The old age of the school is apparent as soon as you enter it; old benches and chairs, and broken windows.

Primary school Naim Frashëri’s rundown infrastructure is in no condition to hold classes. This year the teaching process has continued in the old school building, which lacks the basic conditions for learning. The school lacks technical equipment, cabinets, and a sports hall, amongst many other things.

Halim Qerimi, a seventh-grade student at this school, acknowledges the difficulties he and his peers face every day. “We have some difficulties in this period of the year because heating does not work, and we are cold. However, this has not stopped us from achieving good results in various municipal and regional competitions” said Qerimi.

Complaints from parents as well as from school staff were not absent. The history teacher at this school, Rexhep Podvorica, who has about 25 years of work at this school, said:

“In terms of the learning process, we do the best job we can. We may not have the best conditions for learning, but the results of our students have not been found wanting.”

Podvorica also added that this school has a history behind it and deserves to be equipped with modern equipment, because from this school, according to Podvorica, many great students have emerged. 

There were also complaints from the students’ parents.

Adelina Dervisholli, a parent of two fifth-graders, also noted the difficult learning conditions at the school.

“Conditions are bad, children often get sick during the winter season due to lack of heating, and broken windows. Even the toilets are not maintained.”

 This educational facility does not offer the conditions for learning, but I have no other choice because if I had, I would not have brought my children to this school “, concluded Dervisholli.

The old age of the school is apparent as soon as you enter it; old benches and chairs, and broken windows. According to the school director, Skender Haxhiu, the archives show that the school dates back to 1925.

“During my period as director of this school, there have been small interventions to fix the toilets, painting the interior walls of the school among other small repairs, but there have never been any major investments”, concluded Haxhiu.

According to Haxhiu, the school works in three shifts, mainly due to the large number of students, which according to recent data, are 1300 in total. 

In each of the classes in this school, the number of students is around 30-35 students. Despite these difficulties, Haxhiu mentions the successes achieved by the students of this school in both municipal and regional competitions organized by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology.

The municipality, aware of these problems and conditions, has started the construction of a new school.

According to municipal officials, the works for the new school based on the planning and work dynamics are expected to be completed next summer, Haxhiu added.

Unable to contact the officials of the municipality of Podujeva, we could not get more information about the problems that this school has.

Arbenita Krasniqi