Transforming Education : The Albanian Experience

Education in Albania faces multiple challenges. For long isolated from the west Soviet education practices served as a model for this particularly isolated socialist state. Current reforms are hampered by shortages of materials, textbooks, adequate specialists and well trained teachers. Working conditions in the schools are far from satisfactory and school drop-out rates are on the rise. This book aims to serve students, teachers, specialists in education and organisations that are involved in any kind of educational change to obtain an insight not only into the present situation, but also to enable them to envisage the path that Albanian education has gone through on the long and difficult road towards democracy. Readers will find basic information concerning the Albanian education system and data is provided on a range of matters such as the structure of education, management, financing, teaching methods and text books, teacher qualifications and the relations between schools and the community. The author concludes with a review of the long term strategy necessary for the development of the Albanian education at the beginning of the new millennium.