11 thousand fewer students! Emigration and planning the two main ‘enemies’

The pre-university education system is undergoing a sharp contraction. Data from the Institute of Statistics show that about 11 thousand children were missing in the last school year compared to the previous one.

The most noticeable decrease was in basic education. Around 7 thousand fewer students in the 9-year system and 2,565 fewer high schoolers were present in classrooms in 2025, compared to the year before.

“If we interpret this automatically, it is linked to the impact of how many children were born in the last decade and how much of the population has left these areas, since the situation in the periphery differs from Tirana. The fact that we see the biggest drop in the 9-year education shows exactly the consequence of why we no longer have at least two children per family. So, it is directly connected to the lack of supportive social and financial policies for young couples. Meanwhile, when the first day of school comes, we suddenly realize we have no children!” said education expert Suela Kocibellinj.

School enrollments dropped by 2.6% compared to last year, bringing the total number to nearly 406 thousand. According to education expert Suela Koçibellinj, this decline is the result of underestimating the gradual decrease in children over time, combined with the lack of a dedicated strategy to address this phenomenon.

“At the very least, these figures must be taken into consideration to resize and reorganize education policies. It is not just a matter of numbers being reduced, or the alarm that many teachers may feel about possibly losing their jobs although this may have a direct impact. On the other hand, for strategy, we need to consider where we are and where we want to go. Society is aging, and you need to prioritize where to develop education, to forecast in the next five years what the student population will be, to anticipate what the demand for teachers will be in the market, and which profiles will be most needed.”

Also concerning are the measures taken to merge 9-year schools with high schools due to the decline in student numbers, leading to closures of educational institutions, especially in rural areas.

“The closure of a school and a health center carries great significance it often marks the fading away of that community.”

“KORÇA BOOM”