The ETEA organization held a panel discussion on the topic "Talking about school readings", on the occasion of International Mother Language Day. During the discussion, the ETEA organization presented data from research on student reading. These data show that 70% of students copy in their reports.
Elda Islami
"Up to 70% of students declare that they copy their reports," the non-governmental organization ETEA found in a research on school textbooks and student reading in Kosovo.
This organization, on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, held a panel discussion on the topic "School Lectures", where speakers were Agon Ahmeti, director of ETEA, and Meliza Krasniqi from the Albanological Institute, and also teachers and reading enthusiasts participated in the audience.
During the panel, data collected during 2023 related to student reading were presented.
"A research report by ETEA focused on school readings. Over the years, since 2018, ETEA has conducted over five research studies on readability. The target group has been students. In 2023, we had a wide scope. We have continuously received information about school readings; for example, today, readings that were read by parents or grandparents are still read. Students feel it as an obligatory process and not as an attraction during reading. Even for essays, according to the findings, it turns out that up to 70 percent of students self-declare that they copy essays. School readings are considered the main tool through which a teacher can create reading habits. In our schools, it is a practice for teachers to recommend one reading per month. Another important finding is that parents do not have a reading culture and are not a proper role model for their children. They do not remember when they saw their parents with a book in their hands," he said. Ahmet.
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He emphasized that "students experience reading as a school obligation to complete a mandatory process, not as a process that arouses attraction and pleasure during reading."
According to this report, 53.8% of students failed to remember three titles of books they had read.
"The question of whether they remember three books they have read: 53.8% of students failed to remember them. Of them, 12.1% did not remember even a single title," said Ahmeti.
Another problem regarding school readings is old textbooks, says Ahmeti.
"For example, today we still continue to read books that were read by our parents, sometimes even by our grandparents."
The other panelist, Meliza Krasniqi from the Albanological Institute in Pristina, said that in her opinion, the Albanian language should be separated from literature.
"This framework should be expanded further. The way literature is taught in our country makes reading the final result for students. They take it as an obligation because of the way literature is taught to them. I have always supported the idea of separating literature from language. Another problem is the Faculty of Education, which produces teachers who are not specialized in either language or literature. The second problem is the overloaded system and the curriculum of the Ministry of Education. The criteria that include two different fields for a single subject are excessive," said Krasniqi.
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She also mentioned other shortcomings in school textbooks, such as sexist, patriarchal language and the dominance of old lists.
According to her, education in Kosovo should focus on simplifying ways of reading, not on imposed methods. There should be more focus on language, content, and context.
