An unpublished study by the Economic Department Education reform requires 59 million dollars Feature report SPIRO ILO TIRANA — It seems as though we are the victims of a war. After the industrial system, the education system has been hit hardest by the upheaval and transition, as this period in Albania is called. 1,000 school premises out of 2,294 across the country have been damaged. Ninety-six secondary-school buildings, 288 eight-year schools, 280 primary schools and 326 kindergartens are only the visible part of the iceberg. In many villages, residents, claiming that they want to reclaim their land, once belonging to the cooperatives, have occupied around 515 school premises and kindergartens. Meanwhile, places of worship that were turned into schools during the “atheist revolution” of 1967 are being returned to their owners—or, better said, to God. Conditions are difficult even in schools that are still operating. Most school buildings and their equipment are 30–40 years old and worn out. Only a limited number of schools were built and equipped after 1960. Over the past two years, 60,000 square metres of wood, 40,000 doors, 175,000 panes of glass, 70,000 desks and benches, 7,000 stools and chairs, 9,000 blackboards, around 100 laboratories and many other office supplies have been reported damaged. It is understandable that, in such a situation, attending school is becoming increasingly difficult for the younger generations. Children have to study in unheated classrooms where, for the most part, plastic bags serve in place of windowpanes. Many buildings, particularly in villages, have ruined walls and ceilings, no doors or windows, and roofs on the verge of collapse, putting the children’s lives at risk. According to a study conducted by the Economic Department of the Ministry of Education, keeping the education system alive over the next three years would require funding of 58.4 million dollars, of which 11.9 million dollars for repairs and maintenance is considered an urgent need for 1993. But the total education budget is only 17.7 billion lekë, around 37,567,000 dollars, and for the preparation of this national budget, it seems like a mere drop in the ocean, since 53 percent goes to salaries and only 5.6 percent of it (2,100,000 dollars) could be used for investment. But there is also ideology. With the overthrow of the communist system, most textbooks, especially those in the social sciences that served mainly Marxist-Leninist ideological education, are now unusable. Most of them must be withdrawn from use, either entirely or in part. For the 1992–1993 school year alone, 450 new titles need to be printed for eight-year and secondary education, 130 of which had been planned for the 1991–1992 school year. To meet the need for textbooks, the printing houses should have begun work in August 1991, when Albanian industry was paralysed and its printing houses were only a part of the eight-year and secondary school systems. By now, many of these textbooks have been sent abroad for printing, while manuscripts have also been prepared for the most important textbooks, ready to be copied in formats best suited to the teaching process so as not to obstruct educational progress. These are the daily problems an education system must face as it struggles to serve 651,225 pupils and 41,336 teachers in the noblest of human struggles: the pursuit of knowledge. A battle that, however it is waged, must be won. A battle in universities, secondary schools and eight-year schools, as we shall see, will be lived out every day. (1 — continued)

Repatriation continues for immigrants seeking work Unclear incident in Gjirokaster A group of Albanian refugees stranded at the border with Greece at Mavromati-Sayada GIROKASTER — In recent days the Greek authorities have repatriated around 700 Albanian refugees who were living illegally in Greece. The news was confirmed by foreign news agencies and the press, which stressed that all the repatriated Albanians had been detained a short time earlier in the Attica region near Athens. Despite the strict measures taken by the Greek authorities, several hundred Albanians manage to cross the border between the two countries every day, but most are caught by the police, who immediately send them back to Albania. According to Athens’s largest newspaper, “Eleftheros Tipos”, around 376,000 Albanian refugees were repatriated last year alone. The latest episode appears to have heightened tension in the southern areas near the Greek border. Several hundred Albanian citizens tried to attack the Greek Consulate in Gjirokaster, angered by the transfer of the city’s police chief, an act for which they blame the Greek consul. Representatives of both sides were quick to play down the news. Vasil Bornova, Greek consul in Gjirokaster, confirmed the incident but downplayed its motives, stressing that he wished “such scenes would not happen again”. Representatives of the Gjirokaster Police also denied the report, saying that “the incident had nothing to do with the Greek consulate, but was merely a simple quarrel over an issue during which the police had to intervene with rubber batons”.

