The salaries of psychologists and social workers in schools have increased by 36%, bringing the average salary for this category to over 900 euros per month.
Today, Minister of Education and Sports Ogerta Manastirliu, held a meeting with social workers and psychologists in Tirana’s schools, appreciating their work and stating that the salary increase for them is significant.
“The salary increase for you is a really significant one, on average it is an increase of over 23,000 ALL, which brings the salary of a social worker or psychologist with 15 years of experience to over 90,000 ALL,” said Minister Manastirliu.
In addition to the increase in teachers’ salaries, there is also a significant increase in the salaries of the schools psycho-social workers. This new scheme motivates young employees, but also serves as an appreciation for the experience of more senior psycho-social workers.
Minister Manastirliu spoke about the new dimension of social workers and school psychologists: “Their role in schools is irreplaceable and it will be further strengthened, mainly to provide our students with adequate psychosocial support, to strengthen the instruments of preventing harmful phenomena, which must be timely. You are as important for the students as you are for the teachers. For teachers entering the education system for the first time, you will carry out their psycho-social assessment and you will also be part of the counselling throughout the teachers’ career near schools and their counselling in cases of psycho-social re-evaluations, which we are working to include in a comprehensive package,” said Minister Manastirliu.
About 800 psycho-social workers in schools will benefit from this salary increase. They play an important role in creating an inclusive environment for children’s mental healthcare, giving the support they need, especially during adolescence and for the peaceful resolution of conflicts among students, but also with teachers and parents. With the new roles, the school psycho-social workers will also be helpful and co-operative with the teacher coordinators in order to complete student profiles and highlight their abilities even more.