The New Academic Year, Xhaçka announced the good news: AFA will be accredited as a higher education institution

Published: Friday, 20 September 2019 13:59

The Council of Ministers is expected to approve soon the special status for the Armed Forces Academy, paving the way for a radical change in the military education system in our country.

It enables not only the opening of first bachelor studies but also full accreditation of AFA and academic programs.
Defence Minister Olta Xhaçka, shared the news with students and professors of the Armed Forces Academy at the beginning of the New Academic Year 2019 - 2020, where the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Besa Shahini was also invited.

"Thanks to this transformation, a genuine system of meritocracy and a level of professionalism that was unimaginable until a few years ago are being installed in the Armed Forces. Our effectives are able today to participate in missions wherever needed, to contribute to our collective security, by engaging as equals, side by side with their colleagues in some of the most modern and professional armies. This Academy has today a very important strategic role for the transformation of the Albanian Army. The Armed Forces we are building today, are in fact very different from what we inherited. Once, we had a force based on forced recruitment, today we have a smaller, professional, volunteer force. And above all, we have a force that must meet NATO standards, which are undoubtedly the highest standards that a military force anywhere in the world must respect", - said the Defense Minister.

For Minister Shahini, the upcoming decision of the Council of Ministers opens a new page for the education of Albanian military.

"This is not a common institution of higher education, so we are working hard together with the Ministry of Defense to give a special status to the Armed Forces Academy so that the academic staff is treated the same as other institutions of higher education”, - underlined the Minister of Education, Sport and Youth.

For the eleventh consecutive year, the Armed Forces Academy has opened the doors for students from several countries in the region.

For 2019 - 2020, 182 military personnel from Albania, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Georgia and Kosovo will sit in the auditoriums