Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Macedonian teens demand ethnic shifts in Struga's high schools

Macedonian teenagers in two high schools in Struga - Niko Nestor High School and Ibraim Temo High School - massed outside City Hall on Monday, urging introduction of ethnic shifts in their schools.

The high-school students voiced their discontent with the non-implementation of conclusions of the meeting of Struga mayor Ramiz Merko and school principals, who had decided to introduce ethnic shifts in the two high schools as of March 10.

The students said they will skip classes as long as the meeting's conclusions are set in motion.

Schools' principals claim there are no conditions for the introduction of ethnic shifts, adding that the Ministry of Education has not yet announced its stance.

Struga mayor Ramiz Merko met today with school principals and urged them to set a meeting with the students in a bid to solve the problem.

The ethnic tension among high school students is the theme of today's panel-discussion, organized by NGO Aqua. The event brought together experts, teachers, students, local government representatives, NGOs and media to discuss the ethnic violence in high schools.

The demands for ethic shifts came after massive fighting among Macedonian and Albanians students some 10 days ago.

No comments: