Cambridge supports Albania to develop national assessment authority plan
News and Events
Cambridge supports Albania to develop national assessment authority plan
Albania and Cambridge are collaborating on a roadmap to develop a national assessment authority informed by international best practice.
The Ministry of Education and Sports of Albania and the Albanian-American Development Foundation (AADF) are working with Cambridge on a robust roadmap to develop a strong, autonomous national assessment authority.
The main national assessment in Albania is the State Matura. Every child in the country takes State Matura exams at the end of secondary school to secure their diploma.
The State Matura exams are designed and delivered by the Centre for Educational Services, a department of the Ministry.
For the future, the Ministry aims to transition the Centre for Educational Services from a Ministry department to an autonomous authority delivering internationally recognised excellence in exams. This is in line with recommendations from UNESCO.
The Ministry’s top priority for this transformation is to empower children and young people to achieve success in higher education and the workplace.
Five-year roadmap
Last week, Cambridge experts travelled to Tirana to meet with the Her Excellency the Minister Ogerta Manastirliu, the Ministry and AADF. In a series of workshops, senior stakeholders from the Ministry, the AADF and the Centre for Education Services worked with Cambridge on a five-year roadmap for developing the Centre.
The roadmap covers a staged transition for the Centre for Educational Services from empowered Ministry department to autonomous body to full independence. It includes:
- Mechanisms to ensure relevant stakeholders from across the country are involved in the transition, including regional bodies
- Plans to integrate national assessment structures
- Support for data-driven policy creation
- Alignment of assessment and curriculum
- Professional development for teachers
- Revising governance and accountability structures
The Ministry, AADF and Cambridge will finalise the roadmap this summer, ready to move to implementation.
Her Excellency Ogerta Manastirliu, said: “The collaboration with Cambridge is an important step towards reforming the Centre for Educational Services in Albania, through the best global practices of new methodologies for assessing students' knowledge and competencies”
Steve King, Head of Education Reform for Europe, Central Asia and Pakistan, Cambridge said: “We’re looking forward to working further with the experts at the Centre for Educational Services, the wider Ministry, and the AADF to support them on their journey of strengthening Albania’s approach to national assessment.”
Review of existing Albanian national assessment system
To develop the five-year roadmap, the Ministry, AADF and Cambridge drew on a review conducted by Cambridge in 2019. Commissioned by the Ministry and AADF, the review looked at Albania’s existing assessment structures and agencies. Cambridge worked with local stakeholders and agencies in Albania to complete a baseline review of national needs, propose developments, and provide a blueprint to implement them.
The Minister’s visit to Cambridge
Last week’s workshops in Tirana built on Her Excellency Ogerta Manastirliu’s visit to Cambridge with AADF earlier this month to discuss Cambridge’s approach to high-stakes assessment. The Minister’s delegation included:
- Ms Mirela Cami, General Director at the Ministry
- Ms Etiola Kola, Adviser to the Minister
- Ms Aferdita Mehilli, Head of the Sector of National and International Assessment at the Centre for Educational Services
They were joined by CEOs of AADF Mr Aleksander Sarapuli and Mr Martin Mata and their team. They met with Cambridge specialists in education, assessment, and operations, and observed Cambridge’s world-leading processing facilities.
University of Medicine Tirana Admissions Test
In addition to collaboration on national assessment, Cambridge has recently worked with AADF and the University of Medicine, Tirana. Cambridge supported the university to develop their highly competitive admissions test for students seeking to study general medicine. Experts reviewed previous testing practices and made recommendations for strengthening these efforts to improve the tests in the short- and long-term. Cambridge supported the university to implement changes for future tests. This included developing test specifications and item writer guidelines, writing sample items, and training local item writers.
