Republic of Albania

Capital: Tirana
Area: 28,748 km²
Population: 2,800,138 (2011)
Official language: Albanian
 

Web tips:

Ministry of Finance and Economy
Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth
National Agency for Vocational Education and Training
National Agency for Quality Development

Tirana

In close cooperation with the Albanian Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, the National Agency for Vocational Education and Training and other Albanian educational institutions the Regional Office Tirana implements projects in the focus areas of vocational education and training, school quality development and competence-based teaching and learning.

Key Focuses:

• Vocational education and training in lower secondary and upper secondary schools (all 34 schools of vocational education in Albania and 10 vocational training centres, with a focus on tourism and IT education)
• School quality development and gender mainstreaming
• Competence-based teaching and learning

Examples:

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION LEAD PROJECT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF VIENNA: “AL-VET – Quality for All” – High quality and socially inclusive vocational education and training in Albania

Implemented by the OeAD

Background: In its national strategy for training and employment (2019-2022) Albania has set itself the goal of strengthening employment, especially for disadvantaged groups, by increasing the labour market relevance and quality of its vocational training. In Albania, too, educational disadvantage leads to fewer opportunities in the labour market. The economic growth sectors of tourism and hospitality and IT are of particular importance for strengthening employment in Albania.

Objective: By increasing the quality of and access to vocational training in the tourism and hospitality and IT sectors the project “AL-VET - Quality for ALL” contributes to increasing the employability of disadvantaged groups of people in Albania. A special focus is on access to vocational qualifications for girls and women. This is done in two ways:

• Increasing the quality of vocational training offers for tourism/hospitality and IT
• Increasing access to vocational training for disadvantaged groups, especially girls from rural areas, and strengthening girls' access to atypical training

Direct target groups: 16 – 21 schools of vocational education and training for tourism and hospitality and IT: teachers, headmasters and headmistresses, business liaison officers, quality development officers, gender officers; 4 boarding schools for pupils: boarding school management, educators, other staff. Approximately 60 companies in the tourism/hospitality and IT sectors: entrepreneurs, mentors

Indirect target group: Approximately 7,700 young people during the project period

Results

• Approximately 300 teachers have been trained in the organisation of practice- and skills-oriented practical lessons
• New job profiles relevant to the labour market, qualification descriptions and curricula for cooks and tourism/hospitality assistants and elective modules in “Technical English” for at least two years are available in a piloted form
• Approximately 25 teaching/learning materials are available online to all schools of vocational education and training
• Approximately 60 companies are trained in the organisation of high-quality internships
• A cooperation network of business liaison officers of at all schools of vocational education and training in Albania contributes to the continuous expansion of business contacts
• A training course for school quality coordinators is available in a piloted form
• The school QA coordinators and headmasters and headmistresses of all schools of vocational education and training in Albania have been trained in the exercise of their role and the implementation of effective school quality development
• The management and staff of four boarding schools have acquired the skills to implement an inclusive boarding school culture and the corresponding quality development measures
• 3 administrative authorities have introduced quality assurance mechanisms at 4 boarding schools as examples of good practice
• 4 boarding schools and pilot schools have been equipped with appropriate infrastructure
• Tools for effective career guidance and career counselling and skills enabling their application in vocational education and training have been developed

 

AL-Tour: Increasing the quality, employment market relevance and social inclusion for training in the tourism, hotel and restaurant industries in Albania

The tourism sector has tremendous potential when it comes to increasing employment and economic growth in Albania and thus contributing to the reduction of unemployment. A prerequisite for this is to raise the level of quality in tourism training, enhance its relevance for the labour market and improve access to training offerings in this sector. The aim of AL-Tour is to improve the labour market relevance, quality and social inclusion of vocational training offers for the tourism and hospitality sector.

AL-Tour will be implemented in close cooperation with the relevant government authorities, primarily the Albanian Ministry of Finance and Economy, the National Agency for Vocational Education, Training and Qualification, the national employment service, two municipalities and representatives from the tourism industry, social partners and companies.

The immediate beneficiaries of the project include ten tourism schools, two boarding schools, two adult education centres and the National Agency for Vocational Education, Training and Qualification. During the project period AL-Tour will reach some 150 school administrators, vocational school teachers, trainers, internship coordinators and boarding school staff as well as 2,500 students, 50 trainees and some 50 companies. Upon conclusion of the project those who are seeking training in this sector along with all companies in this sector who are looking for well-trained staff will benefit from the project.

The expected results include:

• Development and introduction of gender-sensitive professional standards for at least five occupations in this sector
• Development and introduction of gender-sensitive qualification descriptions corresponding to the Albanian National Qualifications Framework and curricula
• Establishment of two model schools in the tourism, hotel and restaurant sector
• Two boarding schools serve as “Training Hotels Light”
• Development of competence for the sustainable introduction of the new curriculum and for the implementation of gender-sensitive instruction at all tourism schools
• Development and introduction of quality criteria and guidelines for company internships and an increase in access to internships for disadvantaged pupils
• Establishment and training of internship coordinators at all tourism schools
• Increase in access for disadvantaged pupils, especially girls from disadvantaged families, through the development of an inclusive culture in schools and training hotels and through outreach activities

The project is financed by the Austrian Develpment Cooperation and the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF).

