Dozens of students of the former "Vitrina" university who graduated during the period 2011-2013, are not recognized with diplomas, on the grounds that they graduated in an unaccredited study cycle. The Ministry of Education and Sports has consistently failed to monitor the activity of private universities on curricula and diplomas issued in violation of the law, leaving only the students to suffer the damage from this phenomenon. At the same time, the absurdity goes even further, when these diplomas, unknown by the Ministry of Education and state institutions, are recognized by public institutions of higher education for further studies in higher cycles.
Author: Hume Cana
Matilda Xhixha is a 30-year-old who dreamed of becoming a teacher as a child. For this purpose, the young woman focused her studies in this direction.
"I graduated from the pedagogic high school, "Sadik Stavileci", professional school", she says and adds that she then attended the professional practice at the "Kamez e Re" school, where after finishing high school she continued her studies at the private high school , "Showcase".
"For three years, I studied for Teacher, Lower Cycle, and after graduating from the non-public high school, "Vitrina", I studied Master Degrees at the University of Durrës", says Matilda.
After completion of master in "Teacher for Primary Education" and finishing the internship at the "Kamez e Re" school, she says that she followed the internship in the first year and in the second year, where she also has a letter from the university and the Ministry of Education, which proves it this thing. But, Matilda would be shocked when, after applying for internship registration, she was told: "You cannot be accepted, because you have a degree from the former non-public university, "Vitrina".
"I addressed the Ministry of Education for the recognition of the diploma and received a negative response. After the ministry, I went to the court and in the court I received a negative answer in the First Instance, but now the case is in Appeal", she says.
In the decision of the Court of First Instance in Matilda's case, it is stated that it is impossible to recognize the diploma, since the branch of study was unlicensed by the responsible institution.
When asked about this issue, the Ministry of Education says: "There is no legal provision to determine that the Ministry of Education and Sports has its functional competence to recognize diplomas issued by public and private higher education institutions."
The situation is more serious for M. GJ., who, before starting her studies Bachelor and Master Degrees near "Vitrina" University, she has been working as a primary school teacher in a private school.
"I The Bachelor I started it in 2011 and finished it Master in 2016 at the "Vitrina" school. After I finished school, where I also worked as a teacher during my studies in a state school, I submitted the documentation to the Education Directorate, but then I was told that the school was not recognized and therefore I was not qualified to hold the job." , she says. Now M. GJ., works outside her profession.
LM, RV, who have completed their studies, are in a similar situation Bachelor at the university "Vitrina" and Master at "Aleksandër Moisiu" university. According to the data provided by "Aleksandër Moisiu" University, 40 students graduated from the program at this university Master Degrees , who have completed their studies Bachelor at "Vitrina" University.
ACQJ during her research, she was able to identify 15 citizens, who are in the same situation, where the "Vitrina" school diploma was not recognized.
Meanwhile, in the archive of the Administrative Court of the First Instance in Tirana, the cases, which were presented for non-recognition of the diplomas issued by the non-public higher schools, "Vitrina" and "Kristal", are not few and show a problem, which extends far beyond the cases identified by ACQJ.
From 2016, when the first lawsuit was filed before this court, until 2023, there are a total of 51 cases, of which 44 have gone to trial and one case is in the trial process.
Institutions abdicate responsibility
"In the trial, it was proven that the program Bachelor The "Lower Cycle Teacher", at the "Vitrina" high school, Faculty of Education Sciences, does not appear to have been licensed at the time of the plaintiff's registration", - it is stated in the decision of the Administrative Court of the First Instance for the character ours.
But what contradicts this part of the decision is the answer from the University of Durrës, where our character received his degree Master Degrees .
In an answer to ACQJ, "Aleksandër Moisiu" University says that there is no VKM or specific order for the recognition of Higher Education diplomas - non-public for UDAM.
Also, the University of Durrës says that the commissions set up every year examine the applications of student candidates and verify the documentation submitted by the candidates.
