“Afterschool” in 30 schools / From free lunch to extended hours until 16:00, here are the new features

A new after-school program, combined with meals provided on school premises, is expected to start as a pilot project in 30 educational institutions in the capital in the next school year.

Top Channel has exclusively obtained the list of 9-year schools where the after-school program called “Afterschool” will be tested. The program includes central Tirana schools such as “Emin Duraku,” “Konferenca e Pezës,” and “Sabaudin Gabrani,” but the project will also extend to suburban schools like “Pal Engjëlli” and “Ibrahim Brahja.”

The beneficiaries will be students from first to fifth grade, aiming to provide additional educational support for families after official school hours by extending the children’s stay on school premises.

The selected schools were mostly chosen based on renovations and the readiness to provide meals within the school buildings. Parents have been given a form to express their consent or refusal for the project.

In the form obtained by Top Channel, parents are asked whether they agree for their children to receive free lunch, funded by local government, and stay at school until 16:00. Depending on the number of consents from families, it will be decided whether the school will be included in the final list.

“As part of this program: students’ stay at school will be until 16:00; students will be offered free lunch, financed by the municipality; activities will take place in a safe environment under the supervision of school staff.”

The after-school program is seen as a continuation of the “school as a community center” initiative, but also responds to a repeated request from parents, who previously had to leave work early to pick up their children after midday classes.

The “After School” project is also part of the government program “Albania 2030,” which plans to expand the number of schools offering free lunch, at least in every county capital municipality, during the fourth mandate of the Socialists.

“KORÇA BOOM”