Territorial Impact of the Agriculture Vocational Education in Albania

ERALDA SHORE NOÇKA

Department of Economics and Rural Development Policies,

Faculty of Economics and Agribusiness, Agricultural University of Tirana,

Rruga Paisi Vodica 1025, Tirana,

ALBANIA

ORCID NO: 0009-0003-8324-0172

AELITA XHUVELI MANI

Department of Business Administration,

Faculty of Economy, University of Luarasi, Tirana,

Rruga e Elbasanit 59, 1000 Tirana,

ALBANIA

ORCID NO: 0009-0007-1153-5958

ANA KAPAJ

Department of Mathematics and Informatics

Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness, Agricultural University of Tirana,

Rruga Paisi Vodica 1025, Tirana,

ALBANIA

ORCID NO: 0000-0002-2406-2164

ALERTA BASHA

Department of Mathematics and Informatics,

Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness, Agricultural University of Tirana,

Rruga Paisi Vodica 1025, Tirana,

ALBANIA

ORCID NO: 0000-0002-5690-6704

Abstract: - The agricultural vocational education secondary school (AVESS) system in Albania, is organized

through 8 institutions located in various regions, that tend to respond to entire the national demand, giving

equal opportunities to all interested students, regardless of their place of residence. In these regards, the

Albanian government has implemented several measures to attract students to integrate AVESS and facilitate

their integration in the labor market. Despite the various measures, including financial support or adapted

facilities for students coming from families with low income or from remote areas. The territorial impact of

AVES remains limited and shows a relatively low coverage. This phenomenon is not exclusive to agricultural

professional schools that do not have dormitories, but even to vocational schools that have dormitories and

adequate facilities.

Aiming towards a sustainable agricultural sector development and an efficient sectoral labor market, that

tends to guarantee equal opportunities for the new generations, the objectives of the study are AVESS Gap

identification, factors that impact AVESS attendance, assessment of the impact of governmental measures, and

proposing recommendations for a sustainable AVESS system. To understand what are the main factors that

influence the territorial impact of AVESS, a consolidated assessment has been performed during 2020-2021,

passing through desk research, screening, focus groups, working groups, experts and agricultural representative

interviews, and visit to relevant agricultural businesses, workshops, and dedicated surveys targeting teachers,

students, and local businesses. Out of the assessment results, family income is the main factor influencing

AVESS attendance. Regardless if schools have dormitory facilities or not, as the distance between students’

homes and the vocational school’s location increases, family income also tends to increase, but at a decreasing

rate. Students coming from families with modest incomes show a lower mobility and beyond a certain distance

they are less likely to register in AVESS located far from their residence.

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By testing three main hypotheses, it has been noticed that home-school distance negatively affects the

attendance of students coming from families with lower incomes. In other words, family income plays a

significant role in determining school attendance, particularly when considering the distance between students'

homes and AVESS. Considering this finding and the low AVESS territorial impact, imply that the

governmental financial incentives have a low impact and do not offer equal opportunities to all students,

especially the ones residing far away from AVESS and coming from families with low incomes. In this context,

new policies could be taken into account, such as enlarging the number of AVESS or evaluating the possibility

to open agricultural vocational education secondary classes in general high schools located in rural areas.

Key-Words: - Vocational Education, Professional Agricultural Profile, Family Income, Territorial Impact,

Territorial Coverage.

Received: August 6, 2022. Revised: June 24, 2023. Accepted: August 9, 2023. Published: September 7, 2023.

1 Introduction

Youth in Albania represents the greatest

employment potential considering that the country

has the second youngest population in Europe.

However, the unemployment ratio of the youngest

generations remains very high (almost 20.9% of 15-

29 years old), showing that the labor market faces

difficulties in integrating young generations, even in

sectors with high potential, such as agriculture.

