MILS: News from the FYROM, 97-01-15

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From: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <mils@mils.spic.org.mk>

CONTENTS

[01] PEACEFUL PROTEST OF MACEDONIAN STUDENTS CONTINUES TODAY

[02] ALBANIAN STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: `PROTEST INCOMPREHENSIBLE AND SENSELESS'

[03] ELISABETH REHN DISAPPOINTED WITH INTOLERANCE OF MACEDONIAN STUDENTS

[04] TEST FOR ADMISSION INTO EUROPEAN CIVIL AVIATION ASSOCIATION

[05] AGREEMENT ON SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION BETWEEN CROATIA AND MACEDONIA RATIFIED

[06] EMPHASIS ON STAGE TWO OF GAS PIPELINE PROJECT

[07] WITHDRAWING OF `CITY SHOPPING CENTRE' SHARES

[08] DNEVNIK: `A STOCK EXCHANGE WITHOUT STOCKS'

MILS SUPPLEMENT

[09] `ANNUAL REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN MACEDONIA'

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 15 January, 1997

[01] PEACEFUL PROTEST OF MACEDONIAN STUDENTS CONTINUES TODAY

- The University Senate and Management are to schedule a session as soon as possible in order to analyze the draft- bill referring to the Pedagogical Faculty (henceforward: PF) and compile their own views on the use of minority languages in tertiary education. These should then be presented to the public, and forwarded to the Parliament, the Government and the Ministry of Education and Physical Culture. Should university authorities refuse to study the draft-bill, students intend to request the resignation of the Rector and the Senate Chairperson.

- Students are also asking the Government to withdraw the draft-bill concerning the languages of instruction at the `St. Clement of Ohrid' PF of Skopje from Parliamentary debate, as this issue is to be addressed within the Law on Tertiary Education.

- Members of Parliament have been asked - unless the Government fulfills the previous request - to declare the bill unconstitutional when submitted to voting; in addition to this the Minister of Education and Physical Culture should have to resign .

Upon student demands for a definite stand, the Rector of the `Ss. Cyril and Methodius' University - Ms. Radmila Kiprijanova - took the floor and stressed that the University Rectorate advocates the enactment of a Law on Tertiary Education deficient of partial solutions, of the kind suggested to remedy conditions at the PF.

Macedonian Radio reveals that the `epilogue' to the meetings of a Students' Federation delegation with PM Branko Crvenkovski and Education Minister Sofija Todorova amounted to the fact that the PF matter would have to be addressed on a partial basis with respect to the drafted Law on Tertiary Education. According to the Student's Federation Chairperson Toni Mirchevski it has been agreed to send the list of student demands to all MPs - in spite of the initiative exhibited by students to devise an integral solution within the Law on Tertiary Education. In this context it has also been mentioned that students may become involved in the work of the corresponding Parliamentary Commission which is analyzing the draft- bill on the PF. Education Minister Sofija Todorova stated, after the talks, that this drafted act of law would continue to be processed.

Media furthermore report while talks with the Government were in progression, students continued to demonstrate peacefully in front of its premises - to a background which (as rumour has it) has been copied from the Belgrade colleagues. Thus red carnations were given to present policemen and demonstrations were `scored' by different percussion instruments and the usual repertoire of Macedonian folk songs. The students also carried a lot of slogans which were not endorsed by Students' Federation Chairperson Toni Mirchevski as in his opinion it is not the main objective of these protests to worsen inter-ethnic relations. More conspicuous samples of verbal outpours of protest were: `FOR a better education', `A unified university', `Democracy - yes, Separation - no', `Who plays around with the PF', `Hello Tirana, sorry Sofia', etc.

Discontent with negotiations with the Government, students continued to protest in the streets of Skopje and in front of the Government - and they have announced their intention to continue striking today.

[02] ALBANIAN STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: `PROTEST INCOMPREHENSIBLE AND SENSELESS'

[03] ELISABETH REHN DISAPPOINTED WITH INTOLERANCE OF MACEDONIAN STUDENTS

With respect to issues affecting the Albanian ethnicity - in particularly in terms of higher education (the main thematic focus of the conference) - Rehn assessed after her meetings that Albanians in Macedonia have difficulties in obtaining access to higher education. In this context she expressed her disappointment with the intolerance exhibited by Macedonian students as regards the demands of their Albanian counterparts.

Furthermore the UN Special Rapporteur also underlined her sadness about the fact that an `Ombudsman' (i.e. Public Attorney) had not yet been appointed - contrary to assurances made by the Macedonian Government that this would be done by summer `96. The same sentiments were expressed in terms of widely-spread police harassment, i.e. the fact that - in spite of legal provisions - it still occurred that individuals were invited to informative chats without legal representation.

