Skopje, 19 October 2023 (MIA) — Minister of Education and Science Jeton Shaqiri said sixth graders would receive their textbooks "soon," after he had asked the publishers to speed up the process. The new textbooks for the sixth grade printed to correspond to the new curriculum were being delivered daily to schools nationwide, he told Voice of America in Macedonian.

"We have delivered 1,400,000 textbooks to elementary schools," Minister Shaqiri said. "This is a very significant fact because the textbook problem did not begin last year but dates back 15 years."

"But I am glad that in late September and early October as well as in recent days, we have been delivering textbooks," he said.

Shaqiri said textbook procedures depended not only on the Ministry of Education and Science but also on the National Commission on Textbooks. He said the ministry's procedures were usually completed "in one or two days."

"This process was not only to print the textbooks but also to approve the textbooks for sixth grade," the education minister said.

"Unlike last year and in the previous 15 years, we completed all the procedures regarding the approved textbooks on Sept. 1," he told VOA in Macedonian, speaking in Washington where he is on a working visit.

He said he had met with university representatives to consider the possibility of cooperation and hosting visiting professors from the USA. He added that more Fulbright scholarships were expected as of this year.

Shaqiri also recalled that the country's education system was implementing US-supported projects, one of which is a media literacy project that is part of the elementary school curriculum. mr/