Skopje, 30 January 2025 (MIA) – No teacher will lose their job amid the high school curriculum reform; on the contrary, they will work more with students so their PISA scores can improve, Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska said Thursday in response to a question from SDSM MP Daniela Nikolova, who blamed the minister of not letting the public have a say regarding the reform that signalled “the destruction of critical thought in education.”

Minister Janevska denied that the proposed concept was not up for public debate.

"It is not true there has been no public debate. I visited the Faculty of Philosophy and met with their representatives: deans, heads of the Psychology, Sociology departments. We talked, the discussion was constructive," Janevska said, adding that they would be submitting their proposals for the high school curriculum reform in the next ten days.

Discussions should continue until a consensus is reached, the education minister said, noting that high school curricula have not been changed for more than two decades.

"The secondary education concept has not changed in the last 24 years," she said. "Students are studying from textbooks that are 24 years old," Janevska said, pointing out that PISA scores were low because of this.

Responding to the MP's accusations that scrapping subjects would diminish students' critical thinking skills, Janevska said international research papers said children's critical thinking began with mathematics. "Mathematics is thinking," she said.

"It is too late to educate them in high school," the education minister said. "Education starts in preschool. In high school, they focus on sciences, that is what international research says. Ethics and Logic are first taught at home, preschool, elementary school. By high school, they should have a certain quantum of knowing how to think critically." 

"I'm not saying we will deny them this, but the way teachers should be teaching, the methods they should be using, should be very different," she said. 

MP Nikolova agreed a reform was needed, but she said any proposals should be subject to public debate.

"Schools need to have an educational and upbringing component," Nikolova said, adding that students needed to be both educated and raised "to become people." 

"And you believe that Ethics should be learned from personal examples — from the way their teachers behave," she added.

The state university's Institute of Philosophy, too, joined the public backlash against the proposed concept that would scrap Logic and Ethics from the high school curriculum and make Philosophy an elective subject instead of compulsory.

"By taking out Philosophy, the education system will deny students the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of human existence, logical principles and ethical values," the Institute of Philosophy said.

High school teachers of Philosophy, Logic and Ethics also sent an open letter against the proposed concept, highlighting the damage it would do to students, teachers, the high school education process and society as a whole.

On their website, the Education Development Bureau, together with the Ministry of Education and Science, urged members of the public to share their opinions and suggestions about the concept. Public comments are open until Jan. 31. mr/