Author: Dallandyshe Xhaferri
A decade after reforming pre-university education, educators and education experts report that the intended results have not been achieved. Specifically, there is concern about a decline in the level of students' knowledge, especially in mathematics.
A study carried out by the Academy of Sciences of Albania compared the current curriculum with the British one and found that, despite having similar topics, Albania covers only 30-40% of the British curriculum in the available teaching hours.
The problem extends beyond mathematics to other subjects.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Undergraduate Education accepts 52 error-free texts out of 400 reviewed.
In 2014, the Ministry of Education and Sports undertook the Educational Reform, which, unlike the previous one, which was considered overloaded and did not suit the development of students, was conceived as Reformation of competency-based pre-university education curriculum.
The new curriculum, which was included in the education system for the first time in the school year September 2015-August 2016, aims to develop critical thinking in students. During the following years, the process of implementing the curriculum continued, as well as its necessary correction.
Ten years later, in 2024, teachers and education experts tell "Sinjalizo" that the reform of 2014 and the steps taken in the future have not given the expected results in the learning process for students in the pre-university system, even in the range of their knowledge has been marked by a decline in knowledge, which was also reflected in the moment when the high school students were faced with the bans of the university.
Critical thinking…with truncated knowledge
Ardian Naço, lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Tirana, also a member of the Mathematics Committee at the Academy of Sciences, tells "Sinjalizo" that during the study done by the Academy of Sciences (still unpublished) regarding the educational curriculum of the pre-university system in in the field of mathematics, it turns out that the information received by Albanian students during lessons is truncated.
In this study of the Academy of Sciences, the current educational curriculum is compared with the English curriculum, on which its construction is based. Also, the current curriculum has been compared with the previous educational curriculum and with that of the countries of the Western Balkans.
"From this study we came to the conclusion that by comparing, especially in absolute terms with the hours we have available for the Mathematics subject for the matura cycle, we can say that we develop 30% of the hours available, which are equivalent to 30 %, maximum 40%, of the British curriculum that we develop in our country",- says teacher Ardian Naço.
According to academician Naço, the problem lies in the implementation of the British curriculum, which first affects the tenth and eleventh grades, which corresponds to the educational curriculum that in Great Britain is taught to students in the eighth and ninth grades. Meanwhile, although in Great Britain the matura extends over the time span of two school years, in Albania the matura extends only to the twelfth grade, which has directly affected the number of lessons where students are introduced to the topics of the mathematics subject.
"The available hours are almost ¼ (otherwise 25%) of the hours that should be available at least for the Mathematics subject, that core and advanced mathematics. So, I can tell you that we have relied on the British curricula, we have relied on their texts, but we have not fully implemented this curriculum or we have implemented 35-40% of the knowledge.",- says Nacho.
Alma Lama, teacher of Biology and Chemistry, at the same time head of the Independent Education Union - Tirana branch, tells "Sinjalizo" that even in the subject of Chemistry, the lessons about basic concepts are shortened.
"We have textbooks where Oxides and Bases are taught in one hour, Salts in one hour and Acids in one hour. Experienced teachers can find a solution for the classroom, but at home the student has the book. We don't have the best alternative of books", - Lama concludes.
The distribution of teaching hours is not only problematic in the subjects of exact sciences. Students of the lower cycle (9-year-old) and in high school are faced with incomplete knowledge even in the subject of History, according to aë the study ofë Dr. Vojsava Plum.
Florence Stafa, a lecturer at the University of Elbasan with almost 20 years of experience in the pre-university education system, tells "Sinjalizo" that despite the scientific clarification of textbooks over the years, the distribution of lessons for certain historical topics or events is not in it along the same lines as the competency-based educational curriculum that aims to shape the student by encouraging him to think critically.
"Specifically, I will refer here during a study and revision of the history texts of the eleventh (11) grade, 12 teaching hours are provided for the period of the communist dictatorship and of these 12 scheduled hours, only one hour is planned with the title " Features of the Communist Repression 1945-1990", - says Staff, adding that the topics covered in the textbooks do not constitute the culminating aspects of violence, while the number of lessons is not distributed in the right way compared to other historical periods.
