Wednesday, 16 December 2020
VIDEO-ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT XHAFERI ON THE OCCASION OF MARKING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST ACADEMIC CLASS OF THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY IN SKOPJE
Dear President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Pendarovski,
Dear Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Zaev,
Dear president of MASA, Prof. Dr. Ljupco Kocarev,
Dear Rector of the UKIM, Prof. Dr. Nikola Jankulovski,
Dear Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Prof. Dr. Ratko Duev,
Dear full and associate professors,
Dear student, future academic citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me, today, through this address video address, on my behalf and on behalf of the MPs of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, to congratulate you on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, which in the distant 1920, with a royal decree, began its teaching – scientific activity and thus deserved the piety – the oldest higher education institution in the country. Today, besides this fact, there is another indisputable fact, that is that the Faculty of Philosophy, since then onwards, only grew and developed, upgraded and expanded, to become today a modern, multidisciplinary faculty consisting of 12 institutes of humanities and social sciences. And most importantly, the Faculty of Philosophy, at no point did it deviate from its core, the etymology of the word philosophy – namely – love of wisdom or the study of knowledge, thinking about thinking and no matter how abstract it may seem to someone and how posing questions that are unclear and unanswered, yet your existence and survival is a proof that philosophy deals in a clear and precise way with the real worlds, with its complex social and material nature and the place of the human being in it. In order to understand the world in its complexity and multidimensionality, it is necessary to conduct studies in various areas and this is exactly what your faculty offers. It is also commendable your scientific – research activity through the existing centers and the publication of scientific journals of international character, and of course the fruitful international cooperation with worldwide universities. It is just a reaffirmation that at no point did you stop, and that you are side by side with your equivalents around the world. Although, I know it is not easy to be achieved, especially considering the lack of financial independence, lack of personnel autonomy, it greatly affects the achievement of the set goals and ultimately, the desired goals. Of course, I am aware of how small is the percentage that is allocated from the state budget for the development of science and scientific thought, which on the other hand, causes dissatisfaction and demotivation in our scientific staff and consequently in our students and future academic citizens. It causes a brain drain, a small number of published scientific papers and due to the correspondingly small number of realized researches that would not have been even this much without the support of the faculty or the initiative of the professors themselves.
However, we are all aware that as a state we are going through a really difficult, decisive phases of surviving and taking a firm position on the world map. The achievement of a strategic goal is certainly a great and important thing, but it is not finished yet. Ahead of us is a new challenge, a new temptation that we will need to overcome and manage masterfully and patiently. It requires a state strategy, intellectual power, all the capacity of your faculty and all universities in the country, and the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the potential of the entire political spectrum in the Republic of North Macedonia. It requires a unison acting and walking of this joint path of ours.
Respectable,
Also, what is constant during the entire existence of the Faculty of Philosophy, and that is of essential significance for the democratic growth and development of a society is that you never closed the doors and provided enough space and time to express the crucial thought, when we think or feel that our rights, freedoms, liabilities are not in accordance with the internationally recognized declarations and ratified in our country as well, with our Constitution or laws of the Republic of North Macedonia. And of course, where if not at the Faculty of Philosophy? Who if not the bearers and scholar of the academic and scientific thought, namely the professors and students? And I really must congratulate you on the fact that your faculty is constantly moving upwards, quickly adjusts to the new times along with the challenges it brings and here I refer to the situation with the COVID 19 pandemics and the imposed necessary health protocols due to which we are forced to change our established habits and the way of life, work, socializing and functioning, although, of course, we are not alone in that, it is already a globally imposed and accepted situation. From what I can see, you have opened a big door to digitalization, the webpage contains enormous databases of world literature that is available also for the academic staff, and for the students who are eager for science, new researches and achievements that will make us competitive and equal with the world-renowned faculties. Because, as the great Socrates also said, I quote:
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance”, end of the quote, and I believe that you will continue to be the leaders of new, modern understandings and knowledge of life, of society, in order to contribute with them to the development and progress of our multiethnic society and country which is in many ways unique and different from others.
At the end, respected, allow me to wish you many more years of existence, development, building young, healthy generations with a built attitude towards themselves, the state and the society. Young generations that will be the engine of progress, development and prosperity of the Republic of North Macedonia, an equal and full member of NATO and the European Union.
Thank you for your attention!