The Democratic Party has denounced the lack of a concrete plan by the government, whether the schools will be reopened or not due to the situation caused by the coronavirus in Albania.

In a statement given near the former Sami Frasheri school building in Tirana, education expert Ndricim Mehmeti told the media that Prime Minister Rama again chose vacations instead of of 640,000 pupils and students. 

DP raised concern over 106 schools completely destroyed due to the November 26 earthquake, and declared that the situation is even more worrying if we take into account the fact that demolished schools are located in the largest urban centers, where the number of students is higher.

“Outgoing Prime Minister Edi Rama again chose the vacations instead of 640.000 pupils and students. He remains silent on whether or not the government has any plans to open schools in September.

The reaction of his Minister of Education was evasive. She told us that they have no plans and do not intend to do anything concrete.

As with the pandemic, the school plan is imaginary. The Minister did not tell us the way the teaching will be done. She did not tell us the measures for each alternative. In short, what we learned is that everything will be improvised at the last minute.

They have called on teachers to go back to school and prepare the premises for the start of the new school year, but no one knows anything what will be done.

Add to this uncertainty the fact that according to the government statement, we have 106 schools completely destroyed and still no schools completed. The situation is even more worrying if we take into account the fact that demolished schools are located in the largest urban centers, where the number of students is higher.

According to a simple calculation, there are more than 8,000 students attending schools destroyed by the earthquake. With the pandemic, the situation has worsened because the government did not build any new schools.

Most schools are planned to be rebuilt with PPP, increasing the debt burden for Albanians and adding shadows of corruption to school reconstruction.

The public, parents, students, teachers want to know from the Ministry of Education and the outgoing Prime Minister Edi Rama whether the Ministry of Education has a plan for opening pre-university education schools; Have measures been taken for the physical distancing of students? Is there a separate item in the budget to cover the cost of classroom or even distance learning? Will they be made available to students whose schools are demolished?

It is clear that the government does not have a detailed plan of measures for the start of the new school year, has no budget and has neither the will nor the desire to develop the education of Albanian children and youth," Mehmeti declared.