69% of children in Albania are victims of psychological and physical violence in educational institutions

Albanian schools do not offer any mechanisms for protecting children from violence

Tirana, 15th of October 2018 – On request of ACE, the Education and Means of Public Information parliamentary committee organised the hearing session focussing on the protection of children from violence and bullying in schools. Albanian Coalition for Education (ACE) presented to the members of the Commission its latest report regarding the assessment and model of psychosocial services in pre-university education system.  

According to BECAN¹, one of the main studies on child violence in Albania, 69% of the children admitted to have been subject to psychological violence, 59% declared to have suffered from physical violence and 11 % have been subject to sexual violence. On the other hand, according to the data of COMBI² 2016, 41 %  of the students (1 in 3 students) report having experienced psychological violence.

Referring to the study of the European Council³, 19.4 % of students have been bullied three or more times within a month. Approximately 73% of students affected by this phenomenon prefer to report their concerns. 86.6 % of teachers strongly believe that an anti-bullying policy in the schools is much needed. Based on findings of the report by ALO and ACE, the current scheme of psychosocial services provided in educational institutions have ambiguities about the means of reporting cases of violence, abuse, child exploitation; about managing feedback; and about professionally supervising and using the data to take decisions.

The National Coordinator of ACE, Mrs. Linda Pino, raised the issue of the lack of child protection policies against violence, which should be part of the National Pre-university Education Strategy 2014-2020. According to Mrs. Pino, the Law on Child Rights and Protection, particularly article 13/5 G, requires the Ministry of Education to establish effective mechanisms of prevention, reporting and case management within schools, and report to corresponding authorities.

Considering the issues raised and the findings of the report, ACE asked the Parliamentary Committee:

• To develop a “Zero violence “ nationwide action plan in schools;
• To promote the figure of psychologists as “ Children’s Ombudsman in the schools” ;
• To establish the National Psycho-social Service and Commissions for the prevention and reporting of violence and to control the implementation of the rules set in public pre-university schools;
• To increase the education budget.

For further information, contact linda.pino@crca.al

[1] . Case-Based Surveillance Study on Violence Against Children, CRCA, Albania, January 2013                                                        

2. COMBI “Komunikim për Ndryshimin e Sjelljes” është programi i Ministrisë së Arsimit dhe Sportit në partneritet me Ministrinë e Mirëqenies Sociale dhe Rinisë, Agjencinë Shetërore për Mbrojtjen e të Drejtave të Fëmijëve, UNICEF dhe Qendra “Fëmijët Sot”, për parandalimin e dhunës ndaj fëmijëve në vend.

3. Edmond Dragoti, Emanuela Ismaili, 2017, “Bullizmi dhe ekstremizmi i dhunshëm në sistemin arsimor shqiptar”, Këshilli i Evropës.