Back to School

With two weeks of preparation behind them, on a brilliant September morning the teachers welcomed their students back for another year of learning. Similar to the first day of school in America, everyone was a little anxious, quite excited, and for the most part, glad to be back. Children and teachers were wearing their new back-to-school ensembles and they all (the children) appeared to be a little bigger and taller than when we left them in June. The parents of the first graders, who were escorting their children to their very first day at Nikola Karev, seemed just as apprehensive as their charges as they waited for the welcoming address of the director and the welcoming performance by the fourth graders.

In America, a new school year usually means new teachers, new classmates, new subjects and a chance to get a fresh start. In Macedonia the system is set up so that from the fifth grade through the eighth grade, the students are grouped as a class and stay together for each subject throughout the day. They keep the same home room teacher, who gets to monitor their progress (or lack thereof) over the course of four years. So the first day is somewhat tempered by the reality of the fact that basically, you as a student , just had a two month respite from your four year journey with the same 22 people.

This administrative-system, which takes precedence over an educational system, fosters a sense of boredom and familiarity that challenges the students’ motivation and enthusiasm. They are cheated of the opportunity to observe the learning styles of other students in their grade level as they are lumped into a one-size-fits-all learning group. Students who choose not to learn but to be disruptive; students who want to learn but need more time to grasp a concept; children with learning disabilities who require individual attention; the average students and the students who are high achievers remain classmates until graduation. The primary school teachers –especially teachers who must travel from class to class and school to school because they lack their own classroom – are challenged to teach multi-level classes with no resources. What might the results be?

Scheduling classes is a major undertaking. The teachers, rather than the administrators, work out the schedule amongst themselves. In the past, it has been a paper/pencil/eraser affair but I showed Alexandra a scheduling program I found on the internet. In keeping with her interest in trying new things, she mastered the workings of the program, and became the school's Master-Scheduler. The only downside to this new hi-tech practice, is that every teacher needed to talk to her about making changes here and there. So most of her free time during the first three weeks of school was spent updating the schedule to keep up with the hourly changes.

One of the reasons for the delay in producing a final schedule is that teachers must have 20 classes per week to be considered full-time and earn the maximum salary.This year due to the loss of one full class and the Ministry’s decision to limit students to one elective course, some teachers were unable to find 20 hours at Nikola Karev. The Director and the teachers worked out times with other schools in the region, which took some time and added to the delay in producing a final schedule. Now three weeks into the school year, the schedule is in place and most of the teachers have their 20 hours.

Despite this system imposed upon the teachers, learning does happen. The school is a fun place to be and the children love to be there. Change is coming down the pike. The Ministry of Science and Education is aware of many of the problems and is implementing changes. This year for the first time, the Ministry is providing all required books without cost to every student in the country. This eliminates the problem of the poorer students coming to class without books and just sitting, unable to follow and learn and eventually dropping out of school, believing learning is boring. Hopefully, sometime in the near future, funding will be provided, so the teachers can have paper and copying machines to enhance their teaching material arsenal.

The next group of Peace Corps Volunteers (MAK 14) arrived in Macedonia last Sunday (which means that Mak13’s have been here a year) and I had the opportunity to be on a panel which tasked me with describing my experiences as a senior volunteer in a mostly Macedonian-speaking community. The other panelists described life as a married couple in an ethnically-mixed community (Macedonian-Albanian) and as a Volunteer in a mostly Albanian community. It was great sitting up front, a seasoned veteran and mister-know-it-all. I delivered my spiel, and listened to the presentations of the other Volunteers. I watched the faces of this wonderful group of TRAINEES who had been in-country for two days and had the same questions and concerns as I did, not really sure of what lay ahead.

However, sometime before the end of the presentation, I remembered that one year ago I was sitting where they were, and then I realized that I had only been here a year, and was not yet a qualified veteran, that I was really a long way from knowing it all, and like the newly arrived TRAINEES, not really sure of what lay ahead.

There will be more in my next Blog about the arrival in Probistip of six PC TRAINEES who will be spending three months as my neighbors. They will be learning the ropes before being sent out on their own and perhaps preparing to sit on a panel next year upon the arrival of MAK15.

Be sure to check out the newly added photos.