and the 1974 Constitution

In July 1989, the Kosovan Assembly was dissolved, directly defying the 1974 Constitution. In 1990, a great deal of power over education in Kosovo was transferred to Belgrade. Rilindja, an Albanian publishing house and newspaper, was weakened in Kosovo. The Kosovo Academy of Arts and Sciences was also closed indefinitely.[4]

The Switch to a Serbian Curriculum

In August to September 1990, Milosevic passed new laws that called for the switch to a Serbian curriculum at the University of Pristina. In a dramatic movement several months later, all Albanian students and staff were expelled from the University of Pristina. After this expulsion, segregation followed and Serbian and Albanian students took classes separately. By 1991, the University “to all intent and purposes, became a Serbian-only institution.”[5] By changing the curriculum and segregating the central university in Kosovo, Milosevic was effectively exterminating Albanian culture and replacing it with Serbian culture in Kosovo.[6]

Albanian Response

Initial Response

The Kosovars responded to Milosevic by rejecting his policies and creating a shadow government. A parallel HE system endorsing passive resistance was formed and operated by intellectuals linked to the University of Pristina. In October 1991, Ibraim Rugova, the first President of Kosovo, established an embryonic state apparatus from Bad Godesburg, Germany.[7] The overwhelming majority earned through levied taxes was funneled towards education, which represented the very core of the passive resistance movement commonly known at the parallel system. Because Albanian teaching was eliminated from the University, students were taught in private homes by Albanian professors who were fired. The central purpose of the education was to preserve Albanian identity and culture in the face of growing pressure from Milosevic.[8]

The Parallel System

The Parallel System was comprehensive and highly complex. Kosovars had created at times a secretive and at other times a public method of preserving their identity. Some aspects or incentives of the parallel system included:

Responses from Belgrade and Serbian Students

In 1996 the Ministry of Education in Belgrade, encouraged by several international organizations, decided to allow Albanians to return to higher education in Kosovo and reinstall the curriculum that was present prior to 1990. Nevertheless, this plan never came to fruition because Serbian students saw this as a push towards separatism. Serbian students protested against Albanian students using the facilities of the university, which further drove the secretive parallel university to educate its constituents.[10]

How The Parallel System Failed

The parallel system was ultimately very difficult to sustain because of Serbian pressure and its lack of infrastructure. In fact, the number of students in the parallel system dropped by about 50% from 1989 to 1996.[11] Despite the shrinkage in students, those who remained in the parallel system saw themselves as the primary force for the fight of freedom and equality for Kosovan representation. And despite difficulties, the parallel system had 386,511 students in preschools, primary schools, secondary schools, handicapped students and in the university in 1995.[12] The parallel system in fact only came to an end in 1999, when the war had finished and international agencies had reincorporated Albanians into the University of Pristina, ending the need for the system.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Bache, Taylor, Ian, Andrew. "The Politics of Policy Resistance" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  2. ↑ Bache, Taylor, Ian, Andrew. "The Politics of Policy Resistance" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  3. ↑ Bache, Taylor, Ian, Andrew. "The Politics of Policy Resistance" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  4. ↑ Bache, Taylor, Ian, Andrew. "The Politics of Policy Resistance" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  5. ↑ "Shifra dhe fakte per Arsimin e Kosoves" (PDF).
  6. ↑ Bache, Taylor, Ian, Andrew. "The Politics of Policy Resistance" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  7. ↑ Nizich, Ivana. "Yugoslavia: Human Rights Abuses in Kosovo 1990-1992". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
  8. ↑ Bache, Taylor, Ian, Andrew. "The Politics of Policy Resistance" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  9. ↑ "Parallel Worlds: Rebuilding the education system in Kosovo" (PDF). International Institute For Educational Planning. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
  10. ↑ Bache, Taylor, Ian, Andrew. "The Politics of Policy Resistance" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
  11. ↑ "Parallel Worlds: Rebuilding the education system in Kosovo" (PDF). International Institute For Educational Planning. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
  12. ↑ "Parallel Worlds: Rebuilding the education system in Kosovo" (PDF). International Institute For Educational Planning. Retrieved 2014-04-19.
  13. ↑ Bache, Taylor, Ian, Andrew. "The Politics of Policy Resistance" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
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