Vesna Janevska tells first-graders: Besides learning, ask for a brother or sister

On the first day of the new school year, Education Minister Vesna Janevska used her visit to Primary School "Aco Shopov" in Radishani, Butel municipality, to urge first-grade pupils not only to learn but also to think about increasing their future families. Her unusual appeal — that children should “ask for a little brother or sister” — was framed as part of a wider effort to raise awareness about human capital amid a decline in pupil numbers.

Drop in first-graders and temporary closures

Janevska pointed out that this September there are 3,000 fewer first-graders nationwide and that 26 schools in rural areas have been temporarily closed. She suggested the message to children is intended to highlight the importance of population and future generations for the country and communities.

“Ако продолжиме вака, ние постојано ќе затвораме училишта. Оттука, можеби порака до првачињата: освен да бараат да стекнат знаење, можеби треба да бараат да стекнат братче или сестриче за овие привремено затворени училишта во иднина повторно да ги отвориме. Населението да стане свесно колку човечкиот капитал е значаен, пред сè за нив самите и нивниот живот и, секако, за нивната држава”, Vesna Janevska said during her visit to the school in Radishani.

Asked by journalists about the drop of nearly 3,000 first-graders compared with last year, Janevska, speaking earlier at Primary School "Kiro Gligorov", replied that “demography is a separate science and many things need to be done in that direction,” while adding that the education system is implementing measures to improve learning conditions.

Janevska also reminded teachers and parents that, two years ago, three picture-books for grades one to three were produced under the title "I, mum, dad, dada and bato" and expressed hope that schools are using them. She stressed the government’s investment in infrastructure, technology and new teaching materials as part of making life in North Macedonia more attractive for families.

“Сè што правиме е многу сериозно – инфраструктура, технологија, нови наставни програми, нови наставни помагала, учебниците се редовно снабдени. Сè со цел да им е попријатен животот на децата во Македонија. А, кога на децата им е убаво, и нивните родители ќе сакаат, претпоставувам, да останат тука и ќе се охрабрат да имаат повеќе дечиња”, she said.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, who took part in the opening of the extension at the same Primary School "Aco Shopov" in Butel, described the fall in pupil numbers as mainly demographic and called for a return to traditional family values from an early age. He noted that in 2025 there were 15,650 births — some 7,000 to 8,000 fewer than in the period seven to eight years earlier — and linked that decline directly to fewer classes and school closures.

“We tried, from the earliest age, through a reader ‘I, mum and dad, dada and bato’, translated into Macedonian, Albanian and other languages, to distribute it in schools where instruction is conducted in those languages so that first-graders understand from an early age what family is. That family is not ‘me, mum and dad’, but ‘me, mum and dad, dada and bato’. That is family,” Hristijan Mickoski said, adding that stabilising family values and encouraging emigrants to return are part of broader efforts to support demographic recovery and economic progress in North Macedonia.

Photo: press material from the event