Financing, Efficiency, and Equity in Albanian Education

by Palomba, Geremia; Vodopivec, Milan

• ISBN13: 9780821349663
• ISBN10: 082134966X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: World Bank

Summary

The aim of this report is to examine the real and financial resources devoted to education in Albania. It documents their use and allocation, along with investigating the fiscal effects of various policy recommendations. This report details the structural changes that influence participation in, and access to, education, and the affect equity in educational spending.

Table of Contents

Foreword	viii
Acknowledgements	ix
Executive Summary	x
The Current Challenges in Albanian Education	1	(2)
How Access to Education Has Changed in Albania	3	(16)
Declining Participation Rates	3	(4)
Before the transition	3	(1)
During and after the transition	4	(3)
Effects on Equity in Education	7	(2)
Rural access to education	7	(1)
Girls' access to education	7	(1)
How much of public education expenditures is spent on low-income families?	8	(1)
Reasons for declining participation	9	(3)
Pre-school	9	(1)
Basic education (primary and lower secondary)	10	(1)
Upper secondary schools	11	(1)
Tertiary education (university and high or non-university schools)	12	(1)
Why Participation in Upper Secondary Schools Declined	12	(3)
Returns to Education and Participation	15	(2)
Key Issues	17	(2)
Financial Resources for Education and Public Financing	19	(12)
Aggregate Educational Spending: Education as a Low Priority	19	(3)
What Educational Spending Per Student Reflects: System's Flexibility and Government Priorities	22	(3)
Flexibility of the education system	23	(1)
Government's priorities	24	(1)
How is the Educational Pie Cut? Functional Spending and Economic Efficiency	25	(3)
Recurrent and capital expenditures in education	26	(1)
How recurrent expenditures are allocated	27	(1)
Issues Raised by Public Underbudgeting for Education	28	(3)
How Efficiently Educational Resources Are Used	31	(14)
Teachers Make the Difference	32	(4)
Number and education of teachers	32	(2)
Teachers' gender, age, and level of experience	34	(1)
How qualified are Albanian teachers	34	(1)
How well are teachers paid?	35	(1)
How attractive are teachers' working conditions?	35	(1)
Deteriorating Physical Facilities	36	(2)
Schools' age and amenities	37	(1)
How Learning Is Organized?	38	(4)
Number of classes, class size, and shifts	38	(1)
Student-teacher ratios	39	(3)
School size	42	(1)
The Black Box of the Albanian Classroom	42	(1)
What methods do Albanian teachers use in the classroom?	42	(1)
How students learn?	43	(1)
Key Issues	43	(2)
Education's Projected Fiscal Impact	45	(4)
Conclusions and Recommendations	49	(4)
Recommendations	50	(3)
Technical Appendix	53	(1)
Statistical Appendix	54	(43)
References	97