Organizational aspects

The Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-University Education develops trainers according to subject programs and specifications; trainers from the Regional Education Directorates and Offices, who are part of the curriculum development unit; approximately 900 teachers, leaders of professional networks, who according to fields train other teachers ; University educators involved in training programs; NPO experts who, in cooperation with MESY and EDI, train teachers according to their field of expertise. Trainings focus on Disability, Inclusion, and Prevention of deviant behaviours in the pre-university education system.

With regard to capacity building, two important legal acts are drafted: namely Guidance No.1, dated 20.01.2017 “For the functioning of the system of continuous vocational development of education personnel” and Order of Minister of Education and Sports No. 75, dated 16.02.2017 “For the establishment of the commission for accreditation of training programmes for education personnel in pre-university education”. In compliance with these two legal acts, MESY has announced the request on the need for trainings and qualifications of education personnel, furthermore the application portal for training and qualification programmes by interested operators is functional. The Ministry aims to organise the continuous professional development of teachers through accredited agencies giving priority to this regard primary to the Higher Education Institutions.

In-service teacher training is provided by public or private organisations, training agencies with accredited training programmes, selected in open competition, which have sufficient capacities to achieve the objectives and provide the content anticipated by the training programmes. The role of universities in in-service teacher training provision is limited in contrast to ITE, which is their dominant activity.

The Ministry of Education Sport and Youth and the Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-University Education  are responsible for overseeing Albania’s continuing professional development (CPD) system. IED conducts nation-wide questionnaires of teachers to determine their learning needs, and a Commission for the Accreditation of Training Programmes accredits CPD programmes for four-year terms to meet those needs. 739 training programmes were accredited for 2011-2013, and 40 private agencies applied for accreditation in response to the 2014-2016 list of needs.

At local/regional level, teacher training is organised with teacher professional networks and managed by the RED/EO, according to the annual plan of training and qualification activities. Training is also organised by schools in line with schools’ annual plan of activities in the domain of professional development according to subject departments.

As for the financing of in-service teacher training, it comes from the individual contribution of the educational employee, state budget, projects of local and foreign non-profit-organisations, foundations, institutions and other legal sources. The budget devoted to teacher training is considered insufficient to meet the needs in this area and teachers claim they have no financial resources to pay for their CPD.

The main areas of in-service teacher training carried out within the national state training system are: application of changes occurring in the curricula for different subjects, introduction of new subjects in school, improving the teaching process through effective methods and strategies, development of key competences knowledge, development of students’ critical thinking, human rights, democratic education, global and European civilisation, health care and environmental education etc.

Since 2014, NAQAPE has delivered and covered the cost of several trainings for ITE alongside the implementation of the new curriculum. In 2016 MESY and NAQAPE conducted an on-line assessment of 1,500 teachers and principals in Tirana as well as 17613 teachers and principals across the country to identify their professional learning needs. MESY has also proposed future improvements to the CPD system to address local needs (e.g. by providing more funding to REDs and schools to develop training), ensure providers are of high quality (e.g. by strengthening CPD-providing excellence centres at faculties of education and periodically certifying trainers).

In the Strategy for Pre-University Education Development 2014-2020, the Ministry has set out ambitious plans to improve its CPD system by aligning initial teacher education, internship and continuing professional development, and national, regional and local efforts, to ensure that teachers participate in CPD connected to the goals of the education reform.

Incentives, supporting measures and funding for Participation in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Activities

According to the Law on Pre-university Education (2012), it is now compulsory for every teacher to undertake 3 days of training per year (in training modules accredited by the Ministry of Education). The National Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-university Education, under the authority of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, designs questionnaires for teachers in order to recognise their needs in relation to their professional development. Every two years, IDE prepares priorities for teacher training for schools.

Continued professional development of teachers in Albania has been out-sourced to external service providers, marking a transition from a supply-based system to a demand-based system, which is expected to be more efficient. The external providers can be accredited public and private HEIs, private agencies, NGOs, or foundations. The accreditation is conducted by the Committee for Accreditation of Training Programmes, which accredits training courses or modules of training based on a credit system. Accordingly, accredited agencies prepare a list of training opportunities for further professional development of teachers. Themes and topics of training correspond to the Ministry’s priorities and previously identified teachers’ needs (by  NAQAPE) for each of the teachers.

Given that the outsourced training system has been adopted only recently, there is no fully- fledged assessment of its implementation.

Measure support

The main innovation expected in line with the above mentioned changes will be a new model of teacher education that resembles more advanced European models. It will be based on:

Introduction of the subject of ‘research’ from the first year of Bachelor studies and modules built on the concept of creating new knowledge, discussing different views, presenting arguments and evidence, to make the teaching more attractive;

Introduction of the subject of Information and Communication Technology to gain skills of communication, presentation techniques and the use of information technology;

Institutionalisation of the school’s professional practice to make it a key element in the new teacher education structure and bring closer the theory and the school reality;

• Requirement of a research thesis at the end of initial teacher education;
• Introduction of a ‘minor’ specialisation on the second level Master studies to increase competences of future teachers and better adapt to the needs of schools of different sizes;
• Establishing teaching and learning excellence centres to bring universities closer to the labour market by equipping students with teaching skills and innovation in education and ensuring continuous lifelong learning of teachers (e.g. preparation of teacher mentors, in-service training activities);
• Establishing partnerships between teacher education institutions, schools and teacher educational institutions;
• Introduction of professional competency-based learning and standards-based assessment.

In addition, the programmes are mainly oriented towards general methodology courses, whereas topics such as diversity, gender equality and inclusion or special needs education receive little attention in the initial preparation of teachers. The need for modules on social inclusion in teacher education curricula has been stressed as an urgent problem in the light of an increased rate of returnees (families with children) who, largely due to the economic crisis, arrive in Albania, mainly from Greece and Italy. Many children face serious issues with reintegration in Albania and schools are unprepared to address this issue.

Initial Teacher Education system is still primarily subject-based, with a structure that precludes teaching of specific skills and competences (e.g. in inclusion). Teachers, parents and community members echoed these concerns highlighting the rigidity of teacher- training faculties, which leaves no room for adjusting their teaching to student specific needs and results in inadequate teacher preparation for coping with diversity in classrooms.