"One of the documents is the diploma Bachelor or the equivalent, which must be issued by an institution of higher education in the Republic of Albania for a program licensed at the time of registration of the student holding the diploma and accredited at the time of issuing the diploma".
"Aleksandër Moisiu" University emphasizes that it verifies in every case the validity of the diploma of candidates for students in the second cycle, Master of Science and Professional Master, conform of the Higher Education Law without being influenced by the status of the institution that issued it, which means that for UDAM the diploma Bachelor, issued by the former private university, "Vitrina", is known to continue studies Master Degrees , while for the institutions, which are dependent on the Ministry of Education, they are not recognized for employment.
In the last 10 years, 323 students from former private universities have graduated from the second cycle of studies at the University of Durrës, of which 240 are holders of a diploma Bachelor, issued by the former non-public university, "Kristal" and 40 are diploma holders Bachelor of the former non-public university, "Vitrina".
19.798 names in the State Archives, an isolated case or hundreds of unidentified ones?
In 2010, Dhurata Gjozi enrolled in the high school, "Vitrina", where she completed her studies. Bachelor in the direction "Teacher-Lower Cycle", in the years 2010-2013. In the same educational institution, Mrs. Gjozi chose to continue Master, but his studies would be left in half, due to the closure of the institution.
"Master, as is known, was closed for other reasons, not for students' reasons", says Dhurata, who adds that, after the closure of master he received the matriculation number and exam grades with all subjects from the Ministry of Education.
"With this half of master, which I had left, I then went with the letters from the Ministry of Education to the high school, "Aleksandër Moisiu", in Durrës, and they told us that "we have been given an order, we will not accept students who have graduated or who have leave school halfway to "Vitrina".
Once an order was given, then it was removed from power", she says, adding that she did not pursue the case, as she had no opportunity.
"I was unemployed on my profile," says Dhurata, who works as a saleswoman today.
From the confession of Mrs. Gjozi, it is clear that the Ministry of Education has not implemented the Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 539, dated 6.8.2014 to give students, who have not completed their studies, the opportunity to complete them in another educational institution.
Asked by ACQJ on this issue, the Ministry of Education says: "A private institution of higher education begins its activity only after obtaining a license. Its licensing is done, when it meets the state standards and criteria, approved by the Council of Ministers, according to the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science".
But, on the other hand, the Ministry of Education is an institution that existed during the time when former private universities, such as "Vitrina", operated in the higher education market in the country, and the question is: Why were they allowed to function, when they were not did they have permission?!
ACQJ asked the Ministry of Education what it has done about this situation, where there may be hundreds of citizens, but did not manage to get an answer from it, where the ministry preferred to quote only a few articles.
15 cases affected by this problem are those, which ACQJ managed to verify them in a short list of former students of the "Vitrina" university that he had available.
Meanwhile, according to the State Archive, for the former "Vitrina" university, 85 files with amza numbers (personal identification numbers for each student) are stored, with a total of 19,798 names of former students. The number of former students, whose degrees were not recognized, may be several times greater than the one who managed to record ACQJ.
Meanwhile, MAS says that it controls the legality of the activities of higher education institutions, but does not perform any action on students' diplomas.
"Diplomas are a consequence of the direct relationship that is created between the institution of higher education, which provides the service, and the student, who completes his studies and graduates", says the Ministry of Education and Sports.
"It doesn't make sense", the experts agree on the problem
"This kind of thing doesn't make sense to me", - says the education expert, Valbona Nathanaili, when she learns about the case of our character, who, even though he received his diploma Bachelor in the former university "Vitrina", he was accepted and completed his studies Master Degrees at the University of Durrës, her degree Bachelor it is not recognized by state institutions.
The other education expert, Albano Zhapaj, is of the same opinion, who says that this makes no sense from a legal point of view. "If in Master Degrees you take more than 20 exams, sure, but also more than 24 exams, you passed through the hands of 24 lecturers and none of them understood that you don't have a high school Bachelor?!", he says further.