Two Argentine deputies questioned From our newsroom ROME — Argentine deputies Carlos “Chaco” Alvarez and Juan Pablo Cafiero were questioned on Wednesday for several hours by Vittorio Paraggio, the Rome judge investigating violations of the rules governing Italian aid intended for underdeveloped and impoverished Third World countries. The hearing, attended also by Carabinieri captain Francesco D’Agostino, was requested by the deputies themselves, to denounce what they described as “the violation of a mechanism that has allowed unscrupulous officials and their friends to enrich themselves with cooperation funds”. Before the Roman judge, Alvarez and Cafiero presented extensive documentation on possible links between Italy’s Tangentopoli and a series of projects in Argentina. Answering questions from Italian journalists, the two parliamentarians also spoke about former Argentine ambassador Claudio Moreno, recently in Italy in the role of deputy general representative, who is said to have been part of a fraud? The amount involved is close to 1 billion and 600 million dollars. The most senior official, in Rome, the deputy director of Saces (State agency for export credit insurance), Vincenzo Smerspeci, the head of Tencosystem, Roberto Tomasini, and the managing director of the same company were arrested by members of the Finance Guard. The arrest warrants were signed by judge Mario Almerighi at the request of parliamentarians Andrea Vardaro. The crime with which he and other people are charged is serious corruption, involving the receipt of bribes paid and, in turn, the provision of insurance cover.

TIRANA — Three months’ imprisonment for each of the four teenagers who took the car of Italian citizen Carmela Lavorati, owner of the “Golosone” pizzeria in Tirana. This is the final ruling of the Tirana Court. On February 14 of this year, the 18-year-old classmates from the “Qemal Stafa” general secondary school had taken Lavorati’s car for a joyride. They then removed valuable parts worth around 200,000 lekë. Only after the television report and an alerting phone call from informants did the police arrest them on February 19. The ruling, which counts the sentence from the day of their initial detention, means they will have to serve another 4 months and 14 days at liberty. “We want to return to our school desks as soon as possible, if they will take us back,” they said after the sentence was handed down.

Today a litre of plasma is paid 3,000 lekë. Doctors: “Needs are assured” “No longer worthwhile; we prefer something else” FATOS BAXHAKU TIRANA — There is an ever smaller number of people who sell their blood. Thus one of the occupations practised by several thousand Albanians living on the edge of extreme poverty, to make ends meet in return for a symbolic wage, has begun to disappear. This is borne out by figures cited by the “National Blood Donation Centre” and given to the newspaper. Of the 2,560 regular donors registered in Tirana in 1990, their number fell to 800 last year. “The trend is downward everywhere, including at the other donation points that exist in the districts,” specialists say. The decline in the number of donors was felt most strongly after the tragic exodus of 1990, when thousands themselves crossed the gates of foreign embassies. “Many of them had been our regular clients for years,” the doctors say. Then the number of donors began to decline further. Some managed to earn more from a small private shop than from selling their blood. The fall in the number of donors considerably reduced the quantity of blood, while the number of people needing it remained approximately the same. “in the event of a hypothetical attack from outside”. Its price has gone up every time the government has cut wages. At present, donors receive 350 lekë for every 100 grams and three kilograms of blood. At this price, it is not worth it, says a donor. The “Association of Blood Donors” has repeatedly asked for higher compensation. The issue reached Parliament, where the donors’ association submitted a petition with three requests: an increase in the compensation, which was paid in 1990, to approximately 1,616 litres in 1992); nevertheless, doctors assure us that the amount collected at present is sufficient to meet the needs of Albanian hospitals. In the past, more blood was processed than was needed, and much of it was used to produce dry plasma, which was stored in the State Reserve warehouses. According to the blood donors’ decision, the figures concern the first eight months, and more than before people sell blood, with sales of 1 litre. Constitutionally as well, the director, Dr Agim Kondraj, director of the Blood Donation Centre, aims for this activity in Albania to be oriented towards voluntary donation, because the existence of regular paid donors increases the risk of diseases being transmitted through transfusions and of regular donors carrying viral diseases.

