The students of the Faculty of Pedagogy of the University of Tetova, days ago carried out study visits to several cultural and educational institutions in the Republic of Albania and in the Republic of Kosovo. The purpose of these visits was to exchange experiences between students and professors regarding the educational institutions, cultural objects and monuments, as well as to become acquainted with the national history of the education development in Albanian language.
Special importance was given to the introduction with the Elbasan Normal School and its role in the preparation of the educational staff, as the first national high school in Albanian language, opened on December 1, 1909, with the first principal, Luigj Gurakuqi. In addition, the students had the opportunity to see the museum of this school, consisting of a fund with over 5000 original documents and photocopies, about 500 portraits of normalists, dozens of document files, photo albums, multiple relics, various publications, journals, registers, protocols of the pedagogical council and memoirs of former normalists.
After that, students were introduced to the 2000 year history of the Elbasan Castle. It raised curiosity in students about how such a Roman construction of the 4th century, made for the housing of a legion, was later destroyed by the barbarian wars in the IV-V century and again rebuilt on its old foundations by the hand of the Byzantine Emperor with Dardan origin – Justinian.
The students also showed tremendous interest about the history of the old city of Berat, which is officially declared a museum city in 1961. By the definition of the monuments’ category, this city is divided into three areas: a museum, a protected area, and a free zone. The city of Berat possesses considerable number of monuments and diverse values in terms of genres, which constitute a testimony of cultural, historical and artistic heritage, of life and work, neatly crafted from generation to generation.
In the Republic of Kosovo, the students visited the Albanian League of Prizren, which embodies a unique cultural – historical value for Albanians of all regions, with various exhibits that show the history of the development of political events during the period 1878 – 1881.