59 schools have closed in the past 5 years in the county of Elbasan.
According to data from INSTAS, Elbasan has seen a considerable drop in its population numbers in recent years. Residents rank unemployment and poverty as the leading causes for their decision to relocate.
The reduction of the population is also reflected in the closure of schools as a result of a lack of younger generation, mainly in rural areas. According to official data secured by Euronews Albania, during the last 5 years, the county of Elbasan has shut down 59 schools.
10 schools in Gramsh, 3 in Belsh, 2 in Cerrik, 21 in Elbasan, 11 in Peqin, 2 in Perrenjas, and 10 in Librazhd.
Local educational offices have stated that the main reasons for their closing and the fall in the numbers of students is their emigration outside of the county or their relocation of other schools with better standards.
In the last 2 years, because a lack of recruitment, there are 6 programs of study that risk closing down in the university of Aleksander Xhuvani in Elbasan:
- Bachelor in “History and German language”
- Bachelor in “Geography and Italian language”
- Bachelor in “Computer physics”
- Master professional in “Editing”
- Master professional in “Sports Journalism”
- Master of Science in “Geography”
After the county of Elbasan, Fier, Berat, and Dibra are the counties exhibiting the highest drop in the number of residents in the past 4 years. Meanwhile, Tirana has seen a rise by 63 thousand residents and Durresi, 10 thousand, which means that there is also a relocation trend into urban areas for financial reasons.
In the past 4 years, according to official data by INSTAT, Albania has seen a reduction of the population by around 30 thousand citizens.
