“BOOKS THAT MOVE”
Ilustration: Studio Permanent
ETEA stands for education and culture, focusing on programs and activities related to the promotion of books and the culture of reading, the advancement of educational practices in harmony with the contemporary demands and needs of students in particular, but also of society in general. The results of international tests and reports revealed the functional illiteracy of students as one of the biggest problems (read: symptoms) of the education system of Kosovo.
The results of the PISA test ranked Kosovo third in the world rankings, but third from the bottom. In the last assessment of the PISA test, in the field of reading, the 15-year-olds of Kosovo scored only 353 points, the latter a result with minimal improvement compared to 2015 (347 points), but much lower in relation to the average result of the OECD (487 points). PISA also established a series of levels to determine proficiency in all three domains. Level 6 in the PISA test is the highest, while Kosovo’s 15-year-olds are ranked at level 1a. According to PISA, 15-year-olds who score below Level 2 – are “poor performers in reading”. Moreover, according to the World Bank report, it is established that 78% of 15-year-olds in Kosovo are functionally illiterate.
Among other things, during the years 2018-2019, ETEA developed three researches on the relationship of students with the book at the pre-university level of education. From 53.8% of students at the primary level, followed by 73.3% of students at the lower secondary level, up to 77.8% of students at the upper secondary level – they fail to remember three titles of the books they have read. This further encourages the need to fulfill school obligations through fraudulent means such as copying. From 26.6% of students at the primary level, followed by 66.5% of students at the lower secondary level, up to 73.6% of students at the upper secondary level – self-declared that they fulfill their school obligations by copying from the Internet or elsewhere.
ETEA considers that the strengthening of education, especially the pre-university one which lays the foundation on the personal and professional development of the individual, has a ‘domino effect’ on the improvement of all human activities, social spheres and state sectors. In this line, literacy is the primary step that advances the individual from the classical illiterate and reading comprehension is the next step that differentiates the individual from the functional illiterate. For students who know the letters but do not manage to understand what they read, ETEA was committed to create greater opportunities of access to better quality books and to the development of contemporary reading techniques through the project “Circulating Library with reading strategies – meaning”. Through the Memorandums of Cooperation with the Municipal Directorates of Education of the seven municipalities of Kosovo, ETEA has enabled the inclusion of “Reading Hours” within school programs through which reading-comprehension strategies are applied.
The Circulating Library makes available to students various titles of children’s books. The teacher together with the students selects the book for reading in class. The postman receives the order and sends the books to the respective school, where each student is allocated a book. Thus begins the Reading Hour, where the group reading of the selected book is done based on reading comprehension strategies. The techniques of reading-comprehension strategies aim to increase the critical, analytical and creative thinking capacities of students. The Circulating Library is located in the “Libart” Center for Education and Culture, the “Libart” Center is located in the “Hivzi Sulejmani” Library, and the “Hivzi Sulejmani” Library is located in Prishtina.
The “Libart” center was created by ETEA to serve as a multifunctional space, where, in addition to being a home of children’s books, it is also a space where various cultural and artistic activities for young people come to life. The program of the “Libart” Center consists of the Evening of Poetry and Music; Spoke in Letter; Socio-cultural dialogue; Details; Stage Readings; Meetings with the Writer, etc. Based on the strong impact of the reading-comprehension program, in the next two years, ETEA plans to prioritize engagement in the national extension of the “Circulating Library with reading-comprehension strategies” program and, in parallel, work on increasing student participation in decision-making within the school community through the creation of “Libart” Spaces in schools. These spaces will have a multi-dimensional character where they will serve as Reading Hour cabinets, then as a school library, as a theater, cinema and workshops where students will have the opportunity to express themselves in artistic and innovative ways.
About the author: ETEA is an NGO, with the aim of public education through cultivating a reading culture and improving the state of pre-university education in Kosovo
This grant is supported by Austrian Development Agency