"If we compare it with the Zogist period, from 1912 to 1939, which is not even half of the period of the dictatorship, the time span is 12 teaching hours. So, the same with Albania in the communist regime. So, in our opinion, the communist period should have been extended to at least 15 hours in the program", - concludes Florence Stafa.
The lack of reflection of the repression of the communist system in Albania appears problematic even in the textbooks in the ninth (9th) grades. In the teaching curriculum, the events in the communist system are treated chronologically, while the only topic about the repression, violence and terror of the past system is suggested to be carried out by the teacher in the form of a practical activity.
Students in schools have little space to familiarize themselves with local history. A few years ago, 5th grade students in each region learned about local history through the subject "Homeland", which is currently no longer part of the curriculum.
300 textbooks from 16 publishing houses, only 52 without errors
The change of the teaching curriculum has also been accompanied by errors in the teaching texts, which start from scientific errors, spelling errors, incorrect translations in the texts of scientific subjects to the complete incompatibility of the theoretical material with the teaching topic, according to the official response of given to "Signal" by the Agency for Quality Assurance of Pre-University Education (ASCAP).
In our country, there are 16 publishing houses that create textbooks, while for 400 textbooks and workbooks, only 1 or 2 teachers were included in the revision groups.
"From the review of 400 textbooks and workbooks in pre-university education, 52 student textbooks and workbooks resulted without remarks", - writes in response to ASCAP's request for information.
ASCAP's textbook review process has gone through two phases, where in the first, working groups composed of professional network leaders, teachers, and curriculum specialists reviewed textbooks, part of the official MAS catalog, and determined observations and suggestions for these textbooks. In the second stage, the publishing houses, after the remarks and suggestions received from ASCAP, declare their responsibility for any mistakes made in the text. However, the verifications of how the remarks of this agency have been reflected in the production of textbooks by publishing houses were carried out in April 2022, that is, almost at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.
For pedagogue Florenca Stafa, the continuous training of teachers of the pre-university system in order to include new teaching methodologies, with a new approach as required by the European Union is another challenge attached to the educational curriculum.
"We must be aware that not all teachers have the proper training. This is for many reasons, also because of what the education system has created over the years",- concludes Staffa.
Changes in the curriculum, the consequences are felt in the university
The Ministry of Education and Sports in the official response to "Sinjalizo" says that the pre-university educational curriculum and its implementation specifically in scientific subjects guarantees success in further education in meeting the demands of the labor market.
"The mathematics and natural sciences texts are adaptations of the texts of the publishing houses 'Cambridge', 'Pearson' and 'Oxford', which are internationally known for their quality in the field of school textbooks", - it is said in response, meanwhile, in the country's universities, lecturers are faced with the difficulty of students' lack of necessary knowledge in certain branches.
The removal of the opportunity to take an exam in the Advanced Mathematics State Matura, as well as not choosing it as an "elective subject" during the twelfth (12th) grade, has made students of engineering branches, or Technology branches of Information regardless of the talent they may have, the information obtained from Basic Mathematics is simplified and insufficient to sit in the university halls.
"This means that even in the engineering branches that are definitely required to have not only basic mathematics, but also advanced mathematics, the system itself has removed the possibility for students from high school to come with a background or knowledge deeper and this is a gap that must definitely be recovered", - says Ardian Naço, who admits that this issue has become part of the academic discussions of lecturers, making it possible for universities to "take measures" to recover the lack of student training.
"Well, this gap, even though we are interested in filling it, we cannot do it as well as the pre-university education system can do it", - says Nacho.
The decline in the knowledge of Albanian students was also reflected in the "PISA 2022" International Student Assessment Program for 15-year-old students, where Albania was ranked 62nd among the 80 countries participating in the assessment.
This article was created based on input provided by individuals who have chosen to speak up. Share your story, empower others and be an agent for change. Visit the website: www.acqj.al/sinjalizo-dhe-ti/
