In response to last week’s piece we thought that perhaps another frame of reference might be appropriate. Our new interviewee will be playing the role of the devil’s advocate; he has also been living in Albania for a number of years, working primarily in the education system. From rural high schools, vocational schools, and even universities he has a unique foreign perspective with years of teaching in Albania.
Despite his good intentions he has at times gotten himself into a few sticky situations. At one point he was made to leave his posting in a rural Albanian town because he was accused of being a communist supporter and his project was shut down from the local government.
Was our friend politically involved? Let us just say that a well intentioned art project got out of hand and some not so well behaved children plastered red handprints and slogans all over and inside an elementary school, the situation escalated and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time with most definitely the wrong acquaintances.
This however, is not the subject at hand. Last week we heard from a rather unsatisfied observer of the Albanian public university system, why don’t we ask our devil’s advocate about what he thinks of the situation?
Location: Fast-food restaurant Kolonat, at Nene Theresa Square, seated facing the children’s play area, 7-4-2009
Q: How and when did you end up in Albania?
A: I came with a humanitarian aid organization that places workers in small communities in order to develop specific areas of need. I’ve been here so long it feels like I was born here. Well really just in March 2004.
Q: What is your general impression?
A: Well the true but very clich顡nswer is that the scenery here is fantastic and the people are warm, friendly, and fantastic. I also see a population that is struggling with its own identity; they cling to traditions and specific values but still scramble over themselves to be more western. The only problem is that instead of taking small steps at a time they have rushed into it, they’ve taken on more than they can handle.
Take for example the counter over there (he points to a cash register a few meters away). This whole establishment resembles a McDonalds, from the food on the menu to the lettering on the sign outside to even the way that the food is prepared. It is almost an exact copy of a western fast-food chain. I used to joke with friends that the only reason this place is shaped like a tent is because if McDonalds ever did show up in Albania these guys could pack up before a lawsuit began.
Now look at how people are ordering their food. There are no lines! People are fighting each other to order. It isn’t working, you can create a place like Kolonat but the people do not know how to handle it, they have never learned to wait in line. Meet an Albanian on the street and he would give you his kidneys to help you, however, I wouldn’t take my chances waiting in line at the post office.
Q: Hmmm, an interesting point. You seem to think like my interviewee from last week, unfortunately you won’t be able to coin his slogan of “the Beauty and the Beast.” What did you think of his opinion?
A: Well in general I would agree. The public school system needs improvement in a lot of areas and the students are apathetic and lazy. However, I don’t really think you can blame the system or the students.
Q: You can’t blame the system or the students?
A: No. I don’t really believe you can point the finger at any specific group. I believe it’s a combination of factors. To start the structure is constantly redefining itself, the generations of isolation and communism, and the simple fact that the Albanians are scared.
My girlfriend is a student here and just from her stories alone sometimes I feel like marching down to her school and taking matters into my own hands.
Last semester she was to take six exams over a period of a month and a half. One was rescheduled three times and when she was finally able to sit for it the professor told them they had five minutes to answer one question, the whole group failed and were told to try again next time. Another professor moved abroad and so a test was not given, it was rescheduled to an undefined date in possibly the near or distant future. The students do not have real text books; they have to rely on photo copies. It is so standard that if you want a book for a class you need only to go to a copy center and tell them what class you are in and they can produce all the books and lectures that you may need for the semester.
This past week, six weeks into the semester, her schedule was at last finalized. It had been changed three times. Three times in six weeks! Isn’t that something that you have done before the semester begins? If she has a complaint where does she take it, if the students hypothetically rise up and demand change who is there to listen to them? The teacher who goes abroad and leaves the students on their own half way through the term? Or the administration? They can’t even get their students books or create something simple like a schedule of classes?
Q: Wow, I can see you are quite upset by the situation. You said earlier that you couldn’t blame anyone but it seems that you are casting some guilt on the administration. Would you like to reconsider those words?
A: Not necessarily, I was merely, in a not so eloquent manner, addressing the fact that the students are existing in an undefined structure. We have to remember that democracy and freedom of speech are relatively new concepts to Albania and the concept will take time to sink in.
Before students were chosen to go to university based on the needs of the state, a quota was taken to fulfill what the government believed would be necessary in the future. Today, students are allowed to choose whatever program they want. The country is pushing for European integration and educational reform is being demanded from the government.
The current system was created under communism, a very rigid and unforgiving environment that does not do well with freedom of choice and these new reforms. What we are witnessing are growing pains.
You can’t expect the system to change over night. They do not have the experiences to draw on. They are trying to copy a western design with out being trained for it. You wouldn’t ask a plumber to do a doctor’s job or conversely a doctor to do a plumber’s job; they have different experiences and trainings that allow them to do what they do. Everything is happening so quickly that there are bound to be some problems along the way.
Q: Are you saying people are not qualified or trained here in Albania?
A: Definitely not, I’ve me some incredibly bright and talented people, some educated here and others abroad. However, that doesn’t mean that they have the answer to successfully bringing a formerly communist state to a liberalized capitalist democracy with out any wrinkles. The person who could would have a collection of Nobel Prizes.
Fifty years of communism and twenty years of virtual isolation will have some effects on the population. They are used to being told what to do, having someone think for them, and accepting the situation for what it is.
When I ask students and friends about the injustices that they face at school I usually receive one of two answers; one of acceptance of the unacceptable, “its Albania, that’s just the way its done here,” or the second answer inspired by fear, “I can’t do anything, the teacher will fail me, no one would support me.”
Q: Well do you think that the students should do something?
A: Of course, I loathe the fact that they are so accepting, so apathetic, but I also can’t expect them to have the same mentality as me. I come from a democratic society that believes in standing up for one’s rights, we are taught to complain, make constructive criticisms, and we are almost expected to rebel as youths.
Here if you spoke up you were put into prison or worse, executed. The only modern experience that the youth can draw on is the 97 fiasco where anarchy broke out and common citizens were armed with automatic weapons and grenades. People do not want to rock the boat; they are scared of what could happen.
Q: You paint a pretty dismal picture of the situation, are things really that bad?
A: On the contrary, I’ve seen a lot of positive changes. Major political parties have been demonstrating, I don’t know how effectively, but at least it is a start. Educated Albanians are returning from abroad and sharing experiences, some of them making attempts at change and creating activist groups. Students in schools are starting clubs and interest groups, engaging in debates, participating in model UN programs, and even forming student unions.
The youth of Albania are not quite there yet but I definitely think they are starting to wake up. They just need some time.
For comments or questions feel free to address the author at albanianobservations@gmail.com
