“To be honest, it’s very tiring, very tiring. But when you have a passion, a great desire, that fatigue doesn’t count at all.”

In modern times, this is the “anthem” of every teacher.

And today, everyone has their eyes on them, these are the first words that come to Alketa Nikolla’s mind, when asked about her work.

For more than 20 years, she has dedicated her life to the cultivation of art in children, as she teaches violin at the music school in Durrës.

“We are trying hard, we are getting tired, to make the generation learn more, get more knowledge. We are not saying that they should become violinists and turn out to be violinists tomorrow, no. After all, learning a musical instrument is not a wrong thing, it is something added to the culture of a student”, says the teacher.

As a reward for many years of work, she was awarded at the year-end ceremony by the Ministry of Education with the award “Teacher Promoter of Talents 2023”.

“Seeing that we have older teachers, who have more years of work experience. Very big surprise. However, I say that the work done over many years will one day be rewarded”, she says.

A witness to the system in two different times, from monism to democracy, Nikolla says that even today there are still many things missing in schools.

“I look at it after many years and seeing what period we live in, how far the world has moved and to think that the student does not have a piano to study at home? I mean, everything has its own cost and we ask, ask, but sometimes we have to stretch our legs as much as we have the quilt, we shouldn’t ask only from the student”, says the teacher.

Despite these absences, on the day she celebrates with her colleagues the day dedicated to teachers, she is full of hope that better days will come for education in the country.