Ida Ismail
An instruction approved by the Ministry of Education last year has sparked outrage over the unequal treatment of hundreds of teachers in the education system. The organization “For Social Justice” has appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeal to overturn the act, calling it illegal and discriminatory.
At the heart of the issue lies a new criterion: the state exam, as a condition for entering the qualification process. According to the lawsuit, this criterion is not provided for in the law for this stage of a teacher's career and places an additional burden on a certain category of professionals.
Lawyer Gentian Sejrani, founder of "For Social Justice," argues that the instruction creates inequality among teachers. The lawyer argues that the problem mainly affects teachers hired after 2011, even though many of them completed their studies before this year.
"It is an unfair act. You cannot give unequal rights to two individuals who graduated from the same faculty. If two individuals graduated from the faculty in 2007, one was employed before 2011 and the other after 2011, the latter cannot take the qualification exam, as he must take the state exam once."
This, according to him, means a double standard of testing for the same profession:
"So, he is subject to two tests. While the diploma itself is initially intended to grant him the title of teacher."
Although there is a lack of consolidated official data, Sejrani emphasizes that this involves a considerable number of teachers: "We are talking about hundreds of teachers. In the city of Vlora, there are 200 teachers who are affected. In the city of Elbasan, there is also a considerable number of teachers who are affected. In total, there could be around 800-900 teachers who are affected according to the information we have."
Financial costs and professional pressure
Beyond the legal aspect, teachers also report practical consequences. The lawyer says they are afraid to go public, but on social media and in their WhatsApp groups, they have expressed concerns about stress and workload:
Sejrani: "Instead of preparing teachers to teach, they should prepare to take the state exam. Failure to take the qualification exam on time also leads to delays in receiving the additional salary they receive."
So, mentoring not only impacts professional development, but also teachers' monthly income.
According to Sejran, attempts were made for an institutional solution before the matter ended up in court:
"We have had written communication with the Ministry of Education, we have met with the ZVAs physically. They have not given us a solution, because it is a valid, enforceable instruction and they cannot go against the instruction."
Rigels Xhemollari from "Civic Stability" goes further, seeing the instruction as an interference in academic competences: "The Ministry of Education first rejected the universities, because the university tells them this diploma to give them, I don't recognize it. I also give them my test and then qualify them as teachers."
He also emphasizes the discriminatory aspect: "It has discriminated against some teachers from others, some receive higher salaries than others, while they teach the same classes, attend the same facilities and teach the same categories of students. So, we are dealing with an illegal instruction, which has essentially violated the teaching profession."
Xhemollari called on teachers to unite, not remain silent, against this illegal instruction.
With the failure of administrative channels, the matter now falls to the Administrative Court of Appeal, which will decide whether the instruction is contrary to the law and whether it should be repealed. The decision is expected to have an impact not only on the teachers currently affected, but also on how policies are developed and implemented in the education system in the future.acqj.al
