Curriculum reform in pre-university education in Albania

Abstract

The study aims to provide a concise overview of the progress of the process of curriculum

reform in pre-university education in general, the achievements and problems

identified after 1991.After some initial corrections, the pre-university education

curriculum changed but they did not follow the same philosophy at different levels

of education, which affected the coherence of the changes. In the early 2000s, experts

identified the main challenges related to improving the situation in this system. They

were:

a. national curriculum reform; and

b. creating a stable and efficient structure for the professional development of

teachers working in pre-university education.

The new curricular framework would indicate the directions in which the country’s

education system needed to be developed to meet its intended educational policies.

But the curricular reform of upper secondary education in 2010 did not follow the

same curricular philosophy and approach as the curricular reform of basic education

in 2004. Although this reform aimed at aligning with new trends in competency-based

curriculum development, it did not managed to realize a curriculum that reflected the

development of competencies in all aspects. The basic education curriculum reform in

2013 tried to offer a new curriculum, but despite the efforts made, it failed to develop

a competency-based curriculum. The Strategy for the Development of Pre-University

Education 2014-2020 envisages a broad and competency-based conception of the

curriculum. This important development complemented a shortcoming identified

in the process of reforming Pre-University Education until 2013. Defining key 

competencies, expressed through learning outcomes, as well as defining criteria for

assessing outcomes provide the conditions for opportunities to equal education for

all students, for accurate assessment of the quality of education offered at national or

local level, for fair assessment of the level of student achievement, etc.