Twenty-four-year-old student Rita Rexhepi from Ferizaj, who studies architecture at the private College for Business and Technology “UBT,” has decided to put her studies on hold, and earn money in order to be able to pay for it until the end.
She got a job as a call agent at a Call Center in Ferizaj, which she thought would be a temporary job. Today, though, she has no idea when she will return to her studies.
“Initially, it is very difficult for students in Kosovo to find a part-time job, but even if one gets a job, the salaries are insufficient to handle monthly expenses. There are cases when you can go to lectures from the job, but on the other hand, I had to coordinate things. I decided to attend lectures one week and work the next week, otherwise I would lose my job or I wouldn`t get paid enough to handle my monthly expenses,” she says.
According to Dita Dobranja, a “RIINVEST” researcher, the lack of part-time jobs in Kosovo is a huge problem, especially for those who have to pay for their education themselves.
“There are not enough part-time jobs in Kosovo, especially jobs that have a flexible schedule, specifically for students. Even those who have a full-time job in the private sector, with an 8-hour work schedule, have to work 10-12 hours every day. This forces students to choose if they want to work or go to lectures, and they often end up not going to lectures due to the lack of a flexible part-time work schedule,” Dobranja says.
According to a report from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC Kosovo), the percentage of participants who have a part-time job in institutions or in companies in Kosovo is 10.5.
The Kosovo Agency of Statistics says that the unemployment rate in our country in 2016 was 27.5%. Whereas youth unemployment, only in the first quarter of this year, is 50.5%.
However, apart from lacking part-time jobs, students who have a full-time job with an 8-hour schedule work longer hours than it is mandated by the Law for Work in Kosovo.
Kastriot Q., a Physical Education student in one of the private colleges in Kosovo, has been working in a coffee shop in Ferizaj for some months now and he complains about the long work schedule.
“I work and study simultaneously. It is difficult to do both and have good results in the end. I have an 8-hour work schedule, but it often happens that I work longer than the schedule. So, this prevents me from being productive and from attending lectures regularly,” he says.
The legal framework for regulating the labor market in Kosovo states that for jobs with an 8-hour working schedule, as well as for those with a part-time schedule, there should be a work contract. As for working longer than the schedule, it says that one should work longer only if there is more work to do and in necessary cases when asked by the employer. In these cases, the employee should work longer than the schedule, 8 hours per week at maximum. Whereas, part-time employees are not allowed to work longer than the full-time schedule.
Safet Gërxhaliu, head of the Kosova Chamber of Commerce, says he faced the same problem the youth are now facing when he was a student. He says this is the reason he was forced to study in Croatia.
“It is interesting that the reason why I decided to study in Croatia is exactly what we are talking about now; to be able to find a job and earn money for my studies. I wish students in Kosovo had the same luck as I did. But, unfortunately, we are producing a political rather than economic agenda here in Kosovo. It is time for a more dignified treatment of the students since not everyone has the chance of comfortably studying. Most of them have difficulties due to the dominating economic crisis in Kosovo,” Gërxhaliu says.
What Gërxhaliu considers most concerning in Kosovo, is that we lack information regarding unemployment.
“According to the World Bank data, the current unemployment rate in Kosovo is 35%, according to the International Monetary Fund it is 40%, whereas if we look the reports from Kosovar institutions, we see that it is around 43%. There is more informality (people working without having a work contract) than unemployment in Kosovo,” Gërxhaliu explains.
The Kosova Chamber of Commerce (KCC) asserts 30,000 up to 35,000 people in Kosovo reach the working age yearly, whereas the yearly economic growth is 4%. According to KCC, this is a concerning number since Kosovo has no capacity to create new jobs yearly for such a huge number of job seekers.
The high unemployment rate and the lack of part-time jobs are also a problem for Visar Hapçiu from America Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo.
“The unemployment rate is concerning, but youth are in the most alarming situation. As for this issue, we think that the education institutions play an important role as well. They can make agreements with private sector companies to make it possible for students to find a part-time job and to have a worthy experience, and to finance their own studies,” Hapçiu emphasizes.
There were initiatives from the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo to connect students and graduates to the private sector. They organized the Work Fair for years, where full-time and part-time job opportunities were offered. But, as Hapçiu says, this does not decrease the overall lack and the need for part-time jobs for thousands of students to finance their studies.
Vjosa Çerkini
