Skopje to demolish Kocho Racin and Braka Miladinovski schools and build new ones for €2 million

The City of Skopje will demolish the existing buildings of two secondary schools — Kocho Racin in Gjorche Petrov and Braka Miladinovski in Dracevo — and build new facilities after the city council approved a budget rebalance that allocates €2,000,000 for the projects.

Debate over necessity and recent renovations

Mayor Orce Gjorgievski defended the move as part of his campaign promise, saying: "For too long students at these schools have been educated in highly inadequate conditions. For too long teachers have passed on knowledge in rooms that do not meet the needs of modern education. That is why we take on the obligation to build completely new schools, worthy of our children and their teachers," Gjorgievski said.

SDSM city councillor Goran Simovski strongly criticized the plan, arguing that the Kocho Racin building in Gjorche Petrov was renovated five years ago with 54 million denars from the city budget. He argued the city's priorities should instead be a primary school and kindergartens in the new Alexandrija neighbourhood, where new apartment blocks are rising but educational facilities are lacking.

Simovski also questioned the cost and the low current student numbers at Kocho Racin: "Instead of spending a million euros on a secondary school that this year will graduate 40 students, namely 21 in the gymnasium, 14 in the economics track and 4 in the textile track, the funds could have been used through inter-municipal cooperation for a primary school in Alexandrija. Moreover, at Kocho Racin during renovations a few years ago external and internal walls were replaced, a new roof and floor were installed, electrical and plumbing systems were replaced and new sanitary facilities and a new facade were put in place. Four years ago we invested a million euros and now we will build a new school on that site," Simovski said.

The debate comes amid broader demographic and organisational changes in education: this school year there are 433 fewer class sections nationwide than last year — 222 in primary and 211 in secondary education — after the Ministry of Education and Science decided to merge small sections into larger ones. The total number of empty school buildings in the country, mostly in rural areas, stands at 148.

Speaking on 1 September at Aco Shopov School in the Butel municipality, Minister of Education Vesna Janevska addressed the long-term trend and urged families to consider having more children to keep small schools open: "I take the opportunity to inform the public that if we continue like this, we will constantly close schools. We three years ago made an illustrated book for first, second and third grade called 'I, mom, dad, dada and bota.' From here a message for first-graders: besides wanting to gain knowledge, maybe they should ask for a brother or sister, so that we can reopen these temporarily closed schools in the future," Janevska said.

In October 2024 Janevska also stated that "there are 3,000 surplus teachers who work in sections with 9, 12 or 17 students and therefore single-shift and full-day instruction is necessary," and added that surplus teachers would not be dismissed but offered additional assignments.

Photo: SDK.MK)