At the certificate distribution ceremony for the finalists of the “My Albania” competition, Kushi said that this program aims not only to discover and develop talents, but also to encourage students to live a healthy life, as far away from mobile phones or tablets as possible.

“The program aims to encourage as much cultural and artistic life as possible, life together with each other and teachers. We have taken all the measures, we will start it in 200 schools and expand it to the whole country”, she said.

Speaking about the “My Albania” competition, Kushi said that it has already become a tradition for the Ministry of Education and Sports.

“We organize it every year and base it on three main principles. First we discover, develop and support talent. During this competition we have discovered extraordinary talents. Often the talent is there, but it needs to be given an opportunity to discover it. We discovered Mario from Shkodra, who painted his grandmother in traditional clothes. It was an extraordinary painting and he gave it to his grandmother for her 85th birthday. Likewise, Edseli who painted the girl in traditional clothes. “Edsel is very small, but he painted it so beautifully that people began to doubt whether he did this painting by himself or not,” she said.

The second principle of this competition, according to the minister, “is inclusiveness”.

“In fact, inclusiveness is our basic principle, our basic vision in the education system. Many people have asked us why you organize a digital competition and not like all other traditional competitions where students come with their paintings. In fact, through this digital competition, we have given opportunities to everyone, even to the students who live far away, even those who do not have the economic opportunities to come to Tirana every time. Or even those who do not have the family conditions for someone to come and accompany them”, she said.

Kushi emphasized that thousands of students from all over Albania participated in this competition, while a committee of experts selected the 90 best paintings divided into three categories: primary education, lower secondary education and higher secondary education.

According to the minister, the third principle of this competition is the promotion of the best Albanian values. “This is a competition that promotes the values of patriotism and national pride,” she said. /m.m/j.p/p.s./