ACE demands to the Albanian Parliament, the provision with food and free texts for every child attending the pre-university education

Tirana, 19 November 2018 - The Albanian Coalition for Education (ACE) participated in the hearing session of organised from the parliamentary committee Education and Means of Public Information on the Draft Law "On 2019 Education Budget".

The Albanian Coalition for Education, brought to the attention of the deputies present in the Commission that the low level of the budget allocated to the pre-university education, continues to rank Albania as one of the last countries of the region compared with OECD countries. Although budget expenditures have risen from year to year, which is an indicator of the economic growth of the country, the expenditures for the pre-university education has not benefited from the country’s sustainable growth.

For this year, the state budget for education managed to provide with free school textbooks only for children of the grades 1-4 in the public education system, but over 300,000 children were obliged to pay for the textbooks.

According to the World Bank, almost 14 percent of the population in the country continues to live in absolute poverty, almost 47 percent of the population lives in relative poverty, compared to 22 percent in the countries of the region.

In Albania, 20.14% of school age children live in poverty and face difficulties in providing basic living needs, while only 44% of pre-university education children manage to consume their morning meals in five days of the week.

During this hearing session, the representatives of the Albanian Coalition for Education brought to the attention of the participants the lack of budget for financing the "School as Community Centre" initiative as well as the insufficiency of financing the training of teachers and psychosocial workers.

ACE asked to the members of the Education Commission and Means of Public Information:

The increase the education budget in order to ensure:

• The provision with free textbooks for every child. Children must not pay for their education.
• Provide a free meal for children living in absolute poverty;
• Finance the initiative Schools as a Community Centre;
• Reorganize the entire system of protection of children from violence in the education system.
• Financing the training of teachers on key issues related to human rights legislation, in particular children’s rights; protection from discrimination and legislation for children in Albania.

For more information contact: Linda Pino, National Coordinator, e-mail linda.pino@crca.al