Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

50
wonderful opportunities.
I want to continue with my education.
I want to reach all the highs
in the world which represent a challenge
for me, as for every other
young person. I want to become an
expert in the field that I will research
and which I dream about in these turbulent
days filled with military clashes
and the smell of gunpowder. Can
anyone hear my voice?
I frequently ask myself if my
family and my country will make it
out of this economic crisis, because
that is the only way to continue with
my education and to enter in to the
Western world of technological and
practical wonders. Perhaps I will find
my future in some Western European
country where peace rules and where
all considerations are in compliance
with the 21st century. I want to compete
with knowledge, but it is hard to
get there. Restrictions have been laid
upon me and my generation. The visa
procedures are too complex. How
then, can I think about the future of
those whom I love the most? Peace
and the lives of these people are what
matter most to me.
For how long will this last?
This cannot be forecasted. As long
as the country is led by the sort of
leadership that puts personal interests
above collective interests, above the
interest of all citizens of the country,
we will live in poverty, with no way
out. Youth is the wheel that should
carry society to economic and social
progress. And youth should be given a
chance to lead us to the goal; to a society
where everyone, with no exceptions,
will be pleased and motivated to
create better and more human relations.
To a society where the young
individual is filled with satisfaction
and offers his or her knowledge.
There are things that a human
simply cannot alter. Macedonia is my
fatherland, whether covered in blood
or just the same as it used to be. Deep
in my heart I feel that this small
country will raise itself high and
make all my dreams come true.
(The author is a
high school student)
An anxious summer
One thing is clear: students did not start the war
and they should not be facing the consequences.
If we think this way, we will all be winners, with
no exceptions...
Makfire Ajeti
We just lived through a summer filled with the smell of gunpowder
which was not felt equally by everybody. It was not like previous summers
when we used to make vacation plans. We also had a very difficult
end of a school year; a quiet ending. There were no excursions and
no graduation parties. There was only the phrase "this will be over
soon," which gave us hope that we would not waste the whole summer.
However, things happened the way they happened. The entire summer
passed in a state of anxiety. Now the question follows: what are we
going to do this coming fall?
Our youth cannot accept the present reality, because it is full of
poison. It cannot accept this because the present situation shattered our
youthful dreams, it kept us apart from our friends. We scattered like
flies.
Now that schools are reopening again, the concerns and fears from
the spring return to me. I ask myself, "How will Macedonian students
behave? Has the irrational hatred affected them? Will another incident
occur? Will we be holding short classes or will we be missing classes?"
At that time, it was not pleasant to see policemen regularly wandering
around the school compound.
There will certainly be many students missing, because the war
forced them to move out of Macedonia temporarily. They may very
well return later, but additional efforts will have to be made to compensate
for the lost time. These will certainly be students who were
right up close to the war hot spots. We will most likely have traumatized
students, to whom we would have to pay special attention.
There are rumours that many Albanian students didn't manage to
enroll at secondary schools, in some due to the war. Whereas in other
cases, due to the limited number of available places. I am convinced
that nobody is posing the following question: What will happen to
those who remain out of secondary school? Dreams of going to the
West, as an alternative solution, will become more difficult to realize.
Education, as one of the most significant segments of every society,
continues to be an acute problem in Macedonia, especially for ethnic
Albanians. Young Albanians used to enroll in schools where teaching
was in Macedonian. Now, due to the situation, this will happen
very rarely, if at all, because a great division has occurred.
The state must invest more time in thinking about its youth,
because if they are left with no potential, no future, problems will
occur like a chain reaction.
At the very end-one thing is clear: students did not start the war
and they should not be facing the consequences. If we think this way,
we will all be winners, with no exceptions….
(The author is a secondary school student)
Youth and crisis, October 2001