European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu doi: 10.5281/zenodo.893142 Volume 3 │ Issue 9 │ 2017 ETHNICITY, POLITICS, AND EDUCATION IN MACEDONIA Klaudjo Kavajai Affiliation Abstract: This article examines the education system of the Republic of Macedonia by focusing on education segregation along ethnic lines between ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians who comprise the second largest ethnicity in the country. The article builds upon an existing body of literature on the country as well as a number of reports from international organizations. It utilizes theories on ethnicity and nationalisms, brings forth the historical context of the conflict in the country, identifies how this affected the post-conflict education system and proposes a number of steps that are necessary to desegregate the education system in order to achieve reconciliation and foster integration. Keywords: education, ethnicity, segregation, Macedonia, peace building, post-conflict 1. Introduction The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (henceforth Macedonia) is a small, ethnically mixed country in the Balkan Peninsula. The main ethnic groups are Macedonians comprising 64.2 percent of the population, Albanians comprising 25.2 percent of population, while Turks, Roma, Serbs and others account for the remaining .6 percent CIA n.d. . Unlike other former Yugoslav republics, Macedonia’s independence did not follow the same pattern of war and ethnic conflict. Nevertheless, the ethnic tensions between the country’s ethnic Macedonia majority and its Albanian minority had been slowly mounting since the 1980s. These aggravated tensions culminated in 2001 with an armed insurgency by ethnic Albanians. The ensuing conflict was brought into an end through the NATO brokered Ohrid Framework Agreement. This paper will deal with the post-Ohrid Agreement education system in Macedonia. Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 480 Klaudjo Kavaja ETHNICITY, POLITICS, AND EDUCATION IN MACEDONIA? The primary question that this paper will aim to answer is; how prevalent is ethnic segregation between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Macedonians in Macedonia’s education and what are its implications? A secondary question that this paper aims to answer is; what are some complementary, to the government work, steps to address this phenomenon? The Ohrid Agreement in 2001 helped put an end to the conflict and aimed at improving the rights of the Albanian minority. In terms of language rights, languages spoken by more than 20 percent of the population became co-official in local level. Article 6 of the Agreement stipulates that the government is under the obligation to offer language rights to minorities, if the latter request it. As a result, Macedonian is taught as a secondary language in primary education, to children who follow the education system in either Albanian, Turkish, or Serbian (Myhrvold 2005, 17). The drive for decentralization in the agreement gave more authority to municipalities in establishing and running their education systems. In terms of primary and secondary education for the Albanian population, not much changed from the 1991 Constitution. A major change occurred in tertiary level where Albanians were allowed to have their education in their native language. In this paper, I argue that ethnic identities have created a system that is divided along ethno-linguistic lines encouraging the segregation of education systems and the separation of students. This paper scope is to explore the education system of Macedonia by looking at the level of ethnic segregation in schooling and its implications thereof. It aims to contribute to an existing body of literature for Macedonia which links to a larger education literature on segregation and the Balkans. The country exhibits similarities to Kosovo, and Bosnia that can be grouped as a Balkanized type of education (Kavaja, forthcoming). Torsti (2009) researches the effects of the national segregation in Bosnia while McKinna (2012) focuses on how competing ethnic groups and security issues produce segregating schooling in Kosovo. These cases relate to Macedonia, as they share similarities in terms of multi-ethnic and multi-religious demographics, historical trajectories, and conflict. Macedonia also links to cases such as Cyprus and Israel. In Cyprus ethnicized identities in education are a norm (Zembylas 2010). Whereas in Israel ethnic identity and nationalism promote segregation in schooling (Bekerman 2009). Furthermore, Macedonia reflects a broader global debate on the negative faces of education, with segregation being a component of it, as identified by Bush and Saltarelli (2000), and Davies (2010). For downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1036 European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 9 │ 2017 481 Klaudjo Kavaja ETHNICITY, POLITICS, AND EDUCATION IN MACEDONIA? European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 9 │ 2017 482