The Director of Education in the Municipality of Pristina, Jehona Lushaku-Sadriu, has given details about the plan to hold all-day classes in some schools of the capital starting from September. She said that they are in the final stage of discussion about this plan, while all the details are expected to be known at the end of this month.
In an interview on KTV's "038" show, Lushaku-Sadriu has shown that the all-day lesson will be practiced only for the students of the lower cycle, i.e. from the first to the fifth grade.
"We are making this move because of the poor results in PISA. The short stay in schools has been PISA's warning about Kosovo's poor results. In our schools, reading becomes mechanical due to time pressure. There is an urgent need to intervene in the low cycle", she said.
Lushaku-Sadriu has emphasized that two schools that are geographically close will be merged for full-day education.
"We can merge them from two schools that are close geographically, and divide them into primary and lower secondary schools. For example, the schools "Pjeter Bogdani" and "Emin Duraku" can exchange students without a problem. We will present the whole plan in detail through a conference at the end of the month. A primary school will have students only from grades I-V", added the Director of Education.
Lushaku-Sadriu has said that the daily lesson will include the extracurricular.
"Low cycle students will stay seven hours at school, when the basic curriculum will not be changed. The class will remain the same, the same teacher, longer hours and a lunch that the Municipality is trying to provide from the capital's kitchen. Extracurricular activities will be included. More will be read, more will be explained. Reading comprehension and building critical thinking in children. There will also be sports, music and other clubs - where students can spend their time through recreations", stated Lushaku-Sadriu, making it known that, in addition to current teachers, new teachers will be hired for all-day teaching.
She said that teachers will not work extra hours beyond the norm.
The Director of Education announced that they have selected eight schools for all-day teaching, but in the first phase, as she says, "we will go with five".
"Since it is the first stage, we want to be sure of the result. Because it is a big transformation and can become a model for other municipalities", said Lushaku-Sadriu.
For grades six through nine, according to Lushaku-Sadri, there will be no changes in lessons.
Lushaku-Sadriu has said that they plan for the children not to carry books with them and to complete their homework in school.
"This will enable parents to spend quality time with their children", she added.
Lushaku-Sadriu has also requested cooperation from the Ministry of Education, stressing that without the help of state authorities the plan is difficult to implement.