Integrated Education in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

The Republic of Macedonia is a multiethnic, multicultural society: 64.18 percent of the population is Macedonian, 25.17 percent Albanian, 3.85 percent Turkish, 2.66 percent Roma, 1.78 percent Serbian, 0.84 percent Bosnian, 0.48 percent Vlach, and 1.04 percent belong to other ethnic communities (Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Macedonia, 2002, p. 591). The ethnically heterogeneous structure of the population in the Republic of Macedonia suggests that there is a need for integrated education to act as a means to promote mutual cooperation and communication among the different ethnic communities. However, the Macedonian educational system is facing a major challenge to build integrated education that will meet the needs of the Macedonian social context, where several ethnic communities coexist and have developed multidimensional cultural relations.