Ogerta Manastirliu, Minister of Education and Sports, underlined the value of education spending at today’s parliamentary session for the approval of the 2023 State Budget.
The salary increase for more than 31,000 teachers, with increases of up to 40% within the government’s mandate, was a prominent area of investment.
According to Minister Manastirliu, “bonuses for those who obtain the titles of ‘qualified teacher’ and ‘specialist teacher’ have been doubled, and the average teacher salary has now reached €950 per month”.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has prioritized the modernization of educational and digital infrastructure to improve the learning environment and extracurricular activities in schools, transforming them into community centers.
“Budget allocations, along with collaboration with local governments and other partners such as the EU for schools, have benefited 100 institutions. As schools increasingly serve as community centers, forty new projects have been launched in more than 30 municipalities in 2024 with the aim of modernizing school facilities with classrooms, laboratories, gyms and recreational areas for classes and extracurricular activities,” Manastirliu said.
In terms of digitization, the minister said that 200 schools across the country now have 216 SMART labs, bringing the number of institutions providing interactive learning and digital skills development platforms to 300.
“Through these initiatives, we’re giving 35,000 students the opportunity to improve their technological skills. Over the next two years, 600 more schools will continue to receive funding for SmartLabs,” Manastirliu said.
The minister also highlighted social support for students, including support for students in priority areas and exceptional students, as well as free textbooks for more than 238,000 students and nearly 3,500 scholarships for those in need.
The government has also prioritized the funding of scientific research and the internationalization of higher education.
“From the Faculty of Geology to the Faculties of Architecture and Urban Planning and Durres, we have taken concrete actions and seen tangible results with the internationalization of universities. In order to improve the quality of education and promote scientific research, the budget is financing the improvement of infrastructure and the construction of new laboratories or the equipping of existing ones with state-of-the-art equipment. We also facilitate third-party services. With more state-funded initiatives through the National Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation and more researchers, professors and students participating in these programs, support for scientific research and innovation has increased dramatically,” said Minister Manastirliu, emphasizing that these investments are in line with initiatives to raise the standard of higher education through internationalization, specialization, reforms, cooperation with top foreign universities and increased competition through the expansion of academic offerings. While the campuses of Istanbul Technical University and the Technical University of Compiègne, France, are expected to open soon, prestigious schools such as the College of Europe and UNED are now offering programs in our country.