OSCE Mission to Skopje supports renovation of multi-ethnic school

SKOPJE, 2 September 2013 – The Mission to Skopje has supported the renovation of classrooms and provided basic equipment to the Shishevo branch of the “Sami Frasheri” primary school in the municipality of Saraj, which held a ceremony to open the new school year today.

The branch school is the last  multilingualschool in Saraj municipality, resisting a trend of increased separation in education. The OSCE Mission helped the school as part of its support for a more integrated education system, encouraging harmonious relations between all ethnicities.

“To plant the seeds of tolerance and mutual respect in future generations, it is important that children of different communities learn together and about each other,” said the Head of the OSCE Mission, Ambassador Ralf Breth, at the ceremony. “This school fortunately remains an inspiring model for joint education.”

Education and Science Minister Spiro Ristovski, also attending the opening ceremony, said: “I welcome the support and initiative from the OSCE, an organization with high social responsibility and a proven honest partner to our institutions, especially in the area of education. I believe that the new equipment and the new appearance of the school will not only inspire students, but their parents and the teaching staff as well.”