Agriculture remains a non-attractive business

for young people; even though the sector employs a

large part of the population, the Albanian youth

considers agriculture as “old fashion” and has

steadily been migrating to urban centers for more

opportunities. New funding availabilities and a shift

in governmental strategic priorities have put a focus

on a sector with increasing potential. In Albania,

agriculture remains the main sector in terms of

employment and contribution to the overall Gross

Domestic Product (GDP). Agriculture accounts for

18% of the national GDP, and about 48% of the

workforce is employed in this sector, [1]. Based on

INSTAT official data in Albania there are approx.

355,000 farms of which about 300,000 are mixed

with crops and livestock production. Farm size has

increased from 1.14 ha to 1.20 ha, while parcel size

has maintained the same level, about 0.27 ha,

implying not only small farm size but also a high

level of fragmentation, which characterizes the

agriculture sector in Albania, [1].

According to the official Labor Force Survey

for the year 2021, the estimated labor force was

1.411.308 persons (of which 88.48% were

employed), of which 33.8% were employed in the

agriculture sector, [1]. Still, further total

employment was dominated by the agricultural

sector, being clear the high potential and impact that

Albanian agriculture has. The large employment

shares of the agriculture sector and the major need

for the upgrade of older technologies towards

European standards call for new technical skills to

manage the transition.

The strong and positive relationship between

individuals’ education and skill levels toward labor

market outcomes, shows that a focus shall be paid to

ameliorating education opportunities and skills in

this field. Guidance for youth towards the vocational

education system plays an important role in

orienting them toward employment options and

decreasing migration. According to Instat, in the

education for the academic year 2020-2021,

vocational education students as a percentage of all

students in secondary education represent 17.66%,

[1]. Further improvement and development of the

vocational education and training system will enable

the country to achieve its full growth potential.

Taking into account the above-mentioned

situation, a deep assessment of agricultural

vocational education secondary school (AVESS)

has been performed to make a screening of the

overall situation, problems, and needs on a national

scale. Particular attention has been given to

governmental measures/interventions and results

interpretation, to orient decisions, and strategies and

to develop policies.

Thanks to an in-depth analysis of the situation,

using questionnaires oriented to AVESS students,

teachers/professionals, and local businesses in the

agricultural sector, a large number of findings have

been identified, concerning three main aspects:

students’ attendance on integrating AVESS, gaps

that prevent AVESS to properly fulfill their

functions, and AVESS relations with local

businesses. The findings aim to elaborate

recommendations/considerations to be taken into

account in the further AVESS development, in

Albania.

Aiming towards a sustainable agricultural sector

development and an efficient sectoral labor market,

that tends to guarantee equal opportunities for new

generations, the objectives of the study are:

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 To highlight the problems of the Agricultural

Vocational Education System in Albania;

 Identifies main gaps/factors that impact AVESS

attendance by students.

 Asses governmental measures impact and

propose recommendations sustainable AVESS

System.

2 Agricultural Vocational Education

Secondary Schools in Albania

Aristotle’s, education principles can be summarized

as the progress of training man to fulfill his aim by

exercising all the faculties to the fullest extent as a

member of society. To Socrates, education means

the bringing out of the ideas of universal validity

which are latent in the mind of every man.

International consensus on education priorities

accords an important place for achieving gender

justice in the educational sphere, [2]. Strategic

planning in an educational context was defined in a

variety of ways in the relevant literature, [3]. There

is no agreed-upon definition in the field of history

education. Concepts such as “skills,” “processes,”

