The school environment proved to be an unsafe place for the 14-year-old student of the “Kolë Jakova” school in Tirana. Yesterday, during a knife fight with his peer, the 14-year-old was physically injured, which led to him being under the care of doctors today.
This conflict is just one of hundreds of cases where disagreements between public school students have escalated into physical fights.
According to data from the State Police, in the previous two school years, 703 cases of physical conflicts between students on school premises have been identified.
Experts raise concerns about the ongoing violence, while measures taken by the government, such as the deployment of security officers, according to them, have not improved the situation.
Violence in schools
“We have studied several experiences, they are the same but also different, but one thing is certain, that all the experiences, no matter how different they are, have brought about a very significant increase in school safety. They have brought about a very significant increase in the monitoring capacity of the school and parents over students…” – Prime Minister Rama would declare in 2018, in a conversation with teachers at the “Qemal Stafa” general secondary school, presenting the project for “School Safety Officers”.
During the presentation, Rama stated that for the implementation of this project, the government had studied various experiences, which focused on increasing safety and cooperation between students, teachers and parents.
Following this initiative, institutions took measures to increase the number of security officers in public schools, raising the number to 222 officers in 150 schools in the pre-university system.
“For the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years, the approved number of security officers was 222 officers, while the actual number was an average of 212, of which 146 were female and 66 were male,” – states a letter that “shteg.org” received from the National Agency for Pre-University Education (AKAP).
But official statistics show that increasing the number of officers has not reduced the incidence of physical conflicts inside school buildings.
According to data from the State Police, in the previous two school years, 703 cases of physical conflicts between students on school premises have been identified.
Accordingly, during the 2022-2023 school year, 509 physical conflicts were registered in all public schools, of which 198 cases were registered in Tirana schools, 51 conflicts in Durrës schools and 47 in Kukës.
Meanwhile, the number of conflict cases recorded by the State Police in school premises has decreased during the past school year, 2023-2024.
“During the 2023-2024 school year, 194 incidents (physical conflicts) were recorded in schools in the Republic of Albania,” the State Police said in response to the right to information request sent by “shteg.org”.
The largest number of physical conflicts was recorded in Tirana schools with 67 cases, in Elbasan schools with 28 cases, and in Vlora where 22 conflicts between school students were recorded.
For Majlinda Keta, an education expert, the higher number of conflicts between students in schools also reflects the problematic situation in cities in the country.
“As an education expert, I am scared by the data that in the conditions of the local directorate of Kukës in the years 2022-2023, 47 conflicts are recorded, considering that several schools in Kukës have been closed due to the lack of a contingent of children and the consequences that mass emigration has created in them,” Keta tells “shteg.org”.
According to Keta, the increase in the number of security officers, psychological services and social workers in schools should have resulted in a safer environment for students. However, the measures taken have not increased security in school premises.
“It is assumed that assistance and service to children in a specialized way to remove their deviant behavior from physical conflicts or incidents that are then handled by the State Police, should have been in the best possible growth. We should have had a school much further removed from these emerging data, although declining in the year 2023-2024. We should have had a school where these services would have their direct impact on the part of peace, order and security in schools” – says Keta for “shteg.org”.
Schools, not only education, but also upbringing
Bullying, according to experts, appears to be one of the main reasons for conflicts between students in schools.
Elona Mustafaraj, a school psychologist and psychological counselor, tells “shteg.org” that children who become victims of bullying can be identified by teachers by observing changes in their behavior after being exposed to bullying behavior.
“The child becomes more withdrawn, more withdrawn, does not participate in activities where bullies can be. There is a decline in learning, sometimes they express anxiety about not going to school. They try to live a closed life at home inside their room. They do not tell what happens at school. They give short answers,” says Mustafaraj.
According to the psychologist, bullying has also been a cause of the loss of children’s lives.
“It is important to understand that behavior that initially seems like a joke or something unintentional and harmless, escalates and in some cases has led to the loss of the life of the person or child victim,” adds the psychologist.
According to Mustafaraj, pedagogical and psychosocial support staff should not confine these cases within school premises, as escalation can be observed in premises outside the school.
“In moments when these behaviors have not been reported to other institutions, such as the police in some cases, organizations that deal with bullies, aggressive behaviors have escalated and the damage has been greater,” says psychologist Mustafaraj.
Meanwhile, for Majlinda Keta, the fact that concrete events are not reflected in the annual analyses of education in Albania is also worrying.
According to Keta, there is a total lack of concrete analyses that focus on establishing monitoring instruments that track the development of students’ educational values.
“It would be important to change the concept of the Ministry of Education and Sports, which operates by announcing a list of those educational institutions as “the best in the city”. A good school in the 21st century cannot be considered one that focuses on the number 10s”, says Majlinda Keta.
Dallandyshe Xhaferri është gazetare në "Rrjetin e Raportimit të Krimit të Organizuar dhe Korrupsionit në Shqipëri" - RRKOKSH. Ajo ka studiuar Gazetari në Universitetin “Aleksandër Xhuvani” dhe ka marrë pjesë në shkëmbime studentore në Poloni dhe SHBA. Në Poloni, ka ndjekur një semestër në "Journalism and Management" në Universitetin "Papa Gjon Pali II", ndërsa në SHBA ka marrë leksione mbi gazetarinë në Kolegjin e Bostonit. Gjatë katër viteve të fundit, ajo ka punuar si gazetare në organizata të ndryshme me fokus gazetarinë cilësore dhe ka qenë e angazhuar në projekte të IFES, East West Management Institute dhe Rana Labs.
