2010/2011 school year started Wednesday for nearly 306 thousand students - 212.000 pupils in primary education and 94.000 high schoolers. Today is the first day at school for about 23.000 first-graders.

Since high school education is mandatory, those parents who will not enroll their children in high school will be fined with Euro 1,000.

Students from primary and high school education will be provided with free textbooks in 2010/2011 school year as well.

- The claim for complete collapse of the education system is nor correct, as there are no problems in terms of teaching staff, text books or computers before the start of the new school year, Minister of Education and Science Minister Nikola Todorov said Tuesday.

There is no country worldwide that has no problems in this sphere, Todorov said, pointing out that a total of Denar 1,5 billion has been invested in the educational infrastructure for the last four years.

Students from non-majority ethnic communities will start learning Macedonian language in fourth grade, instead in first grade as it was envisaged by a decision reached by the Education Minister, which has been abolished by the Constitutional Court.