and “competencies” are often used interchangeably

in educational jargon to refer to historical thinking,

[4]. Current inquiry problem areas are often

determined by the influx of new technologies into

educational practice, [5]. Important to the newest

research in education is the use of authentic

environments and the voices of practitioners and

users as well as a researcher, [5]. The digital

transformation of the economy is reshaping how

people work and do business since current

approaches of operation by companies or start-ups

influence the skills demanded, with a prevalence of

innovation and entrepreneurship, [6]. The traditional

view suggests that the teacher has the knowledge,

the learner is dependent on the teacher to

disseminate the knowledge and the learner has

nothing to contribute, [7]. The study, [8], began to

popularize “andragogy” as an alternative

educational process to “pedagogy”. In this

transnational space, adults’ education nature and

scope are currently being revised to respond to the

complexity that characterizes globalized modern

societies, [9]. This paper will closely examine and

compare the status and challenges of the AVESS

system in Albania. In light of different social

developments, it is expected to find differences in

the status of education in AVESS. The role of the

AVESS system in this context, in addition to its

contribution to personal development and

fulfillment, is increasingly recognized in the

Members States’ National Reform Programmers,

[10]. This Communication highlights the essential

contribution of learning, through the acquisition of

key competencies by all, to employability and

mobility in a modern labor market and social

inclusion, [10]. Increasing participation in young

adult learning and making it more equitable is

crucial, [10]. Teaching methods and materials

should take into account the specific needs and

learning approaches of young adults, [10]. The

professional development of people working in

AVESS is a vital determinant of the quality of

learning. Little attention has been paid to defining

the content and processes for initial training for

learning staff. There are many educational and

professional routes to becoming a learning

practitioner and the profession is not always

recognized within formal career structures, [10].

Teacher collaboration is a step toward the

integration of disciplines, better mirroring what

happens outside the classroom, [11]. According to

[12], in a poor economy, schooling is costly for

parents, and education is likely to be unequally

distributed among siblings.

2.1 AVESS Main Data and Assessment

Methodology

In Albania, 8 Vocational Education public

secondary schools offer agricultural profiles, while

there are no private schools with agricultural

profiles. Being part of different national policies,

strategies, plans, and action plans, these Vocational

Education secondary schools are identified as a

main actor in labor market insertion, especially in

the agricultural sector. Even if there are no official

preliminary assessments on AVESS's impact on the

agricultural sector, it is unanimously considered by

agricultural field professionals that these institutions

encounter difficulties in achieving their objectives.

To identify the main dynamics, an assessment has

been performed during 2020-2021. The preliminary

assessment has been achieved through desk research

and a detailed screening, focus group, working

groups, expert and agricultural representative

interviews, and visits to relevant agricultural

businesses. The results of the preliminary

assessment have been the subject of a workshop

with the main stakeholders coming from the

agricultural sector and AVESS.

Thanks to a consolidated assessment three

questionnaires have been elaborated: one targeting

AVESS teachers; one targeting AVESS students;

and one targeting agricultural local businesses in

close collaboration with AVESS. These

questionnaires included closed, semi-closed, and

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open-ended tailored qualitative and quantitative

questions. These questionnaires have been

distributed to all active AVESS in Albanian and 58

main agricultural businesses in close collaboration

with these institutions. The absorption of different

opinions, based on the territorial distribution,

enables a comprehensive assessment of the

heterogeneous community of the AVESS system. In

this context, the distribution of questionnaires in the

zones of influence of each active AVESS in Albania

aims first of all to be all-inclusive from a territorial

point of view, and asses the AVESS system from a

three-dimensional perspective (education system,

students, and business).

For a better representation and to reduce

statistical distortions, the questionnaires were

distributed randomly and were self-completed by

the respondents. The surveys involve 516 students

of vocational education agricultural profile (over a

population of 1,381 students of the 8 public

Albanian Public Vocational Education schools,

representing 37% of the population and at least 21%

of the students of each school have responded to the

questionary), 75 agricultural profile teachers of

vocational education (over a population of 161

teachers from the 8 public Albanian Public

Vocational Education schools representing 46.5% of

the population), 58 agricultural business in close

collaboration with the existing AVESS.

The results of the surveys have been subject to

quality control, detailed data analyses, and

crosscheck verification analyses, which have

permitted to have a large number of relevant

findings.

2.2 Albanian Agricultural Sector

Agriculture remains one of the main important

sectors in the development of the Albanian

economy, representing 19,23% of the national GDP,

[1]. Based on official data, [1], there are

approximately 84,369 active farms in Albania, and

even though their size has increased during the last

years, the agriculture sector is still characterized by

small farms and a high level of agricultural land

fragmentation, [1]. According to the official data,

[1], the agriculture sector represents over 33.8% of

the employed workforce, while taking into account

that the sector still suffers from informality and

undeclared work. The employment by economic

activity is presented in Figure 1.