Positive steps pointed out by Elisabeth Rehn were the increased level of cooperation exhibited by the Macedonian Government with international organisations such as the Council of Europe (advice on new legislation), and the greater openness of Macedonian society in general.

As far as the sustainability of the UN Human Rights Office mandate in Macedonia is concerned, Rehn said that details depended on her Special Letter on Human Rights in Macedonia which is to be submitted by her to the Chair of the UN Human Rights Commission by the end of March `97 - after having received enough substantial input by the Macedonian Government.

[04] TEST FOR ADMISSION INTO EUROPEAN CIVIL AVIATION ASSOCIATION

This visit - in the opinion of Goran Pavlovski, the Head of Macedonian Civil Aviation - represents an inspection with the purpose to outline the minimum amount of standards Macedonian civil aviation has to fulfill. Macedonia has submitted its admission request to this Association last year.

[05] AGREEMENT ON SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION BETWEEN CROATIA AND MACEDONIA RATIFIED

Thus it also includes provisions on granting scholarships to post-graduate students and on the establishing of international research centers. Experts of both ministries have also outlined their science programmes to their counterparts during talks preceding the ratification, with the particular emphasis on incentives to keep highly- educated staff in domestic scientific institutions.

[06] EMPHASIS ON STAGE TWO OF GAS PIPELINE PROJECT

[07] WITHDRAWING OF `CITY SHOPPING CENTRE' SHARES

[08] DNEVNIK: `A STOCK EXCHANGE WITHOUT STOCKS'

The daily revealed that a segment of privatization procedures - shareholding - had a direct impact on the unsuccessful debut of the Stock Exchange last year, and on the fact that initial forecasts regarding its performance were not achieved. According to the Working Group examining the reasons for these `unsatisfactory' outcomes (consisting of representatives of the Stock Commission, the Finance Ministry, the NBM, the Privatization Agency, the Agency for Bank Sanation and of the Macedonian Long-Term Stock Exchange) affecting the stock of privatized businesses i.e. the capital market were merely that these concepts turned out to be not functioning the way they should have. This - among other things - is due to the prohibition passed by executive boards for the rightful shareholders to `work with' their shares. In addition to this the Commission registered that there had not been a primary emission of stocks, as this had to be preceded by the compulsory publicizing of the company's financial standing, i.e. its success or the lack of it, on an individual basis. In Macedonia these matters are still considered to fall under the category of `classified economic data' , whereas for the Stock Exchange it falls under the `thorn in my side' category, as it hampers the possibility to accumulate new capital. According to `Dnevnik' the analyses compiled by the Working Group imply that all these, apparently imposed, impediments for which there is no legal basis are inevitably linked to the purchase of shares by these executive boards at prices `of their own choosing', i.e. at rates determined by them. All this, it has been stated, has been registered by the immediate stakeholders, by those directly involved in the outlining of privatization. It therefore falls within their jurisdiction, as they have defined the very concept.

MILS SUPPLEMENT

[09] `ANNUAL REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN MACEDONIA - Cases and Responses - Capital Punishment AD HOC'

(`Helsinki Committee for Human Rights' - 10th issue, December 1996)

MINORITY RIGHTS: The Helsinki Committee on Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia has acquired the impression that the quintessential impediment to the implementation and furthering of minority rights in Macedonia lies in the lack of mutual trust and tolerance between - above all - the Government and political parties, particularly those representing the interests of the Albanian ethnicity in Macedonia.

In this context there is the fear of subsequent and more substantial requests for cultural and political rights by ethnic minorities, which would be used as a means of fulfilling political aspirations unacceptable to the Macedonian state and the Macedonian people as the majority population group.

In such circumstances the Helsinki Committee insists on the respecting and implementation of standards codified by international instances on the subject of Human Rights. Thus we are supporting the ratification of the Framework Convention on Minority Rights by the Republic of Macedonia, or the adopting of the European Charter on Regional i.e. Minority Languages.

Being impartial, these international regulations could serve as a basis upon which trust and tolerance could be nurtured, and conditions favouring interaction and understanding among ethnic and national groups in the country could be created.

In this respect we should like to draw your attention to the following two cases: The first one addresses the situation at the `St. Clement of Ohrid' Pedagogical Faculty within the `Ss. Cyril and Methodius' University of Skopje. Conditions there embody a sequel to the `Pedagogical Academy' affair dating back to 1981. Quite recently, however, it has acquired new dimensions which have propelled it into the top section of the `top political burning issues' which are not of a political character in their essence.

Currently this Gordian knot is comprised of the following three threads / parties: faculty students attending instruction in Albanian, the management of the Pedagogical Faculty and the Rectorate of the `Ss. Cyril and Methodius' University of Skopje with the Ministry of Education.

