Our Centre for Shared Education (CSE) hosted the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, on a recent visit to Northern Ireland. The Centre supports the development of initiatives in Kosovo based on the Northern Ireland Shared Education model, working with sectors in both jurisdictions, including academics, policy-makers, school leaders, politicians and NGOs. 

Mr Kurti visited a shared education partnership at Nettlefield and St Matthew’s primary schools in Belfast, talking with school children, teachers and principals about their experiences and the advantages of being in a shared education partnership. 

Professor Joanne Hughes, Centre Director, said:

"Queen’s Centre for Shared Education has a long history of working with Kosovo colleagues to support their development of an adapted shared education model. We were delighted to meet Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his team, to showcase the shared education journey in Northern Ireland. We were especially pleased that that our meeting took place at the Nettlefield/St Matthew’s site, so they could see the partnership that has developed between schools in one of the most divided interfaces in Belfast." 

Dr Edona Maloku, former Deputy Minister of Education in Kosovo and a Fellow at CSE, funded by the Social Change Initiative, remarked:

“I was very proud to have the Prime Minister of Kosovo and our Kosovo team visit Northern Ireland to see the work being done here in peace-building. I am particularly vested in strengthening the partnerships between our two contexts so that a model of Shared Education is locally tailored and piloted in Kosovo. It is an initiative we have been working on for a while now with our Northern Ireland collaborators, so getting the Kosovo government team to talk to the stakeholders and see the partnering schools in practice was a big milestone in this direction. There is much to learn and exchange between our two countries.”