Macedonia's educational system in the eyes of its young people is clearly negative. Other data also supports this thesis. Studying Abroad, Desired Destinations and the"Brain­Drain" Phenomenon In agreement with all other aspects of young people's perceptions presented so far, there are also preferences with regard to studying abroad and what the desired destinations for such studies would be. More precisely, only 17.4% of the respondents would choose to study within the country, which strongly indicates the young people in the Republic of Macedonia consider a foreign education to be superior. The level of consensus with regard to the preference for a foreign education does vary according to the amount of foreign education desired, so that 45.6% of the respondents would prefer a complete education abroad, while 31.2% desire only part of their education to be found abroad. In any case, it is evident that 76.8% of the young people in the Republic of Macedonia consider the possibility of getting a partial or complete education abroad as a desirable alternative to a domestic education. That educated people emigrate from the Republic of Macedonia, a propensity which is suggested by the YAS research, is in fact a reality is supported by the analyses of a great many experts dealing with this issue. Thus, in the Southeast European Politics magazine, an interesting analysis by the young scientist Vedran Horvat, M.A. appeared, which points out(according to research by the Skopje Institute of Economics) that"within the last decade 12,000 to 15,000 educated, highly trained young people left the country" 46 , and that even"85% of young Macedonians are planning or want to leave the country after the completion of their studies". 47 The motivation of this"brain-drain" process is not solely due to the weaknesses of the education system. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that the motives for educational migration are always completely of an educational nature. In this sense, the respondents in the YAS's research recognize the high emigration rate, but they do not see the motivation for it to be personal reasons only (which would also include seeking a better education), but the majority of them blame it on the undesirable economic situation in the country(83.5% declared that the reasons for migration are of an economic nature). This leads to questions as to the motivations of those who claim to emigrate from Macedonia for educational purposes. That aside, the desire to seek a better education abroad should in no way be ignored. In addition, the survey also reveals the preferences of the Republic of Macedonia's young citizens as to their preferred destinations for(additional) education. The European Union countries are the most popular destinations, with a little more than half of the respondents choosing them (52%). The United States of America also appears as an extremely popular destination, with 30.1% of the respondents choosing it. The Balkan countries are far less popular as desired destinations for beginning or continuing the educational process, with only 8.5% of the responses. Reform of the Educational System, Preferred System of Education, Private and State Universities The seriousness of the situation in the country's educational sector is also indicated by the widespread perception among young people of the need for education reforms. With regard to this issue, which in a way sums up all previously-discussed attitudes, there is a clear and precisely defined opinion among the youth which favours thorough reforms in the educational system. Thus, the majority of young citizens in Macedonia(46.9%) are in favour of fundamental reforms in education, while 42.8% consider that the country's system of education should undergo some degree of reforms. Bearing in mind that only 4.8% of the youth feel that the educational system does not need any reform, the message from the youth to the responsible factors in charge of education should be clear enough, even though young people's responses are not altogether negative when asked about the general quality of the educational system. As for the direction that these serious reforms should take, the desired system of education is of key importance to the youth. Therefore, in light of the current liberalization of the educational market, it seems that Macedonia's young people display an inclination from the state-sponsored model. Many of the respondents(31.8%) have opted for private education as a preferred model, compared to 27.3% who still consider that the state system is the better solution. The compromise solution of a mixed state/private system received support from 26.7%, which was a majority of the respondents that support a mixed system. An additional dilemma among the youth arises when considering which type of university offers a better quality of education. Considering the increase of private institutions in the realm of higher education, a polarization of preferences with regard to the model of these institutions is evident. As such, 25.3% of the respondents consider that private universities offer a better quality of education, as opposed to 18% who consider the state universities to be a better option. These results are likely related to personal financial capabilities, and may be due to the greater cost of attending a private institution. Of interest is the fact that 26.1% of the respondents believe that private universities only offer easy access to diplomas, and the prevalence of this belief likely affects overall perceptions of the quality of a private higher education. Although this is a significant percentage of respondents, if a general conclusion should be drawn from the findings, it is that the private universities are becoming more attractive in the minds of the young people(as opposed to the state universities), but also that a great deal of scepticism remains towards the quality of the services they offer. _____________________________________________________________ 46 Horvat, Vedran.“Brain Drain – Threat to Successful Transition in South East Europe”. Southeast European Politics. Vol. V. No.1. June 2004. faqe 84 47 Ibid Friedrich Ebert Stiftung 37