Prishtinë, 14 August 2023 – The Ombudsperson published Ex-Officio Report with recommendations regarding the inquiry and review of hate speech in school textbooks, specifically the texts from the first grade to the ninth grade, starting from the ABC book (Abetarja), Albanian language, History, Civic Education, Society and Environment, and Reading books.

The Ombudsperson finds that the standards for the language used in textbooks are generally respected, as it turns out that there is a very small and very limited presence of hate speech in all its forms of manifestation.

These findings reflect institutional and societal efforts to revise earlier texts and address them towards supporting a culture of tolerance, equality and anti-racism.

Due to the above, the Ombudsperson estimates that out of a total of 47 school textbooks analyzed, few cases of texts containing hate speech were found, as in the case of the text of the 6th grade, Albanian language book, in the “Reading text” section, with the title: “Reading folktales”, and the text “Albanian family aforetime and today”.

The Ombudsperson, based on the findings gained from the texts analyzed, addressed recommendations to the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, considering of a particular importance guidelines drafting dedicated to prevent and eliminate hate speech, which should be applied in all cases when new curricula and textbooks are drawn up or those in force are revised.

Other recommendations include organization of trainings for authors of school textbooks and for teachers on freedom of expression, aiming to increase the ability and capacity to eliminate hate speech during school textbooks designing as well as in the course of teaching.

Full report in English soon at www.oik-rks.org