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Gerion Treska
‘’Deafness’’ from local elections
June presented a difficult choice for the Ministry of Education and Sports. Between supporting the election campaign at the national level especially in Tirana and the tension brought by the state matura, MES tried to do its job in both directions.
There were several cases when Minister Nikolla supported the SP candidate, often bringing to the focus results to impress the electorate in function of the candidate.
According to national media the Minister continued her tradition of using power, directly and indirectly, by making available not only human resources but also infrastructure for left wing candidates during the election campaign. The use of power in these campaigns is not something to be shocked from as it has turned into a tradition that surprises no one, since it is a well-known and used technique from previous governments regardless of the wings. The only difference is who uses more and who uses less.
At the end of the day it has no impact to judge the minister today; it is more about reflecting upon how the simple people understand and experiences the interconnection between interests and the government.
The noise and burst of the campaign silenced voices from outraged students regarding the law on higher education. It seems that there were no chances for the message to go through and something to actually move, even a declaration pushed by the responsibility to respond to concerns raised by this part of society.
On the other hand Minister Nikolla feels certain in her undertaken steps in the framework of the new law on higher education, by promoting the latter with its utmost positive aspects, especially related to scientific research, by considering the position of MES as a facilitator that opens gates for cooperation between Albanian and European universities as well as financing of scientific research through EU funds. However, many Albanian universities have started their collaboration with the EU to create successful cases even by notifying MES.
In conclusion, we can say that whatever we do, there is no escape from tradition. Political parties will always use their power, they will listen and answer when it is in their interest and they will play the role of an intermediary even when the game has already started.
Ideas fair – another one
With the initiative of several actors such as UNICEF, Save the Children, World Vision and donors Alpha Bank and Marin Barleti University, an ideas’ fair took place in the premises of the National Museum at the beginning of June, with the participation of more than 45 schools coming from 13 regional education directories in the country. In the framework of the School as a Community Center, representatives presented their project ideas for the development of the school. The evaluation criteria of these projects were active participation of children and young people, engagement of the community, negotiation through projects, implementation of the project and comprehensive promotion.
Also, representatives from the business community were invited in the fair with the aim to familiarize themselves with project ideas coming from students and cooperation in implementing these ideas, as a further necessity to improve schools in the country. In the framework of fairs organized in Albania, this event is of course an innovation. But what it represents more is the establishment of concrete steps of the idea of the School as a Community Center. Often it happens that even fairs in our country are used for political goals and this can be a similar case, however the presence of private supporters and foreign organizations covers in a way this aim. Although there were some winning ideas at the end of the fair, that were selected by a jury with representatives from MES and other partners, the role of business representatives was not clear.
Maybe more than getting to know the project ideas and the assistance in implementing these ideas what MES and other actors can do is clarify the irreplaceable role of the school in society and its role in forming or deforming the job market. Therefore, businesses should be primarily interested in the school not only from the infrastructure point of view but also from the content of programs, texts and development of human resources, all of which are elements that will ‘’produce’’ a work force and qualified entrepreneurs according to the requests of the domestic and international market, in order for businesses to perform better but also for businesses to have less costs for the qualification of their employees.
References:
1- Webi zyrtar i Ministrisë së Arsimit dhe Sportit: Lajme
http://www.arsimi.gov.al/al/newsroom/lajme/panairi-i-ideve&page=1
2- Webi zyrtar i Ministrise se Arsimit dhe Sportit: Lajme
3- Webi zyrtar i Ministrise se Arsimit: Lajme
http://www.arsimi.gov.al/al/newsroom/lajme/panairi-i-ideve-ceremonia-e-cmimeve&page=1