Medical students in Albania are protesting against recent government changes to a law aimed at stopping the mass immigration of doctors and nurses and strengthening the local healthcare system.
Albania has the lowest number of doctors and nurses per capita in Europe, data from 2020 shows.
In 2019, 18% of qualified medical staff worked abroad, of which 765 Albanian doctors were working in Germany – a 21% increase from the year before. The total number of doctors believed to have left is estimated at 3,000.
As for nurses, it is unknown how many have left, but there are at least 8,000 unemployed, according to the Order of Nurses, many of whom dream of working in the EU.
To combat the crisis, the government tabled a law that would see medical students work for up to five years in the country after finishing their studies and before being allowed to move abroad. Those who disagree will be required to pay the full cost of their studies, an amount not specified in the draft law. But students who sign will also benefit from social initiatives to help them get on the local property ladder.
But students in Tirana are not happy and took to the streets on Monday to protest and demand the resignation of Deputy Education Minister Albana Tole over her statement that students who refuse to pay the new fees should stop their studies.
One student told local media that they still do not know how much money they will have to pay if they do not abide by the requirement to work locally.
“I was not given any contract or draft, I just signed a declaration that I am in general medicine. Even the price has not been decided, sometimes it says 6 million lek, sometimes 5.8 million lek (€5,500). It’s a confusing situation,” she said.
They have also called for a public meeting with Education Minister Ogerta Manastirliu, the former minister of health.
Vice-President of the Freedom Party, Erisa Xhixho supported the students, “who rightly oppose the law that takes their degree hostage without any consultation. Students must be heard and supported, as they were not heard when they said they do not intend to leave but want to be treated with dignity in their country,” she wrote.
However, the government insists the law is needed.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Edi Rama said that it is necessary to stop the flow of professionals leaving the country, particularly as most of them head to Germany.
“But we cannot finance the German health service…We cannot accept that a medical student pays 1/16 of the cost of study with the government paying the rest…and then the student gets the diploma and goes to Germany or elsewhere,” he said.
Currently, Albanian university tuition fees are heavily subsidised and covered by the state. Students are against paying for tuition as they say facilities in the faculty of medicine are under-equipped.
Albania is plagued by migration woes, with at least 1.4 million people leaving since the end of communism in 1991. Out of the current population of 2.7 million, at least half want to leave for Europe, the US or Canada.
(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)
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