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Underpinning Integrity in the Albanian Education System: Compilation of Paca Outputs Project Against Corruption in Albania (Paca)

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Underpinning Integrity in the Albanian Education System: Compilation of Paca Outputs Project Against Corruption in Albania (Paca) Project Against Corruption in Albania (PACA) UNDERPINNING INTEGRITY IN THE ALBANIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM: COMPILATION OF PACA OUTPUTS PROJECT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN ALBANIA (PACA) UNDERPINNING INTEGRITY IN THE ALBANIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM: COMPILATION OF PACA OUTPUTS This publication has been prepared within the framework of the Project against Corruption in Albania (PACA) and with the funding provided by the European Union. The views expressed in this publication can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union and/or the Council of Europe. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic (CD-Rom, Internet, etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the Council of Europe (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or contact. [email protected]). For more information on the subject of the publication, please contact: Economic Crime Cooperation Unit Action against Crime Department Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law Council of Europe E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.coe.int/economiccrime Graphic design Kleida Maluka Printed in Albania by Maluka Printig House CONTENTS Foreword ...................................................................................... 5 Introduction ................................................................................. 7 Executive summary of PACA outputs ........................................ 11 Risk analysis of the Albanian education system ........................ 22 Assessment of the licensing, regulation and inspection of private educational institutions in Albania ............ 84 Response to and recommendations concerning Ministry of Education and Science feedback on PACA assessments of the Albanian education system......... 126 Final assessment of the use of PACA recommendations for the Albanian education system ........................................... 169 Assessment of provisional system of inspections of higher education institutions and recommendations ........... 179 Assessment and recommendations concerning draft amendments to the Law on Higher Education ....................... 216 Recommendations for the content of manuals for the inspection of higher education institutions ................... 247 3 Comments and recommendations on the draft teachers’ code of conduct and regulatory mechanism................ 276 The draft teachers’ code of conduct: summary of discussions and recommendations for next steps .................. 294 Comments and recommendations on the draft teachers’ code of ethics .............................................................. 299 Final analysis ............................................................................ 314 4 FOREWORD In many countries of the world, corruption remains a running sore in public life. In some, it may be the biggest obstacle to economic and human development – whether it is small- scale bribery or grand kleptocracy. Since the 1990s fighting corruption has become a priority for many international organisations, including the Council of Europe and the European Union. The Project against Corruption in Albania (PACA), a 2.1 million Euro assistance project financed by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe, has provided assistance to the Government of Albania on a wide range of policies related to the fight against corruption. A major component of the PACA project has been to assist with preventing and tackling corruption in the education sector. In all, the project provided five risk assessments on selected institutions or sectors, knowing that successful policies to fight corruption must be based on evidence and research. In the area of education, PACA delivered two major risk assessment documents - one of the public education sector and human resources policy, and another on the regulation and control of the private education sector. During the extension phase of the project - from March to December 2012 - PACA provided extensive follow-up assistance for the establishment of a system of inspections and quality assurance in the higher education institutions, with recommendations for how such a system can be constituted and on the content of inspection manuals. These documents were informed by a conviction that corruption in education should not be tackled by a top-down approach of detecting and sanctioning violations, but through 5 policies and measures to underpin professionalism among education practitioners and stakeholders. A key document to this end is the Teachers’ Code of Ethics assisted by PACA and approved in November 2012. This compilation comprises all the documentary outputs: the risk assessments, the evaluation of the implementation of PACA recommendations, the technical papers providing analyses and recommendations for the higher education inspection and quality assurance system, and the Code of Ethics. I would like to thank the experts of the General Teaching Council of Scotland for their invaluable contribution to these materials. I thank Mr Quentin Reed, PACA project Team Leader, who co-ordinated the effort, contributed with his own research and edited the texts. Ivan Koedjikov Head of Action against Crime Department Strasbourg, December 2012 6 INTRODUCTION Brief Overview of the Albanian Historical Context and Education System Albania’s complex history has presented significant challenges to the establishment of secure political democracy and a stable, balanced modern economy. Limited democratic and economic stability in Albania has potentially provided the conditions for the persistence of corruption in Albanian public life, including its education system. Despite the existence of or potential for corruption in the education system, there is indisputable Government recognition of and commitment to the importance of education in Albania. Universal school education is provided until the age of 16. Upper secondary school education is now very much linked to the State Matura, the relatively new national school leaving examination. School education is largely provided through the public sector, although there is growing private provision (recent figures indicate c. 5% of primary pupils and c.9% of secondary pupils attend private schools). Public universities provide the majority of university education, but there has been very significant growth in private higher education (HE) provision (recent figures indicate there are 31 private higher education institutions (HEIs) in Albania, attended by 17% of all HE students). Two general aspects of the Albanian Government’s approach to the education system create an environment in which integrity may be more difficult to establish. On the one hand a tradition of strong central state control through the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) and regional/local education directorates persists, carrying with it accompanying risks of politicisation. On the other hand, the influence of neo-liberal ‘let the market decide’ attitudes to the development of private education have played a strong role, especially in higher education, which may have facilitated or exacerbate problems of poor quality private educational provision. 7 Reforms Undertaken in Education The Albanian Government has engaged in extensive legal reforms of the education system, for example through a new revised Law on Pre-University Education. Such efforts have run parallel to broader attempts to conform to wider European and international developments. For example, the Bologna Process for higher education has been addressed in recent State Quality Standards for Higher Education. More specifically, reforms have addressed particular issues or problems within the education system. For example, the introduction of the State Matura over the last six years has aimed to produce a national school- leaving examination which will provide reliable information on pupil achievement, comparable school results and a fair basis for university admissions. Particular efforts have been made to eliminate corruption in the setting, invigilation and evaluation of these examinations. Similar efforts have gone into developing the Alternative Textbook (Altertekst) system since 2006, in order to replace the monopoly of the MoES in the supply of textbooks with a system formally based on open competition among textbook providers. However, even in such areas where there has been much commendable effort to elaborate new systems, very detailed policy development does not necessarily deliver every aspect of desired reform on the ground. For example, while the development of the State Matura has been a very major achievement, some significant issues seem to remain, e.g. with ensuring the appropriate supervising of examinations to eliminate effectively the potential for cheating. PACA Technical Assistance The Project Against Corruption in Albania (PACA) was launched in September 2009, and is a 40-month, Council of Europe-implemented and EU-financed project to assist the Albanian Government to implement its anti-corruption strategy more effectively. One of the 8 two main purposes of the project was to assist with policies to prevent corruption in the education system. From the literature on corruption in education systems, five main potential areas of corruption can be identified: • The policy process, including systems for accreditation/licensing and inspection/oversight of educational institutions.
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