 

Regional Project School Meets Business (SmB)
Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia

Promoting the quality and labour market relevance of vocational education and training by increasing cooperation between vocational education and training and the business sector, especially in the area of "work-based learning", is considered a reform priority in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. For this reason Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia have chosen the "promotion of learning at the workplace in all its forms" as a priority when it comes to implementing the "Riga resolutions".

This is where the regional project "School Meets Business" comes in. The aim is to strengthen the competence of schools of vocational education and training in three partner countries for professional cooperation with the business sector, especially in the organisation of different formats of in-company learning. The focus is on introducing business liaison officers at schools as competent interfaces between schools and businesses. The project is implemented in close cooperation with the ministries responsible for vocational education and training, vocational training agencies, schools of vocational education and training and companies.

Expected results are:

• The task profile for business liaison officers at schools of vocational education and training has been developed at national level with the support of regional exchange and introduced into the education system.
• A detailed study per country on the different formats of "work-based learning" that are used is available.
• 4 multipliers per country and up to 40 business liaison officers per country (up to 120 persons in total) have been trained and apply their knowledge in their daily work
• Quality criteria for the cooperation between schools and businesses are applied and have been integrated into the school quality assurance system.

The following target groups are reached by means of approximately 70 events in the three countries:

Direct target groups: 12 multipliers from the three countries, 120 business liaison officers of schools of vocational education and training in the three countries
Indirect target groups: approx. 40,000 pupils at 120 vocational schools in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia, 120 headmasters and headmistresses, the teaching staff of the schools and cooperation partners in companies

In Albania the project will train business liaison officers at all 34 schools of vocational education and training (probably 40 persons).

 

Creation of a gender-sensitive school culture as part of school quality development
Girls are underrepresented in vocational education and training in Albania (less than 20%). Increasing access for girls and women to vocational qualifications and thus to the labour market is therefore one of the priorities of the Albanian strategy for employment and training.

Based on the results of the project "Promoting girls' access to technical occupations using the example of IT" the focus of this project is on integrating gender aspects into school quality development.

In Albania school self-evaluation (SA) has been implemented in vocational education and training since 2018/2019 as a first step towards the introduction of a QA system.A school quality framework and corresponding self-evaluation instruments have been developed for this purpose.

Within the framework of the project Creation of a gender-sensitive school culture as part of school quality development gender indicators have been integrated into the school self-evaluation instruments in close cooperation with the National Agency for Vocational Education and Qualifications and gender representatives of Albanian schools of vocational education and training. School teams (gender and self-evaluation officers, headmasters and headmistresses) are trained in the use of the results of school self-evaluation for school quality development and thus the creation of a gender-sensitive school culture.

Expected results are:

• Headmasters and headmistresses and coordinators in charge of this project of all 34 schools of vocational education and training in Albania will be able to use the results for continuous school quality improvement (school development plans).
• Guidelines for school self-evaluation in vocational education and training will contain relevant gender indicators and criteria and will be taken into account for quality development at all schools of vocational education and training (in the school development plans).
• 34 quality development officers at all 34 schools of vocational education and training in Albania will be qualified to successfully consider gender aspects as part of school self-evaluation and to use the evaluation results in school quality development (school development plans).
• Access and equal opportunities of girls in Albanian vocational education and training and in the labour market will be improved by the integration of gender aspects into school quality development.

The following target groups will be reached by means of approximately 15 events:
Direct target groups: Headmasters and headmistresses of all 34 schools of vocational education and training in Albania, coordinators for self-evaluation and quality development of all 34 schools of vocational education and training in Albania, representatives of the Agency for Vocational Training and Qualifications of Albania
Indirect target groups: Teachers and pupils of all 34 schools of vocational education and training in Albania, commercial enterprises that have school partnerships

 

IT School Hermann Gmeiner in Tirana (2014 – 2019)
The need for well-trained professionals in the IT sector has risen continuously in Albania in recent years. With its high-quality international standards and focus on network and media technology in its information and technology programme the Austrian school in Shkodra makes an important contribution in this area. For this reason the Albanian Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research have agreed to put this expertise and experience to use in a joint project to establish a vocational school in Tirana, modelled on the Austrian higher technical institute (HTL) in Shkodra (Österreichische Schule “Peter Mahringer”).

The project aims to make a further contribution to high-quality, practice-oriented education in the IT sector in Albania by supporting the development of the vocational "Hermann Gmeiner School" for information technology and communication in Tirana as a supplement to the educational offering of the Austrian school in Shkodra.

This was achieved through the introduction of an innovative, competence-based curriculum modelled on the Austrian HTL as well as ongoing professional and pedagogical training and support from Austrian experts for the teachers and the administration. A peer-learning programme with the Peter Mahringer HTL also provided teachers from both schools with the opportunity to exchange ideas both professionally and methodologically and didactically. In line with the curriculum and in cooperation with local experts specific teaching and learning materials have been developed that are specially tailored to the focus of the Hermann Gmeiner School.