A new Memorandum of Understanding on the Illyria Programme was signed in Tirana on 12 December 2012. Its aim is to promote and develop the teaching of Italian, as first foreign language, in Albanian schools, starting from the 2nd year of primary school and up to the last class of senior secondary school. With this agreement, Albania undertakes to encourage and disseminate the teaching of Italian at pre-university level, the goal being to extend Italian language-learning to 10% of pupils studying foreign languages.
Teacher-training and support for Italian departments
The Memorandum envisages various forms of collaboration to train Albanian teachers of Italian, support for Italian departments and the supply of teaching material. Changes with respect to the previous Memorandum, of 2006 include the extension of the scope of the agreement to the whole of Albania; and the dissemination of the Programme in local technical-vocational schools also, with modules of non-language subjects being taught in Italian. This is partly in light of the widespread presence of Italian enterprises in Albania and the resulting need for skilled human resources.
