In October 2024, former Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, declared that Tirana school students would receive a free meal with the start of the new school year in September of this year, regardless of their parents' income.
The promise was reinforced by Prime Minister Edi Rama on the eve of the electoral campaign for the May 11 elections, where from a podium in the "Student City" he emphasized that school meals would not only be introduced in the Municipality of Tirana, but also in other municipalities that function as district centers.
"We will implement the newest joint project between the government and the municipality, to introduce lunch in 9-year schools," said Rama, evaluating this as a step towards transforming schools into community centers.
Including lunch in schools is a long-standing government promise, and at least in the Municipality of Tirana, a pilot project was left halfway due to a lack of infrastructure.
But data obtained by BIRN shows that the promise risks remaining on paper for many more years, as existing schools lack infrastructure and newly built schools do not have canteen facilities.
The Municipality of Tirana told BIRN that of the 26 new schools built in the last four years in Tirana, none of them provided for canteen spaces.
"The approved projects do not foresee the construction of canteens, and the Investment Directorate is not managing any special contract for the construction of canteens in schools," the Municipality stated in a written response.
Migen Qiraxhi from the organization "Civic Stability" told BIRN that school meals were used as a key campaign promise, without taking concrete measures to realize it.
"Canteens in pre-university education schools were used as one of the main promises in the electoral campaign. However, in the government program this commitment was reduced, being foreseen to be implemented only 'in every district center municipality,'" said Qiraxhi.
Infrastructure challenges
The promises to introduce free meals come at a time when 9-year education, especially in the Municipality of Tirana, faces many challenges. Some schools still operate with two shifts in the capital, while new areas that have been massively populated in recent years suffer from a lack of educational institutions near them.
In February 2025, the Municipality of Tirana and the Ministry of Education stated that they were conducting a feasibility study for the application of the school feeding program – but the results have not yet been made public.
According to education expert Ndriçim Mehmeti, keeping the promise failed this September, as it was not accompanied by the appropriate measures.
"Food preparation and consumption areas require special, hygienic, well-lit and suitable environments for this purpose. This was not done and most likely will not be possible," Mehmeti told BIRN.
“Another possibility would have been a central cooking environment, as in the case of Kosovo, but that didn't happen either,” he added.
According to Mehmeti, the education system in Albania is dysfunctional due to a lack of vision and support from the government.
"Education structures are almost dysfunctional in the way they are built, the tasks they have and the work they do. A new reorganization, mentality and passion are needed to provide an educational and educational service of contemporary levels," he stressed.
Qiraxhi from "Civic Stability" emphasizes that before talking about free meals for students in schools, other infrastructural challenges must be addressed.
"The first obstacle that needs to be addressed is two-shift teaching. In the Municipality of Tirana alone, according to our projections, at least 21 new schools need to be built to solve this problem," said Qiraxhiu.
Along with free meals, the head of government also promised to pilot the "After School" program, but the Ministry of Education does not provide concrete deadlines.
"The Ministry of Education and Sports, within the framework of the National Action Plan for strengthening mechanisms for the prevention of all forms of violence and bullying for school safety, has foreseen as a measure the piloting of the 'after school' program, which will also include the food component provided by local self-government units," the Ministry said in general terms. /BIRN/
