Tirana, August 27 – The Minister of Education and Sports, Ogerta Manastirliu, visited the “Qazim Turdiu” school to present the innovative model of Smart Laboratories, where over 35,000 students of first, second and third grades will be included in the new coding curriculum this year.
Emphasizing the importance of educating children with technology, Minister Manastirliu said that the installation of 216 smart laboratories in 200 schools has been completed, which will be functional from the new academic year.
“Over 35,000 children will be able to participate in the new coding curriculum this year, while we are also working on revising the entire digital literacy curriculum for first to ninth grades, and of course for high school. It is important for us to give children opportunities to become skilled in the digital world and to be able to complete our entire ICT curriculum so that it can be integrated into other subjects as well,” said Manastirliu.
Minister Manastirliu also spoke about the Ministry of Education and Sports’ plans for expanding this project in 2025-2026, when it is expected to install over 600 new laboratories in middle and secondary schools, according to a unified model, providing a new and modern infrastructure for education in Albania.
“We have developed a unified model for school ICT labs, which we plan to extend to future projects for strengthening ICT and science education. By 2025-2026, we aim to install over 600 new smart labs in lower and upper secondary schools, providing modern technology infrastructure,” said Manastirliu.
Finally, the Minister also spoke about the ongoing training of teachers to equip them with the technological skills that the times require.
“Starting in September, we will begin another cycle of intensive training for science, ICT, and primary school teachers, aiming to train 16,000 teachers by 2025 to improve teaching quality and professional development. We have introduced a new career and credit system for teacher development, with training provided by higher education institutions, supported by the Ministry of Education, the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Pre-University Education, and recent salary increases,” said Minister of Education and Sports, Ogerta Manastirliu.
During the meeting, teachers of “Qazim Turdiu” school shared their thoughts on the operation of smart laboratories, the increase of students’ skills and their impact in teaching quality, evaluating this initiative as an important step for the future of education. in place.