Immediately after the Second World War, Macedonia had only 180 people with university degrees. Most of those who had attended school had completed only four grades of elementary education. Those who had completed secondary education were considered learned. There were only 22 elementary schools.
Today the situation has radically changed. Special attention is paid to education in all its aspects.
The educational system in the Republic of Macedonia is made of primary, secondary, high and higher education.
The primary eight-year education is conducted in 344 schools with 253,997 students.
Classes in Macedonian are conducted in 331 schools with 170,429 students, in Albanian in 128 schools with 76,644 students, in Turkish in 36 schools with 6,287 students, in Serbian in 12 schools with 637 students.
In the school year 1999/2000 the secondary education was conducted in 92 public high schools, 4 of which are for students with disabilities and in 3 private schools.
The secondary education in the Republic of Macedonia is conducted via curricula and programs for:
- classical high school education
- vocational education
- art high school education
- high school education for students with disabilities
The public vocational high school can be a three-year and four-year one, and a specialist education. Also, in high school education there is a two-year training.
In the public high schools in the school year 1999/2000 there were 91,083 students and 341 students in the schools for disabled students.
The classes in the high schools are conducted in:
- Macedonian in 92 schools with 76,132 students
- Albanian in 22 students with 14,353 students
- Turkish in 4 schools with 598 students
The high and higher education in the Republic of Macedonia is conducted at two universities - "St. Cyril and Methodius" University in Skopje and "St. Clement of Ohrid" in Bitola. The two universities cover 27 colleges, 1 interdisciplinary study and 2-two year colleges. Besides this, there is the Pedagogical Faculty for Training of Teachers in Macedonian and the languages of the ethnic minorities.
Almost half of the students who complete their secondary education enroll into one of the Macedonian universities. In the Fall of 1991 there were about 9,000 freshmen enrolled at Sts. Cyril and Methodius University and St. Clement of Ohrid University.
The classes are taught by 1,358 teachers and 1,269 cooperators.
From 1948 up to now, more than 110,000 students have gained qualifications from the faculties and colleges in Macedonia. Nearly 1,000 doctoral theses have been defended at the Sts. Cyril and Methodius University since 1957, and the number of master's degrees granted in the same period has been almost 2,000.
Some citizens of Macedonia have had the opportunity of studying or specializing abroad.
Out of the total number of students that amounts 34,850, 31,095 (89.2%) are Macedonian, 1,916 (5.6%) Albanians, 371 (1.1%) Turks, 329 (0.9%) Vlachs, 48 (0.1%) Romas, and 1,091 (3.1%) others.
The Article 48 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia regulates the education of ethnic minorities. "The representatives of the ethnic minorities have the right to education in their languages in the primary and secondary education in a way determined by law. In the schools where the education is in the language of the ethnic minority, the Macedonian language is also taught."
Teaching at all levels of education is constantly being developed and modernized. The advantages of audio-visual methods are increasingly used. Technical and technological innovations are becoming an inseparable part of instruction. The use of television sets, video recorders and computers in the educational process is no longer a rarity.
Education in Macedonia has undergone several reforms. Currently it is in the process of a radical reform which will unburden it of ideological connotations and will make it simpler and more compatible with education in Europe and the world. The first private schools are already functioning.
Education is free and its costs are covered by the state. The state also makes grants which subsidize the cost of meals and accommodation for both high-school and college students.
There is a well-developed system of education for adults where they may complete their education and acquire special qualifications. Various institutions also organize a large number of courses, ranging from information science and computer operation to the study of foreign languages. Special educational courses have also been organized in the fields of management and business.