Albania Child protection at school: manual and training handbook launched

Project : TACT 1 Jan 2010 | education protection systems

17th December 2009.The Ministry of Education and Science in collaboration with Terre des hommes Foundation in Albania presented the Manual for the Schools and the Training Handbook for Child Protection at a conference. These tools have been developed within the framework of the project “Strengthening the role of the school in assistance and protection of children within the school environment”.The meeting fostered an open debate among various actors for the implementation of good practices for child protection in the school.

Schools should be places where children can grow up and develop to their full potential. School should also serve as a contact point for the community and assist families which are trying to cope with the high demands in supporting children. In order to make schools more protective environments teachers, school psychologists, school directors and so on should be well trained, informed and mobilized about their protective responsibilities towards children.

The Manual and the Training Handbook for Child Protection in Schools are the result of 3 years of work and have been tested over 2 years by school psychologists. These tools will serve in equipping the professionals to make schools safer places for children and to help their families. On the basis of the Manual, Terre des hommes has already trained up to now 83 school directors and 100 school psychologists and an experience exchange has already taken place between the psychologists of Durres and Elbasan.

Terre des hommes believes that schools are one of the crucial components of a functioning child protection safety net and have a role in upholding and protecting the rights of the child in collaboration with other actors.

A positive achievement mentioned also in the conference:for the first time in the higher education system in Albania, a new course on “Legislation in the field of education and child protection in the school” is introduced starting from the academic year 2009-2010, under the lead of the faculty of Social Science of Tirana University in close collaboration with Terre des hommes Albania.

This course will be taught for graduate teachers (M.A level 1) and for psychology under-graduate students. For the first time a special M.A program is established in the field of school management, mainly tailored for school directors, where the module on child protection will be taught. The Manual and the Training handbook will be used as main readings for these courses which will be crucial in helping the preparation of future professionals who will be working in the school. “This course should be introduced to all who graduates to be a teacher in the future” said Prof. Dr. Theodhori Karaj, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

The Deputy Minister of Education and Science, the Austrian Ambassador, the Deputy Minister of Interior, Directors of Regional Directorates of Education, schools directors, school psychologists and representatives of the civil society were present at the event. [VL]