The Macedonian government unveiled plans for establishing of a State University of Information Technology (IT).
At today’s press conference, the government’s spokesman Ivica Bocevski said that a large-scale project of the 21st century was in question.
“We all know that the education is one of the key pillars of this government,” Bocevski said, adding that the primary goal of the new University will be to produce top experts for the Macedonian IT society.
He added that the new State University would open in the 2009/2010 academic year at the earliest.
Half of the teaching staff would be comprised of professors and IT experts from USA and Europe, and the remaining faculty would consist of professors from Macedonia.
The government has set up an Initiative Board tasked to work out an elaboration of the project. What is known so far is that it would cost several million euros and the classes would be held in English language.
“English is the language of the global universities,” said Bocevski, explaining that this language is used at every technical faculty in the world.
According to him, the motive for opening of this University is to increase the competition among high-education institutions in the country.
The spokesman said that the existing IT faculties in Macedonia won’t be jeopardized as the government plans to make investments in their development.
Eric Larrabee, Letter from Skopje, The New Yorker, October 17, 1964, p. 131
LETTER FROM SKOPJE, the capital of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake Jul. 26, 1963. A plan for the new city will be drawn up by the U. N., which has already done much for Skopje. The World Health Organization sent a physician, a sanitary engineer, and specialized hospital equipment immediately after the quake. The Int. Labor Organization helped train workers in construction skills. The Food & Agricultural Organizatio of the U. N. has sent a million dollars worth of food, and the U. N. Children’s Fund has allocated $100,000 for health centers and the rebuilding of the Skopje dairy. The U.N. Educational & Scientific & Cultural Organization sent advisory missions of seismologists, urban planner, & earth quake engineers to discuss a long-term U. N. program. The U. N. responsibilities on the spot fall to the Belgrade representative of its Technical Asst. Board, Sudhir Sen, who is a former Indian civil servant. The U. N. Economic & Social Council representatives of the U. N. Housing Building & Planning Branch so the Bureau of Social Affairs have made extended visits to Skopje, and an agreement between U. N. & the Yugoslav government has been made that the U. N. will provide and pay the planner (who will be the Polish architect Adolf Ciborski and, that the Macedonians will abide by his proposals, even if they don’t like them.
