Department of Strategy and Donor Coordination

to start soon. It aims at limiting the competence of Regional Education Directorates in appointing school
staff and involving the school and local community in the decision-making process, thus expanding school
autonomy and bringing it closer to the practice in other countries in the region. In addition, reform of the new
secondary education structure is being implemented on the basis of mandatory nine-year education.
Figure 32. Pre-university education indicators 2003–2009
100.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
76.7 76.5 80.4
77.0
69.3
71.8
64.3
61.6
56.2
54.7
50 51
53
80.3 81
68.3
71.7 72.6
57.4 58.6
Gross enrolment rate in secondary
education (%)
Rate of transfers from grade 8 to
9(%)
Completion rate of grades 9-12 (%)
Gross enrolment ratein secondary
education (LSMS)
Total net enrolment rate (MoES)
20.0
Net enrolment rate male
0.0
2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009
Net enrolment rate female
Source: MES
Funding for the education sector increased significantly in 2008, and public expenditure on education
accounted for 3.7 per cent of GDP. Improved performance in education was due to the implementation of a
series of reforms that focused on strengthening policy making, management and decision-making capacity,
improving the teaching process, capacity building, human resource development, enhancement and expansion
of vocational education and training (VET).
An important indicator is net secondary education enrolment rate and performance of this indicator is given,
along with six other indicators, in Figure 32. For the 2007–2008 academic year, this indicator was 58.6 per
cent, 1.2 per cent more compared to 57.4% for 2006-2007. Gross education enrolment rate in 2007–2008 rose to
71.7 per cent, 3.4 per cent more than in the previous year. Further intensification of reforms already initiated
aims at boosting net enrolment rate by at least 2.5 per cent in 2008–2009, while the long-term goal is to bring
net secondary education enrolment rate to 76 per cent, and the transfer rate to secondary education to 86 per
cent.
The continuation rate of students completing compulsory nine-year education was 81 per cent for the academic
year 2007–2008, from 80 per cent in 2005–2006. School drop-out rate in basic education (classes 1–4) in
2007–2008 was 0.89 per cent, and in nine-year education 0.94 per cent. In the academic year 2007–2008, the
proportion of pupils enrolling and finishing secondary education (high schools and vocational schools) was
66 per cent. In 2008, the transfer rate of children aged five and six to the pre-preparatory year prior to basic
education was 63 per cent.
Policies implemented during this period aimed also at increasing the enrolment rate in professional education.
A draft Albanian Qualifications Framework was developed in compliance with the European Qualifications
Framework. Moreover, curricula programmes of all technical and vocational schools were improved, and
facilitation was provided for students to attend this education, etc.
Intensive implementation of the “Tik Shkolla” project started in 2008, with the scope of providing 1,200 PC
labs and Internet access to all pre-university schools and capacity building and training for the teaching and
maintenance staff.
State Matura, an initiative that began in 2006, is completed each year with new elements that help consolidate
and foster transparency of this process. School Psychology Services were provided for three years as a pilot
initiative and, in 2008, these services were extended into the rural areas, thus improving the quality of the
NSDI 2008 Progress Report | 55