TIRANA, Sept. 14 – About half a million Albanian pupils, aged six to 18, started the new school year Monday, with about 30,000 entering the education system for the first time.
Albania’s lower education system is made up of a compulsory nine-year elementary schooling and an optional three-year high school.
Experts say the system has a lot of problems, starting with the lack of proper facilities. Many schools in Tirana have two shifts – with classes in the morning and in the afternoon due to the high number of students.
In many other areas students also lack any appropriate buildings and infrastructure. Inspectors shut down several schools around the country because they did not meet the basic safety and health standards for students to attend them. The students were shifted to other schools as a result. There have been improvement with time, but problems persist.
Authorities say they are also focusing on keeping vulnerable and street children in school. They often belong to poor families and the Roma community, and are often forced to beg instead of going to school.
This year, some members of this vulnerable community were accompanied by activists on the first day of school and were provided with free books and other items needed for schooling.
The government is working to digitize all school records by 2018, Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a speech at an elite public high school in Tirana. Currently only 120 schools keep their grade and activity records in a digital manner, the others simply use classic grade books.
In Albania’s capital, the start of the school year also means streets packed with cars and traffic troubles.
Police said they had taken measures to secure a normal school day and enforce traffic rules.
Police also stepped up security around elementary and high schools around the country.
