TIRANA, May 1 – Albania’s Centre for Children’s Education published an analytical research paper on Friday which points to considerable gaps in budgeting education and big differences between the promised budget and the actual budget.
The research compared the government’s dedicated budget on pre-university education within a ten-year period and noticed a sharp decline in the money that goes to educate the youth.
According to the research, the government’s budget for education is 2,9% – that is less than the average budget of European Union member states, which exceeds 5%.
The study’s author Altin Hazizaj, also head of the ACCE, said that education has not benefited anything from the country’s economic growth; instead, it has only seen its funds decrease.
Researchers also noted that cuts in pre-university funds cannot be justified with the declining number of registered students either, as only â…” of students belonging to the Roma community don’t make it to ninth grade, a majority of which being girls.
Data in the research indicated that teachers, psychologists and other staff members’ wages take up the biggest part of budget spendings, while actual investments to improve the educational system remain minimal. These investments include new school facilities and friendlier environments for both teachers and students.
In this context, the ACCE in collaboration with the Coalition for Education have launched a campaign calling for an increase of pre-university budget funds at 6%.
The lack of education funds is obvious in many areas; according to the research, 65% of children with disabilities remain unintegrated in the country’s mandatory nine-grade elementary system.
In kindergarten, registration of kids that come from upper-class families exceeds those coming from middle and lower-class families by two times.
Similarly, children belonging to ethnic minorities, those who are homeless, physically and mentally disabled children and children who are girls have their right to education more frequently violated.
This violation of children’s right to education comes from a number of sources according to the research, the most noteworthy being poverty, inequality, social discrimination, violence and bullying.
Meanwhile, experts point to the uneven levels of education and lack of funds towards its development as one of the main links to the country’s high unemployment levels and the fact Albania remains one of the poorest countries in Europe.
Other international organizations, like Humanium, have reached the same conclusions in their research concerning children’s life, saying that around 12% of the country’s children are forced to work to help their families.
After the 2008 economic crisis that hit the EU, poverty in Albania affected children, the youth and pensioners in particular.
