TIRANA, April 9 /ATA/ Minister of Health and Social Protection Albana Koçiu stated today that in our country around 62 thousand children and 16 thousand with special abilities get support through direct financial schemes.
Koçiu made the statement during the regional conference “Accelerating childcare reforms towards EU accession”, where Prime Minister Edi Rama was also present.
“In Albania, 62 thousand children are currently directly supported by the economic assistance scheme because they are members of families living on economic assistance. Around 16 thousand children with special abilities and 400 other children are currently receiving care in children’s homes. These children do not get only financial support, but also a shield of social care services. Not only have we tripled economic assistance, but we have also improved the services or other benefits that families and their children receive”, said Koçiu.
Minister Koçiu emphasized that this regional conference once again renews the collective commitment to build a society in which no child is excluded.
“Albania strongly believes in the European Child Guarantee initiative. And we are one of the countries that have adopted the recommendations of this European guarantee for children in our legislative framework. We believe that economic unemployment should not be a barrier to access to healthcare, education, housing and a healthy environment where every child deserves to grow up,” Koçiu underlined.
The minister also emphasized the significance of all-embracing education for children coming from marginalized groups. In this context, the Albanian government, through significant initiatives, has enabled their inclusion in these educational processes, from receiving free textbooks from the first to the ninth grade, to scholarships for young people pursuing higher education, as well as removing the tuition fee for the first cycle of studies and halving the fee for the second cycle. /j.p/p.s./
