Supporting sustainability
Reorganization of SCiA Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme monitoring system for kindergartens and the institutionalization of this process is a new path toward sustainability. This has been the message flagged and the main aim of the meeting organized, on 20th February, by SCiA Education programme officer and ECD progarmme coordinator with all Albanian preschool education inspectors.
This year, the kindergartens included in our SCiA ECD programme will be monitored by the preschool education inspectors of the Inspection Department in 13 Regional Education Directories (REA). Their inspection will be based to the Inspection Manual for school inspection, prepared by Ministry of Education (MOE) in collaboration with SC in Albania. It has been designed to support and improve education monitoring system and can be used by school and preschool education inspectors, directors and teachers, as a tool to better monitor and report on the mainstream preschool and school quality. Actually this manual is in use by the Ministry of Education and REA school monitoring inspectors, who are part of the school monitoring system in our basic education programme.
During the meeting, presentations about SCiA ECD programme strategic objectives; plans for the year 2007 and the role of the inspectors in the preschool monitoring system have been organized and useful relevant materials have been provided to the participants.
Other presentations have been consisted on: SCiA Education programme presentation, focusing on the relation between ECD and Quality Education project in terms of capacity building and monitoring. It has been followed by the presentation of the agreement between SCiA and MOE focusing on the roles and responsibilities of REA and mainly the Inspection Department in implementing the SCiA education programme.
Preschool and school education monitoring and reporting will be conducted based on a unified format. This format will be flexible and adapted to the priorities which are to be identified in collaboration with MOE and relevant institutions.
As a special attendee, the specialist of curricula, in charge of the preschool education, in the MOE, expressed her appreciation for SCiA significant contribution in improving the quality of services for children at early ages through building capacities of preschool education specialists and in promoting the importance of early childhood care and development.
She also greeted SCiA efforts to support ECD programme sustainability by applying a common monitoring system with the state structures and expressed her desire for a further cooperation.