For every single student, regardless of which community they belong to and in which language they attend classes, regardless of whether they live in a city or a village, study in a central or regional school, appropriate conditions for quality teaching should be provided. The Association for Analysis and Research – ZMAI with financial support from the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia conducted research for analysis of investment needs for infrastructure and technology in 48 elementary schools in 10 municipalities in RNM. As a final product of the research, ZMAI prepared a publication “Methodology for redistribution of municipal budgets for primary schools”.
The publication includes findings that enabled the creation of a comprehensive overview of the current situation in 48 schools in 10 municipalities in terms of the situation with the infrastructure, technical and technological equipment and teaching aids. At the same time, it contains a detailed analysis of the priority projects in the schools, as well as the needs for their financing. The analysis is completed by determining the current situation with the financing of primary education by the central and local government and includes recommendations for more effective distribution of municipal funds.
The promotion of the publication was held on 6 November 2020 at 12:30 in the Parliamentary Club where the Minister of Education and Science, Mila Carovska, the Executive Director of the Foundation Open Society – Macedonia, Fani Karanfilova – Panovska, the President of ZMAI, Viktor Mitevski, and Viktor Stojkovski, a researcher at ZMAI spoke. The promotion was open to all other participants on the ZOOM platform.
Mila Carovska emphasized that for quality education, in addition to good curricula, modern facilities are needed in which teaching will take place.
“It is a fact that about 30 percent of the school buildings in the country are in poor condition. Maintaining schools and investing in them has been neglected for decades. It is a fact that for years no investment has been made in the construction of new schools and reconstruction and rehabilitation of existing ones, but our commitment is to change this situation and we are already working on that. That is why we are completely changing the way and methodology for investing in capital investments in education and we are establishing a planned construction according to the real needs”- said Carovska
Fani Karanfilova – Panovska pointed out that from the realized visits to the 48 elementary schools, the analyzed detailed questionnaires and annual reports on the work of the elementary schools, as well as the meetings with the responsible persons in the municipalities, it can be concluded that the elementary schools have outdated-school inventory, inefficient facades, outdated technology, old or non-functional toilets, lack of gyms and sports fields, lack of teaching aids.
“The results clearly show that the leaders and employees of the schools and the municipal administration make every effort to improve the conditions in the elementary schools, but the funds at their disposal are not enough to ensure balanced development and teaching that will follow modern trends.” There is a continuous request from the municipalities and stakeholders for changes in the methodology according to which the grants for primary education are distributed from the central to the local government. In order to make these changes, it is necessary to involve not only the central and local government but also constant coordination and integrated approach to planning with international financial institutions, the donor community and the private sector,” said Karanfilova-Panovska.
“At ZMAI we believe that this analysis and the proposed methodology can improve school funding. The results were used to identify the priority projects, and action plans were made for the realization of those investments. It is really important that the Minister is here because we believe that our analyses are only part of the system for improving the conditions. Only when there is cooperation with the institution, these projects can be realized and together we can improve the learning conditions in elementary education “- said Viktor Stojkovski.
The analysis “Methodology for redistribution of municipal budgets for elementary schools” can be found HERE.
You can watch the entire event here:
—————————————————
9 November 2020