Statement of the Prime Minister following the interest of the media on the approval of the law on Higher Education:

What can you say about the approval of the law on Higher Education by the majority, despite the opposition, but also some people of the academia were against it?

Academia is a big word to use, but actually we had the longest, deepest and most inclusive process in this effort to build a law that is the personification of a revolutionizing reform for the very important sector of Higher Education. The product is absolutely very good, while it is unfortunate to see this controversy on behalf of the poor by those who speculate in the most unworthy way and lie in the most unworthy and unacceptable way.

The law guarantees competition, recognition of merit, in addition to guaranteeing that no young people willing to attend university, and deserving to attend university, will be prevented from attending it because of poverty, because everyone who cannot afford to pay for studies but who is willing to accomplish them successfully, and is able to show their talents and willingness, will be supported by the state.

Similarly, the law is in favor of all those who have excellent results and who will be supported by funding from the state.

The law provides state funding for all priority programs of study or those that the state protects for national and public interest, ranging from mathematics, English up to Albanology and so on, but you can change the order if you wish.

It is important to note that this is a law that paves the way to bring Albania into the new European time, after over 20 years of degradation, crawling, chaos, corruption and above all, undeserved advantages for a caste which has been funded from the state budget and which has never returned the big investment that Albanians made through the state budget.

In addition, the law puts an end to private businesses in education. Universities will be not allowed anymore to operate as private enterprises. State or public funding and private funding will be allocated for public good and public education.

All are equal.

Competition and merit.

Meanwhile, parents are assured that their savings won’t go to waste, as it has happened for many years, and the biggest dream of their life to see their children graduated and employed on the basis of the diploma they earn will not be robbed anymore.

Young people’s effort won’t go to waste either, as it has happened frequently when at the end of their academic journey they would be unemployed, because of a worthless diploma in their hands.

We are in Europe with this law. We will access Europe by implementing this law. Of course, challenges are ahead. The necessary time to do this is not short. Everything will start in the next academic year, not this September. This year we will work on the whole corpus of law acts that will allow the law to be a mechanism operating for the public good and for the good of every person who deserves to be fully supported by the state, in order to receive what it’s due to them for investing their talents in the higher education.