Early Childhood Development in Kosovo: A Leap Forward Enacted with the New Law

Principal Majlind Qeriqi has a glint in her eye as she proudly provides a tour of the Shalë/Sedlare Centre for Preschool Education. Located in the small village of Shalë/Sedlare in the municipality of Lipjan/Lipljan, the preschool only opened its doors in September, but 45 children from the local area are already enrolled and the brand-new building feels warm, bright and full of life.

Bathed in natural light and with the distinct aromas of freshly cooked food in the air, enthusiastic staff engage grinning children in games as they sit at their tiny desks.

“We strive to make it a one-stop-shop, aiming to strike the right balance between emotional growth and cognitive preparation”, Qeriqi explains as she points out some of the many books and toys around one of the classrooms. “The area is somewhat impoverished, or at least not very affluent. Children play in their yards, enjoying freedom, but we provide some structure and extensive preparation for school”.

The Shalë/Sedlare preschool is one of three such new facilities to have been established in Lipjan/Lipljan, one of five UN ‘Demonstration municipalities’ in Kosovo. In each of these places, the UN agency has provided local authorities with close support through teacher training, capital investment, and monitoring and development assistance to showcase the benefits of holistic child development and play-based learning. 

Between 2021 and 2023, Qeriqi worked alongside the UN to trial providing early education in Shalë’s primary school. Recognizing the potential, within a year the municipality constructed the new purpose-built facility next door, and it now has a team of six, including a cook and a maintenance person, in addition to three teachers.

Qeriqi points out that until this initiative, most children in the area simply had no access to a preschool institution, which meant they were ill-prepared to start school when they reached the age of six. “Regrettably, until now, many children had to be accompanied by their parents in the first grade since they had never experienced any institution beyond their families”, she says. “We will make this difference”.

It’s a similar picture in many other parts of Kosovo, where preschool education simply hasn’t been accessible for many children, despite extensive evidence that children who receive at least one year of pre-primary education have improved life chances as adults. While 84% of 5-year-olds attend pre-primary education in Kosovo as a whole, that number drops to 45% for children who are Roma, Ashkali or Egyptian. And amongst the general population, only a small minority of children younger than 5 receive any kind of early childhood education.

“The new Early Childhood Education law in Kosovo, a result of our advocacy, now enables comprehensive Early Interventions, significantly enhancing development in areas like Dyslexia and Speech impairments. It also introduces a diverse range of preschool education options, promoting holistic child development and higher academic achievements." -Dr. Mimoza Shahini 

To help give children the best start in life, in July 2023, the Assembly of Kosovo took a significant step forward by passing the new Law on Early Childhood Education. The new law, whose development was supported by UN agencies, makes it mandatory for all 5-year-olds in Kosovo to attend pre-primary education from the start of the new school year in September 2024. 

The law also diversifies options for service provision to help meet local needs and provides the framework for developing a core, child-centered, curriculum. The UN is currently engaged in the new curriculum’s development, with the aim of delivering a gender-transformative curriculum that challenges traditional gender roles and promotes a more equitable society.

While a lot of work still needs to be done to ensure successful implementation of the new law, including the drafting of sub-legal acts, early childhood experts believe its introduction is nevertheless an important milestone for Kosovo. 

Mimoza Shahini from the Centre for Humane Services and Development is a leading expert on children’s development and was a member of the working group that helped to develop the new law. Shahini is pleased that it will guarantee legally binding minimum standards for pre-primary teachers for the first time and is excited that it introduces a joined-up approach to early childhood education.

“The new law enables much-needed early interventions in all aspects of development such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, speech impairments, etc., which will be referred to experts through an early intervention setup”, she says. “The new system of preschool education provides for harmonic development, higher emotional intelligence and an increase in academic achievement. It introduces discipline and structure into early childhood development through proper education”.

Shahini also explains that children who attend preschool institutions have improved linguistic skills, wider vocabularies and are able to better express themselves. “They learn to be more inclusive and better at teamwork”, she says. “Inclusiveness goes beyond just working beside other children, as they learn to get along with children from other ethnic groups, those with a different economic status and children with disabilities, while accepting differences and diversity as a strength with respect and honesty”.

Written in cooperation with Jack Butcher