Fig. 1: Employment by economic activity, [1]

According to World Bank data agriculture's

share in the Albanian economy is the highest in the

region and the second-ranked in Europe, [13].

Referring to the same data agriculture share in the

total GDP of Northern Macedonia was 7.9%, 6.8%

in Montenegro, 6.1% in Turkey, 6% in Serbia, 5.6%

in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 9.1% in Kosovo,

[13]. This trend remained more or less stable

varying between 19.85% (2016) to 17% (2017),

with an average share of 18% for the years 2010-

2018, [13], [14]. Referring to these figures and the

macroeconomic changes that occurred after the fall

of the communist regime in the early 1990, the

Albanian Government tried to focus its policies to

make further progress in the sector. However, the

progress made according to European Commission

yearly reports, was moderate compared to the needs

and standards of the EU common market,

principally handling only horizontal issues, [14].

The principal governing law no. 9817 “For

Agricultural and rural development” was adopted in

2007, after the entry into force of the Stabilization

and Association Agreement, and was not amended

since then, [15]. It implies the objectives, measures,

and policies in agriculture and rural development.

The law is accompanied by a set of other legal acts

such as those regulating the implementation of

foreign assistance under the Instruments of Pre-

Accession (IPA) with the European Union, and the

sectorial Assistance Programs for Agriculture and

Rural Development (IPARD), [16], accompanied by

by-laws.

Albanian agriculture and rural areas entered a

new stage of development with the country’s

application for EU membership in 2010. To fulfill

its strategic objective of EU integration, and to meet

the Commission requirements in line with

obligations entailed by the candidate status since

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2014, specifically regarding Chapter 11 on

Agriculture and rural development, the Albanian

Government adopted the Inter Sectorial Agricultural

and Rural Development Strategy – ISARDS, [17].

Its` main objective is to define the strategic

framework to treat the challenges faced by the

agriculture and agro-processing sector, as well as

the development of rural areas in a sustainable

economic, environmental, and social manner,

proposing similar policy instruments to the

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), to achieve

economically viable farming, improved food

security and sustainable rural development.

ISARDS is based on three main pillars: (a) policy

framework on rural development; (b) national

budgetary support schemes, (c) institutional and

legal development, and the implementation of the

new framework, [17]. The strategic approach of the

government to meet EU standards and aquis

requirements in this field was pointed out again in

the reviewed National Strategy for Development

and Integration (NSDI II), which together with the

National Program for European Integration (NPEI)

and the Action Plan for the alignment towards the

2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs), supports the sustainable socio-economic

development of Albania and the EU integration

process by reasserting the vision of ISARDS, [17].

Even though the entire policy framework related to

agriculture, and the specific provisions of the

ISARDS, [17], underline the importance of

vocational education, technical programs, and

graduates for further development of the sector, they

do not foresee any specific measures to improve the

current situation in agriculture vocational schools. It

may be considered that this scenario is a

consequence of the fact that ISARDS, [17], was not

followed by a public Action Plan, and neither has a

mid-term review or approved update.

2.3 AVESS system in Albania

Vocational Education Schools in Albania have their

origin in the early 1920s, with “Harry Fultz”,

founded by the American Red Cross. After the

Second World War, the vocational education system

in Albania featured a dual element:

- firstly, vocational secondary schools

provided theory classes for full-time students and

students that already had a job, whereas, for practice

learning, students undertook internships in state

enterprises, and

- secondly, internships were regulated by the

state, and the participation of enterprises was

compulsorily enforced by law.

During Communism, 58% of all vocational

schools were oriented toward an agricultural profile.

After the fall of the communist regime in the early

90s, the country has undertaken agrarian reforms,

that put an end to the communist cooperative

system, and which resulted among other things in

agricultural land fragmentation, a large rural exodus,

and a considerable agricultural production decrease.

