EL Fellow Program
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Country Kosovo
City Pristina/Mitrovica
Host Institution University of Pristina’s Faculty of Political Science/American Corner
Project Description
This project is specifically designed to reach out to minority populations in Kosovo (Serbs, Roma, Turks, and Bosniacs) and to promote inter-ethnic cooperation and integration through the study and use of English. The current EL Fellow has been teaching at the Islamic Medressa in Pristina, at the American Corner in Serb-majority Mitrovica, at the University of Pristina and to Roma and Serbs in Gracanica. The response has been impressive, as members of these communities have asked for even more classes. The in-coming EL Fellow will continue this work and provide regular classes to these groups in support of building reconciliation, promoting respect for minority rights and settlement of ethnic conflicts through outreach programs. The EL Fellow will play a critical role in achieving mission and regional goals of minority outreach and economic development. Mitrovica is still a city divided along ethnic lines and conflict still flares up. The American Corner and the EL Fellow-taught English classes play a major role in fostering mutual understanding between the U.S. and the people of Northern Mitrovica. English is a key part of Mitrovica’s economic development and integration with the region, and English is a neutral language in which citizens from communities with a troubled past can interact and communicate. In addition to teaching, the EL Fellow will continue to aid the staff of the recently opened American Corner in Mitrovica to plan and implement programs that reach out to the Serbs in Northern Mitrovica. As in Mitrovica, reaching out to Serb communities like Gracanica is getting harder and harder, but the English classes are the exception. The classes both for Serbs and for Roma in Gracanica have been a huge success, and families and educators there are asking for more classes. Teaching at the Medressa is a unique opportunity to reach out to students in a traditional Muslim school. Kosovo is roughly 90% Muslim, and while most people are very secular, there is a growing number of people who more conservative about their faith.
Project Objectives
To teach one girls’ and one boys’ class at the Medressa in Pristina. To teach one class at the University of Pristina, Faculty of Political Science. To teach regular classes to Serb young adults in Northern Mitrovica. To teach regular classes to Serb adults in Gracanica. To teach regular classes to Roma children in Gracanica. To work with the staff of the American Corner in Northern Mitrovica to plan and carry out programs promoting the study of English.
About the Host Institution
While still under the umbrella of the Faculty of Philosophy, this school’s bachelor’s degree program is in its fifth year and its master’s program in its second year. The EL Fellow program has been instrumental in the Faculty’s success, as English allows students to read political literature that would otherwise be inaccessible because it has not been translated into Albanian. There were no standards for the English language requirement and no testing until EL Fellows became involved. While the EL Fellows have been key to the institution-building the U.S. Office has achieved there, the Faculty still faces big challenges as it strives to become a Faculty separate from the Faculty of Philosophy. The quality of the English language program is one element that sets the Faculty of Political Science apart.
Operating for over 20 years, the Medressa is a traditional Islamic school, but whose curriculum operates within the criteria of the Ministry of Education. The regular curriculum includes English language instruction, but the EL Fellow adds a communicative element, focusing on spoken English and American culture. The EL Fellow also provides students with the opportunity to speak and interact with a native English speaker. Traditionally the girls’ classes have been closed to contact with foreigners, but recently our EL Fellows have opened them up. The American Corner in Mitrovica is only a year old and is in the public library funded by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). While this is the most complete library collection in Mitrovica, a parallel institution, funded by the Serbian Government also exists in the city. As a result, the library faces the challenge of attracting members in a community weary of international involvement in public services. The American Corner augments the library’s collection and the EL Fellow English classes attract students to the library. Roma Education Center in Gracanica was established by Balkan Sunflowers, an international organization that plans and implements programs in Roma community in Kosovo. The center is in a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) - an internal refugee camp. These are youth with no homes, schools or anything else. This is the most isolated and neglected ethnic population in Kosovo. This center organizes various courses for Roma youth who do not have any education and helps with homework and teaching those who attend regular schools. The current EL Fellow is teaching a group of Roma who have some knowledge of English language from movies and hip-hop music, but who have not had many opportunities to communicate in English. The Public Library in Gracanica, located in the Cultural Center in the central part of the town, has a few thousand books and serves as the location for English language courses taught by the EL Fellows. The U.S. Office has begun to cooperate with the Public Library in Gracanica, and has helped them to buy books, desk, chairs, shelves and equipment. The EL Fellow will conduct English language course for adults who already have some basic knowledge of English language. These classes provide outreach to a community who, as tensions surrounding the imminent status decision rise, has been forced by its political leaders to have less and less contact with the Albanian majority and with the U.S.
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