A team from our Centre for Shared Education (CSE) brought together more than 30 teachers and school principals from the Albanian and Serb communities of Kamenica, Kosovo, last week to explore the potential for developing a shared education initiative in the Municipality. Shared education involves collaboration between separate schools in divided and post-conflict societies with the aims of improving educational outcomes for all, and promoting social cohesion.

The shared education initiative in Kosovo has arisen from a longstanding collaboration between CSE and Dr Edona Maloku (former Deputy Minister of Education in Kosovo). It follows a successful official visit by the Prime Minister of Kosovo and his team to a shared education partnership in Belfast earlier this year.

The Kosovo visit was led by CSE Director Professor Joanne Hughes and included School of SSESW colleagues Gavin Duffy, Tony Gallagher and Ruth Leitch and Seamus Bradley and Paul Close from the Education Authority in Northern Ireland. It was arranged in collaboration with Dr Maloku who is a SCI Fellow in our Centre for Shared Education.

In addition to an intensive three day workshop with the school representatives, the CSE team was hosted by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Kamenica, Kadri Rahimaj and Aleksandra Jovanoviq, and the UK Ambassador, Jonathan Hargreaves. They met with Michael Davenport, Ambassador for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and with Blerim Saqqipi and Blerta Perolli Shehu from the University of Pristina.

Shared education was initiated in Northern Ireland (NI) in the mid-2000s, when pilot partnerships led by colleagues in the School of SSESW at Queen’s University were established with support from an international philanthropic organisation. Currently more than two thirds of all schools in NI participate in shared education and the approach is supported through a policy and legislative framework.

Research evidence highlights the effectiveness of shared education in promoting educational opportunities for young people and in improving community relations. The initiative has attracted global attention in other divided jurisdictions. In addition to the project in Kamenica, the CSE team has supported adaptations of the model in North Macedonia, USA and Israel.