These changes had the effect of significantly

reducing the demand for agricultural vocational

education and consequently, the vocational schools

have been closed gradually. The decline of the

agricultural sector during the first years of the

transition period significantly reduced the number of

students interested in professional agricultural

formation. Due to the low impact and efficiency, the

number of AVESS has been significantly reduced

and agricultural vocational classes in general high

schools have been closed for two decades (1990-

2010).

Despite the considerable changes after the 90s,

the agricultural sector has always played an

important role in the family economy and

employment. The development of the agricultural

sector after 2010 and its main role in the local

economy, resulted in a growing demand for a skilled

labor force, in various branches of the agricultural

sector. For this reason, in the last decade, the

Albanian government has taken different measures

to reactivate the professional education system, by

reactivating or opening new vocational schools on

the Agricultural profile. Moreover, to encourage

student participation, scholarship and financial aid

for transportation systems have been put in place.

The new AVESS, aimed to meet national demand

for agricultural vocational education.

However, based on different reports on

Vocational Secondary Schools, despite the steps

taken in support of the secondary professional

agricultural system, AVASS shows a lack of

territorial coverage, adapted structures (as

dormitories, agricultural land, or/and greenhouses

for school practices, technical tools, etc.). Moreover,

there is a lack of formation and harmonization with

the labor market demand, AVESS is offering

theoretical training with a weak connection to

agricultural and agro-processing businesses. To

improve this relationship between supply and

demand in the labor market, Albania has recently

integrated Vocational Education Schools under the

National Agency for Employment and Skills –

NAES (an agency offering public services covering

employment programs, facilities in linking

employers and job seekers, professional training

programs, self-employment programs, and financial

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support to help people to find a suitable job).

However, the integration of vocational schools

under NAES has not been associated with a clear

Vocational Education System Development

Strategy, in other words, the integration of AVESS

under NAES does not change their territorial

impact, especially since these schools still do not

provide part-time training, for people that already

have a job in the sector.

2.4 Main Finding on AVESS Assessment in

Albania

Currently in Albania, 8 public vocational secondary

education institutions offer agricultural education,

while there are no private schools in this field. A

total of 161 teachers and 78 profiled teachers work

in these institutions. All these schools, in addition to

the agricultural direction, also offer other

educational directions such as: Veterinary, Food

Technology, Wood Processing, Forestry,

Mechanics, Electrotechnics, Transport Services,

Social-Health Services, ICT, Hotel-Tourism, etc.

Considering the economic role of the agricultural

sector (where the agricultural sector employs over

33.8% of the active population on a national scale),

the total number of 1,381 students, let us understand

that there is a relatively low demand for AVESS

formation.

The agricultural profile still attracts more males,

because more than ¾ of students in agriculture

vocational education are males (almost all students

enrolled for the academic year 2019-2020 in

Shkodra are males, while this phenomenon is more

balanced in other AVESS, and only one school

registers a higher female attendance in Golem-

Kavaja). These results show the perception of

citizens on the agricultural professions. According

to the teachers, this gender disparity is mostly due to

local cultural perceptions.

Professional agricultural education is a

continuity of the education course and is not

considered by older groups as a qualification

opportunity to integrate the agricultural sector labor

market. Over 97.2% of students are aged 14-19

years, and over 66.6% of students aspire to higher

education. These results show that vocational

schools in the agricultural profile are mostly

frequented by students that have not yet integrated

into the labor market or consider AVESS as a

trampoline to integrate higher education. Vocational

schools do not offer part-time education,

highlighting the fact that these schools do not offer

the opportunity to the currently employed labor to

have a formation or to further ameliorate their

knowledge and skills in the agricultural profile.

Even if NAES, provide short-term professional

training programs to job seekers or employed people

that want to improve their skills, the lack of part-

time AVESS does not offer the possibility for the

agricultural labor market to develop in a sustainable

way. On the other hand, only 33,4% of the students

aspire to integrate into the labor market after

conducting their agricultural vocational education,

while over 66.6% of the students aspire to follow

higher education, implying that agricultural

vocational education is not mainly considered an

option for quick integration into the labor market,

but is mostly an opportunity to pursue higher

education in agriculture profiles. The students that

have at least received a state scholarship are

presented in Figure 2.