A bundle of bureaucratic problems for Italian and Albanian diplomats Ambassadors are being recruited to become ambassador-less. The problem, for a play on words, concerns Albanian diplomacy in Tirana and the Albanians in Rome. The story unfolding here, on Albanian soil, contains very difficult and unprecedented details, and so far “has wanted to speak”. The affair is connected to the slogan “The Italian Embassy is mine”, used by the Diplomatic Service, by men who claim freedom and who today—after the law returned the property to its former owner—maintain that all the premises formerly occupied by embassies have been covered and are covered by diplomatic [unclear]. At the Italian embassy they immediately produce documents: “We acquired the land from the Tirana government through a legal procedure. We paid around three and a half billion Italian lire and insist that we are in the right.” The dispute, naturally, can be clarified only where it should be. The State Deluna must present documents proving its ownership, and if a claim has been made, the Italian embassy may seek repayment of the amount paid; but the guilty owner must leave, with a sum provided as a guarantee. And precisely the same problem has arisen involving the Albanian embassy in Rome. “The rent has not been paid for months, perhaps years,” the local newspaper says, asking: “Do we have to pay it?” But there will be no clear answer from Albanian diplomacy, which will take responsibility as soon as possible; “We want to return to our school desks as soon as possible, if they will take us back,” they said after the sentence. Talks about a conflict suggest that rent will be paid in Rome. Meanwhile, the Italians, making their final payment, will bring in the “new ambassadors” for 2 billion lire. Regarding the Italian Embassy case, Sergio Guerrazi, administrator of the Rome-based company “Pompeo Mangano”, which has complained about unpaid debts, has also accused the ambassadors of New Zealand (the complaint was printed in a newspaper), as well as those of the Central African Republic, Syria, Cuba and Albania, of owing rent for a period of two years. There are many disputes concerning the use of Foreign Ministry property. Indeed, there is even talk—although the matter has received no official confirmation—of diplomatic representatives from Albania and other countries being issued an order to leave the country. Such an act would be merely formal, but they could not even manage to pay a minimum rent. This is apparently being rushed through at 1,000 lire a day, newspapers reported.

Here, one by one, are the figures for the destruction of Albanian schools, provided by the Economic Department of the Ministry of Education. Seriously damaged: 96 secondary schools, 288 eight-year schools, 288 primary schools, 326 kindergartens. In addition: 52 buildings burned, 518 schools and kindergartens occupied by private individuals. Missing or out of use: 60,000 square metres of wood, 40,000 doors, 175,000 panes of glass, 70,000 desks and benches, 70,000 stools and chairs, 9,000 blackboards, 100 laboratories, 7,000 mattresses, 5,000 beds, 280,000 school desks, 40,000 sheets. The education budget is 37,560,000 dollars, equal to 8 percent of the national budget. Fifty-three percent represents the wage fund and 5.6 percent ($2,100,000) will be used for investment. For construction and reconstruction in 1993, 11.9 million dollars are needed.

In Dortmund, a famous Juventus wins 3–1 Gassman president of the Campiello Prize A whole page of business notices

Wedding dress If you dream of a white wedding dress, you will be called upon, like a chief, to carry out a task that pleases you. If the garment is dirty, you will lose the opportunity to meet someone you admire. WATER If you dream of clean water, your wishes will come true. Dirty water symbolises the fulfilment of hopes associated with a desire that has been thwarted. Trees Green trees symbolise the fulfilment of hopes and wishes. Withered trees, on the other hand, signify grief and loss. If you climb a tree in a dream, you will achieve quick success. If you dream that you are in love, beware: jealousy and personal desires may lead directly to scandal. If you see two people in love, someone will persuade you to neglect your moral wishes. Everyone dreams while asleep. This is an entirely normal fact, except that sometimes these dreams are so beautiful or so bad that they leave us amazed and astonished when we wake up. But dreams can also be “warnings”, that is, they may contain a prediction, a warning about what may happen in the future. Every week “Gazeta Shqiptare” offers its readers an explanation and the meaning of the objects and situations that appear in dreams. Bracelet If a girl dreams of receiving a bracelet from a friend, she will marry soon. If she dreams of losing her bracelet, she will suffer great losses. If a girl sees someone appropriating it, she will acquire material goods. Tears If you cry in a dream, you will become a victim of suffering. If you see someone crying for you, another person will benefit from and take advantage of your pain. Admiration If you dream of being admired, you will continue to enjoy the esteem of your colleagues, even though your position is superior. Bus If you dream of travelling along a road by bus, misunderstandings will arise among friends and you will make premature promises. Child A newborn baby foretells the arrival of surprises. If a girl dreams of having a child, she will be accused of immorality.