Slavo Macedonian Census Scheduled for October
Nine thousand Macedonians will commence training over the next fortnight in preparation for running the country’s first population census since 2002.
The census, which will take place from
October 1 until October 15, was originally scheduled for April but was
postponed due to parliamentary elections which were held in June.
After the elections, disagreements abounded over the exact ethnic composition of the teams that would go out and collect the census. However last week politicians reached an agreement deciding that teams would be formed of representatives from the two largest ethnic communities in each particular census region.
"The Commission went a step forward and decided to include in the census teams members of the smaller ethnic communities like Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians etc. They will take the positions of those candidates that did not fulfill the criteria for census-takers. This means a lot of combinations in the census teams," Vesna Janevska, head of the State Census Commission, SCC, said.
With the teams finalized, time is now the SCC’s biggest enemy. The Commission has to choose and train approximately 9,000 census-takers before October 1. Costs may also have been affected. The census was supposed to cost €14 million, but the six-month delay could have increased this amount.
The last census was held in Macedonia in 2002. The results of this census showed that 64.2 per cent of the two-million strong population were Macedonian and 25.3 per cent were ethnic Albanian. Roma, Turks, Serbs and other minorities made up the remainder of the population.
Macedonia is divided into 44 census regions and according to the SCC about 600,000 families are to be registered. According to census law the oldest member of a family is obliged to answer the census questionnaire, which includes details on their nationality, religion, education and wealth.
After the elections, disagreements abounded over the exact ethnic composition of the teams that would go out and collect the census. However last week politicians reached an agreement deciding that teams would be formed of representatives from the two largest ethnic communities in each particular census region.
"The Commission went a step forward and decided to include in the census teams members of the smaller ethnic communities like Montenegrins, Slovenians, Croatians etc. They will take the positions of those candidates that did not fulfill the criteria for census-takers. This means a lot of combinations in the census teams," Vesna Janevska, head of the State Census Commission, SCC, said.
With the teams finalized, time is now the SCC’s biggest enemy. The Commission has to choose and train approximately 9,000 census-takers before October 1. Costs may also have been affected. The census was supposed to cost €14 million, but the six-month delay could have increased this amount.
The last census was held in Macedonia in 2002. The results of this census showed that 64.2 per cent of the two-million strong population were Macedonian and 25.3 per cent were ethnic Albanian. Roma, Turks, Serbs and other minorities made up the remainder of the population.
Macedonia is divided into 44 census regions and according to the SCC about 600,000 families are to be registered. According to census law the oldest member of a family is obliged to answer the census questionnaire, which includes details on their nationality, religion, education and wealth.