Fig. 2: Students that have at least received a state

scholarship

Considering that 43% of students have never

completed a single professional practice, while 37%

of them identify experience exchange as one of the

main opportunities to ameliorate agricultural

vocational education, this shows a low level of

professional practices and experience exchange.

According to the teacher’s perception, the lack of

practice comes from the fact that these internships

are not paid and students encounter financial

difficulties in reaching the farms where the courses

take place, farms do not respect the internship

programs and use students as a free workforce,

students families prefer their children to contribute

on families’ businesses, etc.

Students usually come from families with a high

number of family members and low incomes. The

average composition of the families’ members is

5.3, exceeding the national average of 3.9 members,

and the average number of family members at

working age is 2.8, exceeding the national average

of 2.6 members, while the average number of

employed family members is 2, lower than the

national average of 2.6 members. Almost ¼ of the

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students have at least one family member in

immigration and 18% declare that the main income

of their families comes from remittances of family

members in immigration. Moreover, 75% of the

students have received scholarships, suggesting that

a good part of the students come from economically

disadvantaged families. In these conditions it is

clear that there is a large proportion of students that

come from families with low incomes, this can be

justified by the fact that the government offers

financial facilities to the students that integrate

vocational education secondary school, based on

family incomes.

The labor market opportunities and family

economic activity are the main factors in selecting

agricultural vocational education. About 47% of

students have chosen agricultural vocational

education “to easily find a job in agricultural

farms”, and 37% “to support their family

agricultural business”. Vocational education is

considered an important instrument towards the

integration of the labor market in the agricultural

sector and develop the family farming business,

highlighting the positive reputation of vocational

education as a catalysator on labor market

integration (supported even by the fact that 86% of

the students consider the situation of the agricultural

vocational education ‘quite favorable’ or ‘very

favorable’). Despite the positive perception

(supported even by teachers and local businesses),

AVESS recorded a decreasing number of students

registered on agricultural profiles.

The territorial impact of professional education

schools is limited in the areas nearby the

institutions. The majority of students come from the

areas close to the location of the schools because the

average distance between these students’ homes and

educational institutions is 6,573m. The fact that

there are only 8 vocational schools for all of

Albania, emphasizes the lack of a balanced

territorial distribution of agricultural vocational

education. The average distance from students'

homes to vocational schools (meters) is presented in

Figure 3.

Fig. 3: Average distance from students' homes to

vocational schools (meters)

3 Distance and Family Income

Impact on AVESS Attendance

Only 5 schools out of 8 have functional dormitories

(with a total capacity of 1040 places), underlining

that the Agricultural Professional School of Kamëz

and "Enver Qiraxhi" Technical-Professional School,

Pogradec and "Kolë Margjini" Forestry Technical

School, can mainly attract students who live in the

immediate surroundings, while the other schools are

presumed to have a larger impact. In addition to the

lack of dormitories, it is worth noting that there is

also a very low attendance of the dormitories,

making it clear that the influence of the schools is

mainly regional and does not have a large effect as

could be expected.

According to the average distance to AVESS

students’ homes, it appears that schools that do not

have dormitories do not have a large territorial

coverage, where on average the distance to AVESS-

students’ homes does not exceed 3km and more than

50% of the students’ live e in a distance lower than

1Km. On the other hand, it seems that schools that

have dormitories have a larger coverage, however,

more than 50% of the students’ home is located at a

lower distance than 4.5km. Even in the case of

“Rakip Kryeziu” in Fier, which gives the impression

of a larger territorial impact, 50% of the student's

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home is located at a lower distance than 5km. The

AVESS average territorial coverage is presented in

Figure 4.

Fig. 4: AVESS average territorial coverage

From the questionnaires, “Distance from their

home” and poor “transport access” are considered

by students as the main factors that inhibit the

development of agricultural post-secondary

vocational education. The same, considerations have

been raised by the teachers, emphasizing that even

in the cases where dormitories are present and the

fact that students that come from families with low

incomes could benefit from scholarships, the

territorial impact of vocational education remains

limited. For the teachers and agricultural experts,

this limited territorial impact comes from the fact

that families with low incomes, cannot deprive

themselves of their children's work, by sending them

to vocational schools far from home.

