The Albanian Minister of Reconstruction and Coronavirus Arben Ahmetaj said that on 27 April, all retail stores in the country will open, except for shopping malls.
Speaking on the TV show “Opinion” last night, Ahmetaj said that 350,000 employees would go back to work on Monday. He added that the government is spending EUR 650 million to help those affected.
This money has come from reallocating parts of the budget and increasing debt, according to Ahmetaj.
The government has still not made a decision on when schools will open. Speaking on Eni Vasili’s “Open” show, the Minister of Education Besa Shahini said that they are waiting for experts who are a part of the Coronavirus taskforce to tell them when it is safe to resume teaching.
Shahini clarified that the scholastic year will end in June. Those students who do not feel they are ready to take exams this school year will be able to repeat the year without being penalised. She said it will not be mentioned in their school records that they repeated the year.
Should students return to school this year, the final assessment will be done only on the basis of the lectures conducted at school. If they do not return this year, the assessment will be based on the entire school year.
Schools have been closed since 9 March and all lessons have been conducted online. Students also missed some two weeks of school following the November 2019 earthquake.Yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that authorities should remain alert and not rush to ease measures. She added that we are still at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and “citizens will have to coexist with COVID-19 for a long time.”
