Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Higher Education in Albania

This post will dive into the fun-filled world of applying to attend a higher educational institution in Albania. It’s perfectly fine if you skip reading this entry because it’s complicated and probably not that interesting.

After Albanian high school students complete their senior year (due to restructuring, that could be either at the conclusion of their fourth or fifth year of high school), students are required to take their final exams. These exams, called matura in Albanian, when combined with a whole other set of numbers create an overall number for each student in the country, which is then used to determine their university placements.

Students are required to take tests in math, Albanian literature and two additional subjects of their choice. Starting in 2012, English will be mandatory as a final exam and it will be a disaster. This means that students currently in 10th grade have just two years to get their English to an acceptable level – and if they haven’t learned it yet in years of schooling, they probably won’t learn much more. The rules the ministry has created incredible short deadlines. It will be interesting to see what happens to the students and the grades, given that a large percentage will fail. Already plagued by rampant cheating, having a 60%+ failure rate will be a nightmare (I’d estimate at least that many will fail). We’ll see what happens in two years in terms of English.

The next number is the coefficient, which varies from school to school depending on the structure and material. For example, a foreign language school would have a smaller coefficient for math and Albanian language because it is not a main subject. However, the English and Italian coefficients would be larger because they are studied more intently. In a regular high school, a coefficient for any student taking an English exam is “1.6.” A foreign language school would get a different, higher number. This disparity in coefficients makes it very difficult for foreign language school students to break into the prestigious math and science programs. Also figuring into this is that the coefficient is weighted based on whether you take science or social science, those two being the two tracks in which you’re placed in high school depending upon your grades leading up to 9th grade.

Is it complicated enough yet? It gets better!

The combined the matura results and coefficients are combined with GPAs to form the final number that students get. After these numbers are compiled, a list of specific programs within universities is published in the newspapers. This list tells students the minimum number they must have in order to apply for a position in the program. The exams are in the middle of June and the results come back by the middle of July. Students then have a week or so to submit their desired universities and programs. They won’t find out where they’ve been placed until September and the university year begins in October.

To find out their placements, students have to either look through an anonymous 700-page PDF document (names are replaced with pin codes) on the MASH website or check out a newspaper where their names and placements are printed for all to see. And you thought you were nervous to open an envelope from your university.

There are a lot of problems with the system. It frequently ends up that students study not what they want but what was available. Until you have your best students doing and studying exactly what you want, there are always going to be economic problems. People who like and are interested in what they are study will be better students and more than likely, better leaders in the future as development continues in all sectors. Not surprisingly, teaching programs require one of the lowest coefficients. This is cause for concern when considering the future of education.

And of course, I can’t mention education without mentioning corruption. The cheating on state tests it not a surprise. Often, proctors can’t or won’t create an appropriate test-taking environment. And although cheating is associated with poor students, skilled students are just as guilty when it comes to perpetuating the system. I’ve heard more than one student say, “It’s just easier to let them copy. If they copy, they keep quiet and allow me to focus.” Another gifted student couldn’t see anything wrong with helping his friends out. The system of bribes runs deep between teachers, parents and students. Children of privilege are more likely to have better scores. Certainly you could be both smart and rich. But more than likely, your teachers have been bribed to give you good grades. Corrupt teachers continue the system because they assume that they will be paid. So do students and parents.

So who controls this? Well, there are school inspectors in theory. On a regional level, they show up unannounced and go through lesson books and plans; grade books; the school, etc. MASH has since changed the method of inspection and inspectors will now do their job by going from department to department instead of just general inspections. One long-term volunteer told me that there was only one inspection in 3 years at the 3 schools they worked at. That’s the level of oversight and responsibility when it comes to the quality of education.

Until Albanian society values teachers and quality education, the outcome will continue to remain bleak. Development as a country and as a society takes time, money and ideas. Teachers, as in most countries, are vastly underappreciated. Teaching is still done by rote learning with new methods slow to catch on. Universities are crammed full of students who aren’t all studying what they want. The Ministry continues spasmodically changing rules and guidelines. What Albania needs is a focused, consistent and long-term plan to create schools and pupils that are ready for the future.

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