Speech of Prime Minister Edi Rama at the launch of the Ministry of Education and the Municipality of Tirana’s project for the construction of 20 new schools in the capital city:
I am very glad that today we are at a moment like this when a long preparatory phase has been materialized, and the path has been opened for one of the most important sites of our “Urban Renaissance” program which is building 20 new schools. 20 schools that will finally make a difference after 25 years of overpopulated and overcharged schools, something that has obviously affected not a little the quality of life and learning for many children who are now grownups.
I am glad that we launch today, together with the Municipality of Tirana, a project that is a first model of the projects of our “1 billion dollars for reconstruction” program. “1 billion for reconstruction” is a program that will enable us to accomplish in a very short time those works that otherwise would require a long time, due to the inability of the state coffers to fund. A program that will bring the future very close, in relation to some vital needs, very important ones in terms of educational infrastructure, health infrastructure and road infrastructure at different levels. In addition, it will give an extraordinary boost to economy and employment.
What we do, and what the Municipality of Tirana presents today as the first swallow – as it deserves to be called- that heralds a new season of major transformations, not only in infrastructure but also in the economic and social area, is an intensive interaction with entrepreneurship and banks. An interaction to ensure that with the same money that the state budget would have invested in the next 20 years – based on the current possibilities to build 20 new schools in the Municipality of Tirana – these 20 new schools can be built, and the budget will fund the repayment of this investment in the coming years.
This program comes as a result of the need to accelerate the pace of change, to accelerate our journey on the path of revival of all sectors, and to accelerate in relation to a need that cannot be postponed until tomorrow, of the children to receive today a quality education, and have today a decent school with space and opportunities that should give equal access to all children in Tirana. Not only those attending “Fan Noli” or “Ismail Qemali”, or those who can attend “Qemal Stafa” or “Petro Nini” or some others, but all of them together.
In this regard, this is a moment of great importance to open new sites. There are 150 schools, 53 of which will be new where there are none, while 97 schools will be rebuilt from scratch in other areas of the country. If we add these 20 new schools in Tirana, there have been 170 schools on the list of needs of the Ministry of Education since many years, for which local units have been applied since many years, and now with this program they will become reality. Also, the dream, ambition and wishes of so many parents and children will become reality, as they will have equal access to education in terms of standards, like all those who now have the required facilities and conditions.
Also, it will become a reality for the schools that now operate in two shifts, as the second shift will not exist anymore, and the learning shift will be harmonized with the shift of activities at school as a community centre. We have seen that school as a community centre is a success story. I will call it a success story because of how much it tells about the opportunities, how much it can still achieve, precisely because there are many schools as community centres that must be relieved of the stress of overpopulation, and have available in the afternoon hours all their spaces so that they can properly function as community centres.
This applies very well also with the restoration of the Municipality of Tirana on the right track, by spending half million Euros per year for A-grade students. A practice that was lost during the 4 years when the Municipality of Tirana turned into a dormitory, and where you were mainly required to snore louder than the mayor, and where all together could create a choir of snores that in moments of stress translated into screams. And actually, A-grade students lost their scholarships for 4 years. In financial terms, these scholarships are enough to meet the needs of these excellent children for books or entertainment, but above all they are an expression of respect of the city, of the community for these exemplary children who, as my experience makes me believe, should be an example for every mayor. Apparently, this was one of the reasons why the scholarships were suspended, because the example of the excellent ones is cause of a lot of stress for sleep. Another important fact is that the Municipality of Tirana has restored the baby bonus. We started this practice back then for all new-borns in Tirana, and it was suspended in the last 4 years.
I say this to underline the value of choice, the value of the vote. Usually people discuss whether it is worthwhile or not to vote, because often they repeat the leitmotif that “whether you vote or not, ultimately they are all the same, nothing changes”. In fact, the opposite is true. Of course, we are all the same in the sense that we all have 2 legs, 2 hands, 2 eyes, although we are of different heights. Apart from this, it cannot be said that the situation of Tirana today, where work is being carried out every day, and every day a step is made forward in every sector, is the same situation of Tirana before this awakening period. Of that Tirana where not only no work was made, but where people would feel the heavy burden of a daily devastation and abandonment of the citizens and their problems, instead of facing and solving them.
I am convinced that very soon we will be in front of a community where the doors of the first new schools will be opened. I am also convinced that this program will have a huge economic and social impact for Tirana, whereas on a national level our economic growth will be doubled in 2 to 3 years ahead. This means that economic growth today is very significant, 3-3.5% if we calculate that we started from a situation where we were between zero and 1%, although this growth is not felt enough in the families of average people, we have an increase of more than 6%, but at least passing the 5% level, and it is widely known that every threshold may be crossed at any category, and access to economic growth can become an access that is worth to everybody.
This program will continue in education with all other areas of the country, according to the needs identified by the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the new municipalities. It will continue with the health centres of excellence, and a new regional hospital that is necessary, not just for the lower area of Fier and beyond, but nationally; in addition, some very important infrastructure works will be beneficial to traffic nationwide, and also to some areas where tourism development is a priority, and to rural economy in the areas of intensive agriculture development.
This is the third time I have visited the school “Fan Noli”. The first time I was here when these fields where rearranged. When I visited it the second time, the fields where not in great shape for nobody had maintained them. Today, I can see they have improved. Therefore, it would take just three pictures of these two fields showing how they were arranged, how they were left in oblivion, and how they became even better and more welcoming than they used to be, to understand that not all of us are the same, and in fact it is necessary to choose the right people among those who are not the same.
Thank you!
