Action Plan on Child Safety and Security in Schools



A tragic event in a primary school in Tirana, where a 15-year-old boy was murdered by his friend after an online fight, brought together authorities, parents, educators, CSOs and young people to design a new national action plan for online safety and better protection of children in school settings. The SIC Albania provided technical support to the Ministry of Education to design the Action Plan including participation of children in policy design.

IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Safer Internet Center – Albania (CRCA/ECPAT Albania, ALO 116-111, ISIGURT. AL)

LOCATION: Albania

DURATION: October 2024 – December 2024

SUMMARY:

A tragic event in a primary school in Tirana, where a 15-year-old boy was murdered by his friend after an online fight, brought together authorities, parents, educators, CSOs and young people to design a new national action plan for online safety and better protection of children in school settings. The SIC Albania provided technical support to the Ministry of Education to design the Action Plan including participation of children in policy design, including a leading role in organizing a national campaign against cyber-bullying in schools, with the support of netSMARTkids and EU funding.

The Action Plan was presented to the public on December 21, 2024, by the Ministry of Education and Sports for the protection of children and the strengthening of safety mechanisms in schools as an initiative of important for creating a safe environment for children and students in schools.

“The virtual world often also presents problems. Through a new plan, we aim to increase safety in and out of school.” – said Mrs. Ogerta Manastirliu, Minister of Education and Sports, who also emphasized the need for cooperation with   the National Platform for Safer Internet in Albania – iSIGURT.al, declaring at the same time the closure of the social network Tik Tokfor a more limited access of children to digital spaces.

As part of this plan, there will be stronger monitoring of schools, through the installation of smart cameras, which will ensure more effective surveillance, both inside and outside educational institutions. Also, the Ministry of Education will double the number of security officers and increase the presence of psychologists in schools to address the needs of students. This is a comprehensive campaign that requires the engagement of all parties, state authorities, schools, parents and civil society to create a safer environment for children.

iSEGURT – The National  Safer Internet Platform in Albania will continue to support this and any initiative that focuses on child safety. In support of this plan, iSIGURT.al will be available to every child, parent and school, to report any incidents and inappropriate content.

iSIGURT.al, is a national service provided by CRCA/ECPAT Albania, which has been working since 2015 for safe internet in Albania, with the main focus on protecting children and young people from any form of online violence, as well as reporting hate speech online. The platform aims to encourage the reporting of illegal sites or sites with inappropriate content.

OBJECTIVES

This action plan contains four strategic objectives aimed at strengthening the mechanisms for the prevention of all forms of physical and cyberbullying violence and bullying in schools:

  1. Physical and digital safety in schools,
  2. Psycho-social and digital support networks,
  3. Education and awareness,
  4. Open school.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

  1. Drafting of the new policy in consultation and with the participation of children and young people;
  2. Development of new protocols for the provision of physical and digital safety in schools, through a meeting between all professionals of psycho-social staff in schools, the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Center for Safer Internet in Albania -iSIGURT.al
  3. National campaign to inform and raise awareness of over 20,000 children in over 200 schools across Albania about online safety and reporting on the iSIGURT.al platform and the ALO 116-111 Child Counselling Line
  4. Establishment fof the Safer Internet Ambassadors across , in order to empower and inform them, so that children are the ones who engage and help other children for any concern or incident that occurs in the online environment.
  5. Meetings with the Parents’ Council in Tirana, and extensive conversations with parents in order to compile their recommendations for improving safety in our schools, as well as referring these recommendations to the Ministry of Education and Sports.

RESULTS AND IMPACT

  1. Increased children’s awareness of online safety and ways of reporting on the iSIGURT.al platform and the 24/7 toll-free phone number ALO 116-111.
  2. Parents’ vigilance on the protection of children in the online space and their cooperation with psycho-social staff in schools to come to the aid of children was increased.
  3. The network of Safer Internet Ambassadors in Albania was formulated, in order to strengthen and increase their capacities on the protection of every child in the digital space.
  4. Inter-institutional cooperation regarding online safety and ways of referring cases was increased.

SUCCESS FACTORS

  1. Child participatory model already established across major child rights organisations, such as the Youth Advisory Board of the Safer Internet Centre Albania (CRCA / ALO 116-111/ iSIGURT);
  2. The expertise and long experience of implementing organizations in the area of child protection, digital safety, helped drafting a data-based Action Plan,
  3. Close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Local Education Offices in Albania for the development of information and awarness sessions in over 100 schools in Albania so far.

LESSONS LEARNED

  1. The Action Plan was seen as a necessity of measures taken for immediate intervention regarding the protection and safety of children in the physical and online environment, but it is an initiative which should have been undertaken beforehand.
  2. Training of psycho-social staff and teachers as well as capacity building of state actors is essential for effective intervention and prevention of any form of physical and online violence.
  3. Close cooperation between schools, civil society, institutions and the Ministry of Education and Sports is a necessity for supporting every child who has encountered some form of physical and online violence, as well as supporting them in this context and beyond.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR REPLICATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. Violence in schools hinders children’s ability to learn, develop and negatively affects their psycho-social aspect. In this context, it is important that this Action Plan adheres to the objectives of all actors involved, as well as that new objectives are developed in the future.
  2. Addressing violence should encourage the educational, legal and social system to address the current gaps in these issues until the criminal code is amended.
  3. The Action Plan should remain a continuous effort of Albania for child safety, adhering to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and adopting the best international practices for the protection of children from all forms of physical and online violence.

Detajet e Lajmit
May 9, 2025
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