Dukagjin Pupovci, a former Kosovo deputy minister of education and currently director of the NGO Kosovo Education Centre, said the success of integration depends on the willingness of Kosovo Serbs to cooperate.
“Kosovo’s legislation provides enough space for integration while preserving school identity,” he said.
By law, Serb-majority municipalities such as North Mitrovica, Gracanica, and Shterpce/Strpce have expanded powers in secondary healthcare and higher education, including the registration and licencing of health institutions, employment, salaries, and training of staff.
In higher education, the municipality of North Mitrovica is authorised to offer university-level programmes including the registration and licencing of educational institutions, hiring teaching staff, paying salaries, and training academic and administrative personnel.
The university in North Mitrovica is the only one in Kosovo not managed at the central level.
If it is integrated into the Kosovo system, Pupovci said, “it must obtain accreditation from the Kosovo Accreditation Agency rather than from Serbia”. It would also have to change its name to ‘University of North Mitrovica’ and drop the reference to Pristina.
“Their documents must also recognise the Republic of Kosovo,” Pupovci told BIRN.
Textbooks are an issue at school level. While schools in Serb areas have the right to use the Serbian curriculum and textbooks, he said, they must also seek approval from Kosovo’s education ministry.
“The problem is that they neither wish to recognise the ministry’s authority nor submit a formal request.”
Jevtic, the law student, complained that Serbs have been left in the dark.
“There is very little transparent communication,” she said. “Information often circulates through unofficial channels, leading to confusion and insecurity among members of the public.”
The Serb-run University of Pristina located in North Mitrovica “does not recognise Kosovo as a state, while Kosovo does not recognise the university as part of its system”, Jevtic said.
In his September 2025 video message, Kurti cited Kosovo’s verification of 425 diplomas issued by the university in North Mitrovica, providing their holders with access to Kosovo’s labour market. But Jevtic said there was still great uncertainty.
“Uncertainty regarding diploma recognition, quality of education, and future professional prospects leads many young people to see their future outside Kosovo,” she told BIRN.