By Muhamet Brajshori for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 08/10/11
Pristina Education Director Remzi Salihu was shot and killed in his office. [Laura Hasani/SETimes]
The October 3rd murder of Pristina Education Director Remzi Salihu has raised serious questions about Kosovo's education system and the process by which employees are promoted and hired.
Salihu was allegedly shot and killed in his office by Biology Teacher Gani Sahiti, who was a candidate for school dean at the Aferdita primary school.
He did not get the job, and on October 3rd, he went to complain to Salihu.
Lindita Kosumi, an education expert told SETimes that the ministry of education and all municipalities should advance their hiring methods.
"It is clear that corruption and nepotism play a key role in getting a job in the education sector in Pristina and all other municipalities around Kosovo, so Pristina is not the only case. The way the call is done, the criterias and the selection are suspicious," Kosumi said.
Kosumi said that having familiar links or being member of political parties that run the cities is an important factor to get a job as teacher or school director.
"In each city, the political party which runs it employs their militants as school directors and teachers sometime unfortunately. This cause lack of professionalism and lack of quality, which has an long-term impact on having an undeveloped education sector, and children who will not get an adequate education. We are now paying the bills for that," said Kosumi.
Aferdita Bahtiri has two children who go in the Emin Duraku primary school in Pristina. She says that the latest incidents worry her about security in the city and the school especially.
"Imagine when one of the highest city officials is murdered in his office, what safety have our children in the schools or we all in the city," Bahtiri told SETimes.
Council for Defending Human Rights and Freedoms Executive Director Behxhet Shala tells SETimes that this tragedy could have been prevented if a better process was implemented.
"This murder could be avoided -- [it shows] to what level insecurity in Kosovo [has reached], and there are no preventive mechanisms for these crimes," said Shala.
Kosovo Agency for Anti-Corruption Director Hasan Preteni said that this act shows how unsafe Kosovo has become.
"The causes may be different. It should be noted that in case that [the] causes are still mysterious, and it remains to be investigated," Preteni told SETimes.
Nationalist party Vetvendosje condemned the murder, and warned about the defects in the education system.
"Salihu is a victim of significant defects in education, and extreme politicization and of the failure of specific segments of the state. Education in the Municipality of Pristina, as elsewhere in Kosovo, has since a long time entered into collapsing, without an exit strategy and the risk of sliding towards the possible failure," the party said in a statement.
Source: SETimes.com
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