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In Albania the education follows a 5-4-3 system, where
the primary school lasts for 5 years, the secondary school
for 4 years and the secondary school for 3 years. On
average, Albanians are expected to have 11.8 years of
schooling. 3.2% of the population over the age of 15 are
illiterate (UNDP 2015).
Basic education
 Primary and secondary schools are compulsory and free for
children aged 6-14. The first nine years of school provide
students with a basic education with language, mathematics,
social sciences, natural sciences, shaping, physical
education and practical work. Albanian is the language of
instruction, while English, French and Russian are the most
important foreign languages.
Major school reforms were introduced in the 1980s and
1990s. All teaching subjects have been tried to depoliticize
and made ideologically neutral. In addition, new subjects
such as human rights, democracy, European knowledge and
environmental protection have been added.
According to the World Bank, 89% start in high school
(2011). In primary school, there are 19.1 pupils per
teacher, and 3.3% of GDP is spent on public education (UNDP
2015).
Higher education
Higher education is offered at a number of vocational
schools and universities. An academic year lasts for 30
weeks and is divided into semesters. In the wake of the
Bologna process, bachelor programs last for three years,
while master's programs last for two. Since 2002, Albania
has seen a tremendous increase in the number of students and
private universities.
1989-92
When Enver Hoxha died in April 1985, his post as head of
state was taken over by Ramiz Alia. In 1989, it began a
restructuring to correct some features of the economy and to
break its country's international isolation.
In the following 2 years, this process was accelerated.
The barriers to the development of tourism were removed and
Alia's government began discussions with a view to promoting
tourism. to reestablish relations with the USSR and the
United States. Freedom of religion was restored. The number
of crimes that resulted in the death penalty was reduced
from 34 to 11 - it was already abolished entirely for women
- and civil rights were expanded. Other openings include:
Right to private property, opening to foreign investment and
election of industry directors by workers in secret
elections. In February 1990 amnesty for political and
ordinary prisoners was decreed for the second time. In
November, Alia also announced a revision of the Constitution
that had been in effect since 1976, and in December the
activities of independent political parties were allowed.
The same month, the election of free elections in Albania
was announced after 46 years of communist hegemony. The
election was originally scheduled to take place in February
1991, but was postponed to March 31 due to the instability
created by the thousands of Albanians' tumultuous escape to
Italy. Nearly 2 million Albanians could choose from over
1,000 candidates from 11 political parties monitored by
hundreds of international election observers and over 250
foreign journalists.
In the capital Tirana, Ramiz Alia suffered a staggering
defeat when 18 of the 19 municipal council seats went to
then-unknown engineer Franko Karogi of the Democratic Party
(PD). Despite this, the communists nevertheless achieved 156
of the 250 seats in parliament against 67 for the Social
Democratic PD. The rest of the seats went to small parties
and turnout reached 95%. From his exile in Paris, the
ex-Leka I claimed to be a massive electoral fraud and
opposition leader Gramoz Pashko claimed the result showed
the election's lack of legitimacy.
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