Inclusive Education for children with disabilities in Albania

Friday 20 December 2013

Inclusive Education for children with disabilities in Albania conference was an opportunity for all stakeholders to discuss on the best practices identified and some of the challenges faced in the implementation of the inclusive education project. The conference, held on December 13, 2013, in Tirana, was attended by representatives of Ministry of Education and Sport, Regional Education Authorities, educational professionals, psychologists and other local actors working in the field of inclusive education. This two year project was funded by Regione Fruili Venezia Guilia and implemented by Save the Children in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sport. This project aimed to increase institutional capacities in Albania both at central and local level by developing strategies and policies to realise inclusive education for all children with disabilities in Albania. 

“We have worked with key staff in the Ministry of Education, teachers, and specialists from across the country as a key step to start a change in approach and ability which will ultimately bring real change for children with disability who currently face huge barriers to their inclusion in the education system” said Helen I’Anson, Country Director during her speech in the conference. 

“Ministry of Education is very pleased to collaborate closely with Save the Children throughout this project. We can loudly state that this project is a great success and produced high quality strategic documents which will feed to the new educational strategy, laws and practices and can serve to achieve real results in inclusive education” expressed Vera Kamani-Director of Pre-university Education at the Ministry of Education and Sport.  

Various documents produced during the project implementation were shared with the participants in the conference including:

  •  An Analytical Study of Inclusive Education in Albania

  • A technical document to support secondary legislation for inclusive education

  • A Ministry strategy and plan of activities for the implementation of inclusive education for children with disabilities in Albania

  • A procedures manual for the inclusion of children with disability in mainstream schools

  • A strategy for advocacy and promotion of inclusive education for children with disabilities 

According to Save the Children analytical study, the enrolment and inclusion of children with disabilities in the pre-school and compulsory education system still remains a big concern in Albania. Problems such as the difficulties in identifying children with disabilities, the inaccessibility and poor infrastructure in public kindergarten and school buildings, the unsuitability of programs and curricula for children with disabilities, the lack of teachers’ preparation in working with children with disabilities, the lack of support of teachers in the classrooms, the rigid viewpoint of the society, and the poor information provided on the rights of children with disabilities prompt the call and the need for changes and improvements in the education system and to the social environment.

For Save the Children this project has been a step forward in the long journey to build institutional capacity to realise the right for children with disability across Albania. We envision an Albania in which all children enjoy their right to access participatory, meaningful, learning opportunities, in order to realize their fullest potential and to enhance social inclusion. Our work in education has proactively evolved since 2006 to ensure quality inclusive education for children by providing access to marginalized groups (Roma and children with disabilities) and ensuring quality education for children in both kindergartens and schools.