Content has been published claiming that four million students were absent from schools in the Municipality of Pristina in one semester.
The contents with this claim were published on Monday (April 27) by the media "Koha.net”And“Clan of Kosovo".
What is the truth?
The figure of 4 million absences refers to students in schools throughout Kosovo, not schools in Pristina.
The medium “Koha.net” presented the claim through an article, while “Klan Kosova” through a story read in a news edition. After checking the contents, it was noticed that in the story of “Klan Kosova”, the claim presented in the title differs from the one read by the news moderator, because during the reading he emphasizes that it is about four million absences in schools in Kosovo.
While in the "Koha.net" article, this claim is the same in both the title and the content, with the exception of the case where the Director of Education in the capital, Samir Shahini, is quoted.
Because both of these contents have as their source the same statements by Director Shahini, hibrid.info, through a manual search in his account, found the post to which the media in question referred (see here).
Director Shahini's transcribed post:
"Today, since this morning, I have engaged the staff of the Directorate of Education to undertake a broad action in the primary and secondary schools of the Capital to identify student absences and the measures being taken by the schools.
The numbers we are seeing are worrying. Unexcused absences are not just lost hours of learning — they are a signal of deeper problems and a real risk to the development and future of our children.
When students are not in school, where are they? Are parents aware? Are schools responding in a timely and serious manner?
According to reports in country level, there are about 4 million absences in a semester, of which about 1 million are unreasonable. This cannot be treated as a statistic — it is an alarm that requires immediate response.
The solution is not one-sided. Parents are key partners and without their involvement there can be no real change. In the coming days, we will intensify communication with them and take concrete steps so that such absences do not go unpunished.”
Based on this post, it is understood that Director Shahini, referring to media reports, spoke about the number of absences at the national level.
Hibrid.info found a video material broadcast in a news edition on Radio Television “Dukagjini”. The video with the caption “'Escape' from classes – Nearly 4 million absences in Kosovo schools, Minister Çeku has a solution" was published on the media outlet's Facebook page on Sunday (April 26) (see here).
The report does not disclose where the data was obtained, but it is clear that it refers to data for schools throughout Kosovo, in the first semester of the 2025-26 school year.
The same story was also found and published as an article (see here). So, this indicates that the initial reports on the number of absences referred to data at the national level, and not at the municipal level.
Analyze:
Some reports claimed that in schools in the Municipality of Pristina there are around 4 million student absences within a semester.
In fact, this figure refers to shortages across Kosovo, not just Pristina.
Therefore, based on the working methodology, hibrid.info evaluates this claim as "Error".
Reasoning:
The "Error" rating is given to informational content in which, during the compilation or publication process, errors occur by publishing incorrect information (especially when dealing with information in figures) or by broadcasting poorly verified news, without the clear intention of misinforming the public.