The apple of discord lies in the question on which language should be used to instruct a segment of students enrolled at the Pedagogical Faculty of Skopje.

The Helsinki Committee has established contact with the stakeholders, and is therefore in the position to present the subsequent chronology of events which entails several conclusions:

a) 228 students have been admitted for the academic year 1996/97, for the study courses General Studies and Pre- School Education in Albanian. The indices (report cards) which are filled in by the students, and the official seal confirming the completion of a semester at the Pedagogical Faculty, contained the additional handwritten reference in Albanian language, beneath the listing of the study course.

Currently the subjects taught in Albanian include: methodological subjects of years 1 and 2, Albanian language, philosophy, sociology and logic. Besides this students are attending lectures in Macedonian and English language. Other subjects taught exclusively in Macedonian are not being attended by those students.

The latter have submitted a request for an advertised vacancy note in order to facilitate the employment of readers who would instruct in Albanian, whereas part of the readers already in employment - without appropriate qualifications - would continue to work. The letter further states that students applied for admittance at the faculty in the belief that the entire training would be conducted in Albanian, and that current faculty policy is experienced as a failing of this trust.

After having been rejected by the faculty management, they addressed the Ministry of Education which resulted in the confirmation that all subjects at the Pedagogical Faculty should be instructed in Albanian, and that necessary (and qualified) staff would soon be hired.

Considering the fact that so far the Pedagogical Faculty has not done anything in this respect, the boycott of lectures is being continued. At the moment there is no readiness for compromise solutions.

b) The management of the Pedagogical Faculty considers its position compliant to the valid legal provisions on tertiary education, to the Constitution and the Agenda of Work adopted by the Rectorate of the Skopje university.

The Provisional Ruling passed by the Education Ministry - and approved by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia - in 1995 on providing instruction in specific (vs. general studies) subjects in Albanian is to have applied to the Pedagogical Academy. It therefore expired the moment this institution became the Pedagogical Faculty.

The latest ruling passed by the Ministry of Education is considered as contrary to the adopted Agenda of Work, the Constitution and the law by the faculty management. Thus the latter - together with the students' demands - have been submitted to both the Rectorate and the Senate of the university in Skopje.

Authorities of the Pedagogical Faculty in charge of addressing this matter, claim that they are merely common executives of the university's position, and that they did not entertain any views on their own with regards to the language issue.

Upon the question why conditions have been created to permit the instructing of three subjects in Albanian, the above mentioned denoted this as an act of goodwill - without intentions to apply this to other subjects as well regardless whether qualified staff was available.

There is no willingness to compromise or even discern and discuss the issue on a more global level.

c) The Ministry of Education thinks that matters are being needlessly tangled up and shelved on account of those students and good inter-ethnic relations.

The transferring of responsibility to the bodies and structures of the university is considered a redundant step.

The Ministry is open to compromise solutions which would gradually alleviate the problem of not having enough qualified staff, as it is bound to emerge in terms of introducing training in specific subjects in Albanian. One possible option would be the re-employment of personnel which has covered some of these subjects at the Pedagogical Academy in the past. This could be paralleled by employing more associate lecturers who would then acquire the necessary level of training as soon as possible - in addition to the nostrification of Master and Doctoral degrees obtained at faculties in Tirana.

The Helsinki Committee deems the soon enactment of a law on tertiary education more than necessary, and in the meantime it would be possible to temporarily solve this issue by employing associate lecturers to cover at least part of the training and ancillary activities in Albanian. Otherwise the situation might escalate into undesired proportions and negatively affect both the students and the stabilization of inter-ethnic relations in the Republic.

What has also been announced is the ratification of an act of law referring to the Pedagogical Faculty, which would settle the issue.

THE `ZHUPA' CASE: a group of parents whose children are receiving their primary education at Dolna Zhupa (Debar region) has requested instruction in Turkish rather than Macedonian for their children.

The Ministry has investigated the case and concluded that there is no justification for such a request due to the fact that none of the pupils has command of the Turkish language, which means that they would not be able to follow instruction in Turkish. Based on this it has been decided that these children should continue their education in Macedonian.

The parents have refused to send their children to school, they even went on hunger strike for some time at school premises and submitted their children to private instruction. The Ministry of Education is determined to adhere to its decision.

The latter however is violating one of the basic postulates of democratic society: the right to choose.

A possible compromise has been suggested which would allow the pupils to attend additional instruction in Turkish.

Should this or a similar solution not be promoted, the problem might escalate. This would certainly have negative impact on the educational needs of those pupils, as well as on inter-ethnic relations throughout the country... to be continued...

(end)

mils news 15 January 1997

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