Living near a vocational education school can

offer an affordable solution for students who plan to

pursue a vocational education: staying home to save

on living and moving costs. However, the questions

raised from the questionnaires are: Are students who

live near a vocational education school more likely

to go to a vocational education school than others?

And, if so, what is the role of the family income?

Frequenting the vocational education school may

not be as much of a deterrent for students living in

high- or middle-income families, as it is for those

living in low-income families who may not be able

to afford to pay the student's living and moving

expenses. Indeed, based on the family income and

the distance to the AVESS location and students’

homes, it seems that at greater distances, the average

family income is higher (the same observation is

made for the family income by family members).

Over a distance of 8km, the average family income

per member is higher than 10,000.00ALL per family

member, and more than 87% of the students have an

average family income per member higher than

15,000.00ALL, what could be considered as

students living in middle- or higher-income

families. The Family income and distance AVESS

location- students’ home is presented in Figure 5.

Fig. 5: Family income and distance AVESS

location- students’ home.

Considering that some students live at home and

some others live at the dormitories during the week,

and the fact that students coming from families with

low income have almost access to scholarships,

three hypotheses have been assessed:

- H1. Distance from the school negatively affects

the frequentation of the vocational education

school for the students coming from families with

low income and residing in their family.

- H2. Distance from the school negatively affects

the frequentation of the vocational education

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DOI: 10.37394/232018.2023.11.25

Eralda Shore Noçka, Aelita Xhuveli Mani,

Ana Kapaj, Alerta Basha

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school for the students coming from families with

low income and residing in the school’s

dormitories.

- H3. Distance from the school negatively affects

the frequentation of the vocational education

school for students coming from families with

low income.

To test these hypotheses, the interaction of

family incomes per member with the distance home-

school variables has been analyzed, while taking

into account if the students stay at home or in

scholar dormitories. This allows us to assess the role

played by distance as a function of family income.

The Econometrics results are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Econometrics results

Hypotheses

Regression

Wight

D-I

0.399

2.394

1.679

0.259

0.371

0.483

F(1,316)

F(1,75)

F(1,392)

109.894

43.731

364.613

10.483

6.613

19.095

p-value

0.000

Hypotheses

supported

YES

Note.*p<0.05.d: Distance from school, I: Family

income per member

The dependent variable distance from school has

been regressed on predicting variable family income

for the three hypotheses. Coefficients were further

assessed to ascertain the influence of the factor on

the criterion variable.

- H1 evaluate whether family income

significantly affects the distance home-school, the

results revealed that family income has a

significant impact on AVESS attendance by

students that reside in their family (B=0.399,

t=10.3483, p=0.000).

- H2 results revealed that family income has a

significant impact on vocational education school

attendance by students that reside in school

dormitories (B=2.394, t=6.613, p=0.000).

- H3 results revealed that family income has a

significant impact on vocational education school

attendance in general (B=1.679, t=19.095,

p=0.000).

In this context, family incomes have a

significant impact on AVESS attendance, whether

in the case of schools with or without dormitories.

Family income increase as the distance between

home and the AVESS location increases, implying

that the greater distance between school and home,

the smaller the predisposition of students coming

from low-income families to follow AVESS.

Moreover, the family income increases as the

distance between home and the AVESS location

increases at a decreasing rate, which is consistent

with the notion that, beyond a certain threshold, the

increasing distance might not matter as much, since

the school is simply too far away for the student to

commute.

Moreover, if focusing only on the students that

declare that their family incomes come mainly from

familial agricultural business, family income has an

even larger impact on the distance home school, so

on AVESS attendance. This result supports the

perception of teachers, that families with low

income could not prevent their family, from the

work provided by their children, by registering them

in vocational secondary schools far away from

home, where children have to stay in dormitories or

have lost too much time on transportation.

