Secondary Education for Roma and Egyptian Community Students in Albania

Why this matters

Fewer Roma and Egyptian pupils are in school each year, and the gap widens at every step from primary to secondary to higher education. Girls in these communities are further behind still.

The cost shows up later, in work. 45.28% of unemployed Roma jobseekers never finished primary school, against 13.9% of Egyptian jobseekers. Across Albania, the 2021 Labour Force Survey found that 41.6% of the workforce has basic education or less. Closing this gap is central to reducing poverty and improving long-term job prospects.

The real number of unemployed people in both communities is far higher than the number registered as jobseekers. Only 30 young Roma and Egyptians are enrolled in the Youth Guarantee, and they make up 11.7% of participants in employment-promotion programmes.

How the study was done

The study combines a legal review (national law, international standards and European Court of Human Rights case law) with two original questionnaires run in May 2025, and official requests for data from three public institutions.

98

pupils answered an 18-question survey

108

parents, teachers and public officials answered a 14-question survey

3

institutions were asked for data: the education ministry, the health and social protection ministry, and AKPA

1

replied within the legal deadline. Only AKPA did.

What pupils told us

79.6% attend school every day, 16.3% only some days of the week, and about 5% have left. One pupil in six (16.3%) has dropped out at some point, for economic reasons, family pressure, emigration or ill health. Irregular attendance is usually the first step towards leaving for good.

70% have felt discriminated against at school. Leaving aside the majority pupils, only one in five Roma and Egyptian respondents has not.

Discrimination takes the form of separate seating in class, insulting labels from teachers or classmates, and stereotypes repeated until they stick. The result is a vicious circle: less participation, less support, more drop-out.

54% name money as their main obstacle, and only 22.4% take part in any after-school activity. Just 38.8% have ever had career counselling. Asked what would make school better, pupils asked for respect and an end to discrimination, mentors from their own community, structured academic support, free transport, a school meal and a curriculum that includes their culture.

What parents and officials see on the ground

The adults around these pupils describe a wide gap between the goals in national strategies and what actually reaches their schools.

• 58.3%report no active support programme in their area
• 57.4%say career counselling is missing or very rare
• 44%rate inclusion in their area as poor or very poor; only 26% as good
• 17.6%see the legal framework as supportive and effective

State structures are seen as formal bodies with no active presence in the community. Current measures do not deal with the practical barriers families face: transport, the cost of schooling and economic pressure to start earning.

The law promises more than the system delivers

Article 57 of the Constitution states that everyone has the right to education. Albania has aligned its laws with the European Convention on Human Rights, the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, UNESCO's 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education, ILO Convention 142 and successive Council of Europe recommendations, the latest of which, CM/Rec(2023)4, asks that young Roma help shape the policies that affect them.

Law 69/2012 on pre-university education

Guarantees inclusive education, bans discrimination and provides teaching in the mother tongue for national minorities.

Law 18/2017 on the rights of the child

Affirms the right to free, quality education and the cultural and linguistic rights of minorities.

Law 15/2017 on vocational education and training

Creates a unified VET system and recognises non-formal and informal learning.

Law 15/2019 on employment promotion

Names Roma and Egyptians as disadvantaged jobseekers entitled to career guidance and active labour-market programmes.

The National Action Plan for Roma and Egyptians 2021–2025 (DCM 701/2021) links education to employment and set these targets for 2025:

• 80%more Roma and Egyptian children completing pre-school, basic and secondary education
• 60%of unemployed Roma and Egyptian jobseekers in work after vocational training
• 300more Roma and Egyptians given financial support to start a business
• 70%of economic-aid recipients back in work

Implementation has fallen short for the same reasons each time: weak coordination between institutions, limited funding and too little administrative capacity. Scholarships are not enough, career guidance is not offered in every school, and many vocational programmes are far from where these communities live. The National Employment and Skills Strategy 2023–2030 promises a Youth Guarantee that finds every young person work, study or training within four months of leaving school. For it to work, young people need to feel supported through the whole journey, not just offered a place.

What the study concludes

• The legal and institutional framework exists, but it is weakly implemented.
• Inequality and discrimination are still part of daily life in schools and workplaces.
• Roma and Egyptian families are poorly informed about their rights and the services available to them.
• Career counselling is practically absent for these communities.
• There is no accurate, regularly updated data on this group.
• Drop-out and segregation remain unresolved, despite European Court of Human Rights judgments.