Meanwhile, Rigels Xhemollari from the organization Civic Resistance, states that a public university, such as the University of Durrës, has recognized the person's degree, obtained from these closed private universities, as a valid, legal, relevant degree and in this way has certified it for another level the study.
"So, it is not possible for a university to issue a second-level diploma, as a diploma Master Degrees , without recognizing and certifying the diploma Bachelor", - he says, emphasizing that the Ministry of Education has worked with two standards, on the one hand it has not licensed, it has not recognized these diplomas, it has not given them legitimacy and on the other hand it has not issued a directive that these universities not to accept such degrees during this period.
And while the Ministry of Education calls the end of the story with former private universities, education experts are of a different opinion.
The expert Nathanaili says that all the diplomas, which were issued by "Vitrina" until the year that was closed, are valid.
"They cannot be invalid, because they were like in the case of the teacher's office, which you say, which opened without being accredited; either the former owner must return all the money, or the ministry must turn a blind eye, until it has allowed it", - she says, putting the emphasis on "the controls of the ministry, which are for this work, that's why it takes inspectors, groups of work, of accreditation".
"There are two ways," says expert Albano Zhapaj, "either to compensate him and the injured party to attend another school, or to recognize his diploma, because if this program has never been accredited, the problem is that they have issued diplomas." .
"The responsibility falls on the Ministry of Education", - adds Rigels Xhemollari, where, according to him, this institution should take measures, so that all those who have received diplomas in these universities, this diploma will be recognized and certified. .
"Their knowledge should be reassessed, even to see if they are able to keep that diploma or not, but not in this way", Xhemollari says, adding that "we cannot leave them out of the system, for because they have completed their degree in these private universities, which have been closed or have problems with the law".
The government turned a blind eye to violations of the law
Shortly after coming to power, Rama 1 government would issue a Decision of the Council of Ministers, where it would close some non-public schools, among them the former non-public universities, "Vitrina" and "Kristal", because they did not meet the legal conditions.
"Sadness for thousands of families who have invested their savings to give their children an education, but who have poured the money into these pyramid schemes", Prime Minister Rama would say at that time, adding that, "we have managed to have national registers, where it is said that 10 diplomas were withdrawn by the chief".
But, on the other hand, Berisha government, which was the predecessor of Rama governs, could not be unaware of the problems with meeting the legal conditions that these universities had.
On January 11, 2012, in the premises of the "Vitrina" university campus, a meeting was held with the Deputy Minister of Education, Nora Malaj, accompanied by representatives of the Ministry of Education, more precisely, by the director of Private Education at the time, Arjan Shahini, and by the Higher Education specialist , Dhimitre Bako. In her speech, Mrs. Malaj thanked for the hospitality and emphasized the correctness of the "Vitrina" university and the successes achieved over the years. In the text of the video published on the channel at YouTube, "Vitrina University", among other things, it is said that Mrs. Nora Malaj's speech focused on fulfilling the criteria, as important elements in obtaining accreditation.
Although the governments changed, the Albanian Ministry of Education remained the same in its role and duties since its creation to guarantee the quality of education and improve it, but this institution failed to play its function for the former non-public universities, having a very large impact on the lives of tens if not hundreds of students. Although the responsibility for allowing the operation of non-public universities in violation of the law or in violation of the law of the time falls precisely on the Ministry of Education, the only thing that this institution says, when asked what is the reason for not recognizing the diplomas issued by the former - private universities, is: "Based on the legislation in force, the process of recognition and counting is not done for diplomas that have been issued within the country".
And while educational institutions of all levels "wash their hands" when faced with such situations, dozens if not hundreds of citizens have lost hundreds of thousands of euros and several years, studying to obtain a diploma Bachelor, which today the Albanian state does not recognize, even though the institutions of higher education, which were closed, have operated under the nose of the state institutions, which were supposed to ensure respect for the law.