Despite the Albanian government's efforts to

meet the demand for Agricultural Vocational

Education, AVESS has a limited territorial impact

that does not cover all the Albanian territory. In

addition, even the financial measures that try to help

disadvantaged students (such as scholarships,

financial support on transportation, dormitories

facilities, and financial support…), have a limited

impact from a territorial point of view, because

disadvantaged students living closest to the AVESS

are more likely to follow agricultural vocational

education than the ones that live far away. So, in the

actual AVESS system, financial measures have a

fairly limited impact on equal opportunities.

4 Conclusion and Considerations

Considering the impact of distance home -AVESS,

family income, and the role of the agricultural sector

in the Albanian economy and labor market, it is

interesting to find out why AVESS has limited

territorial coverage, while a large number of

measures have been taken by the Albanian

government (scholarship, dormitories and transport

financial support, etc.). Family incomes have been

identified as one of the main factors in AVESS

attendance. The econometric analyses have shown,

that family income per member increases as the

distance between home and school increases,

implying that the greater the distance between

school and home, the smaller the predisposition of

students coming from low-income families to follow

AVESS. Even if family income per member

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DOI: 10.37394/232018.2023.11.25

Eralda Shore Noçka, Aelita Xhuveli Mani,

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increase at a decreasing rate, this phenomenon

underlying that beyond a certain threshold, the

increasing distance might not matter as much, since

the school is simply too far away for the student to

commute.

Even if, financial support for following AVESS

could attract a larger number of students, this impact

is mainly concentrated in a limited territorial area

surrounding the school. The impact of family

income on the distance home-school affirms that by

going beyond a certain distance, relatives with lower

incomes no longer inscribe their children to

vocational schools located far from their house.

These limitations could come from different factors

such as the work contribution of the children in the

family businesses, auxiliaries’ expenses,

perceptions, sentimental factors, etc.

Considering this limited territorial impact of

AVESS, it is clear that the actual Vocational

secondary education system in Albania does not

respond effectively to national demand, because

some parts of the territory are outside the AVESS

“impact zone”, AVESS do not offer part-time

education that offers the opportunity to the currently

employed labor force to have a secondary formation

to further ameliorate their knowledge and skills in

agricultural profile.

In this context, besides the financial support, the

Albanian government should evaluate the

possibilities to:

- Integrate professional profile classes even in

general secondary schools, where students can

specialize while attending existing institutions that

offer general education. This option seems very

interesting, especially since that general education

secondary schools have e better territorial coverage.

- Develop part-time education, to develop the

currently employed labor force to have a secondary

vocational formation. The development of part-time

education may concern even the creation of part-

time classes even in general secondary schools,

especially in areas with e high demands on this

formation.

In both possibilities, these evaluations require

close collaboration between NAES (in charge of

vocational education), the Ministry of Education

and Sports (in charge of general education), and the

Local Government (in charge of general education

facilities). Moreover, by involving sectorial

institutions in these evaluations (as ministries,

agencies, private sector, groups of interest, and

donors…) a better and integrated overview of the

future Vocational Secondary Education System

Development in Albania could be offered.

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Volume 11, 2023

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Contribution of Individual Authors to the

Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting

Policy)

-Dr. Eralda Shore Noçka, as the first author, carried

out conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis

Investigation, methodology, project administration,

supervision, validation, writing - original draft,

writing - review & editing.

-Dr. Aelita Xhuveli Mani, as 2nd author, carried out

data curation, investigation, methodology, writing -

review & editing.

-Prof. Dr. Ana Kapaj, as 3rd author, carried out data

curation, investigation, methodology, writing -

review & editing.

-Dr. Alerta Basha as 4th author, carried out data

curation, investigation, methodology, writing -

review & editing.

Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a

Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare

that are relevant to the content of this article.

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)

This article is published under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

_US

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DOI: 10.37394/232018.2023.11.25

Eralda Shore Noçka, Aelita Xhuveli Mani,

Ana Kapaj, Alerta Basha

E-ISSN: 2415-1521

285

Volume 11, 2023