TIRANA, Oct. 5 /ATA/ – A new Faculty of Professional Studies opened at the University “Aleksandër Moisiu” in Durres on Monday, with Education Minister Mirela Kumbaro describing vocational higher education as a bridge between universities and the labour market.
“Professional studies connect the lecture hall with the labour market and the laboratory with businesses, giving degrees greater value when they are designed well,” Kumbaro said at the inauguration.
She said Durres, with its port, industrial, tourism and logistics sectors, was well placed to benefit from programmes tailored to labour-market needs.
Kumbaro said more than 1,900 new students had enrolled at Durres University this academic year, attributing the increase to investment and improvements in teaching quality.
She also highlighted the university’s progress in internationalisation, saying its scientific journal had been indexed in Scopus, while the University of Tirana had this year become the first Albanian university to be ranked by Times Higher Education.
The University “Aleksandër Moisiu” is among institutions holding “reporter” status with Times Higher Education, she said, alongside four private universities, with the aim of being ranked in the future.
Kumbaro said Albanian universities were expanding joint and double-degree programmes with institutions in Italy, Portugal, Germany and Spain, while 26 new programmes were being added to the range of courses taught in English.
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