EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES OF TURKISH-SPEAKING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KOSOVO DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

KOSOVA’DAKİ TÜRKÇE KONUŞAN LİSE ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN COVID-19 PANDEMİSİ SIRASINDAKİ EĞİTİMSEL ZORLUKLARI

Abstract

This study examines the educational challenges encountered by Turkish-speaking high school students in Prizren, Kosovo during the Covid-19 pandemic, within the broader context of a multilingual and structurally fragmented education system. Utilizing a qualitative research design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 students selected from four high schools using purposive and criterion sampling techniques during the 2020–2021 academic year. The research aimed to understand students’ experiences with both online and group-based in-person education, which were implemented in response to pandemic conditions.

In the early stages of the pandemic, the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MAShTI) adopted a centralized online education model for primary and lower secondary levels through national television channels (RTK 1 and RTK 4), the official e-learning platform (emesimi.rks-gov.net), and open-access digital resources. However, for upper secondary education, a decentralized model was introduced, where individual schools and teachers were responsible for organizing distance learning, often through applications like Zoom, Google Meet, and Facebook groups.

Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed that students faced significant challenges, including limited access to technological devices, lack of internet connectivity, reduced instructional time (e.g., shortened 30-minute lessons), and inconsistency in the quality of instruction across staggered student groups. Particularly among students in vocational and medical high schools, the absence of hands-on, practical sessions severely hindered learning outcomes. Furthermore, students expressed dissatisfaction with the instructional effectiveness of teachers during both online and hybrid instruction, citing fatigue, repetition of lessons across groups, and reduced engagement.

These findings indicate that the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing educational inequalities, particularly for Turkish-speaking minorities. The study concludes that urgent structural reforms are needed to enhance educational access, technological readiness, and pedagogical responsiveness in Kosovo’s minority-language education systems, both during crises and in long-term planning.