Projects

1. Introduction and Scope Integrity in higher education is a governance issue as much as an ethical one. In public universities, corruption does not appear only through overt acts such as bribery or improper exchange, but also through weaker forms of accountability, blurred responsibilities, informal influence, and procedures that exist on paper but are not trusted in practice. For that reason, assessing corruption in higher education requires more than listing legal violations. It requires examining whether institutions have workable mechanisms for prevention, reporting, and follow-up. This report focuses on Albanian public universities and maps the main rules, structures, and practices that shape institutional integrity. It reviews the legal and regulatory framework relevant to ethics, whistleblowing, public accountability, procurement, and university governance, and considers how these norms are reflected in internal university procedures. The analysis also draws on university regulations, public records, media reporting, and civil society materials, alongside qualitative evidence gathered through consultations and interviews. The report combines a system-level overview with a narrower field-based component. The desk research addresses the broader Albanian public higher education framework, while the qualitative findings are limited to documented evidence from Korça and Shkodra. This distinction is methodologically necessary: national obligations can be assessed across the sector, but interview-based findings must remain tied to the locations from which evidence was actually collected. The analysis is organized around three core questions: what mechanisms exist to prevent corruption, how can suspected misconduct be reported, and what institutional response follows once concerns are raised? These questions make it possible to evaluate not only whether formal safeguards exist, but whether they function in a way that is visible, accessible, and credible for students, lecturers, and university staff. 2. Methodology and Evidence Base The report uses a mixed-methods approach combining desk review, document analysis, media monitoring and qualitative inputs gathered through the project’s consultation process. The desk component covered the Albanian legal framework on corruption, higher education, whistleblowing, procurement and public accountability; university statutes, ethics codes and publicly available regulations, as well as prepare project documentation.  Website and document review were used to identify what public universities publish about their ethics structures, complaint procedures, codes of conduct and governance rules. This dimension of the research is important because public availability is itself part of institutional integrity. A mechanism that exists only inside a statute or internal regulation but is not visible to students or junior staff is less likely to function as an effective safeguard. Media monitoring was treated as a diagnostic tool rather than a substitute for adjudication. Publicly reported cases involving Albanian public universities were reviewed to identify recurring risk patterns, especially exam-related bribery allegations, procurement irregularities and failures of internal follow-up. Where ongoing investigations or allegations are mentioned, they are used in this report only as indicators of institutional vulnerability and not as final judicial findings. The qualitative component relies on the materials that can be clearly documented for this revised draft. These include one interview with a lecturer from Fan S. Noli University in Korça, the Korça consultation held on April 2025 with 15 lecturers and the Shkodra consultation held on May 2025 with 48 participants including university leadership representatives, lecturers, students and academic staff. Together, these materials make it possible to compare a case where some mechanisms are reported as functioning with a setting where reporting barriers and passive corruption were major concerns. The report does not draw on direct interview evidence from Ministry officials. References to policy-level responsibilities and institutional reform therefore rely on the legal framework, official mandates, and the wider governance context. For analytical clarity, mechanisms were grouped into three functions: prevention, reporting and response. Prevention includes ethics rules, exam safeguards, transparency tools, recruitment standards, procurement rules and training. Reporting includes complaint routes, whistleblower procedures, anonymous or confidential channels and student feedback tools. Response includes ethics committees, disciplinary procedures, audit follow-up, referrals to law-enforcement bodies and publication of outcomes. This three-part framework also helps distinguish between active corruption, where a direct exchange of illicit benefit is involved, and passive corruption, where unfairness is sustained through favoritism, tolerance, opacity or institutional silence. Table 1. Mapping framework: prevention, reporting and response Function Mechanisms observed in public universities Main implementation problems Prevention Ethics codes; statutes and internal rules; written examination procedures; internal audit; procurement rules; publication of regulations; digital tools in some cases, including automated grading. Rules are often poorly communicated; training is limited; ethics culture remains weak; digital safeguards are uneven between institutions. Reporting Complaints through department heads, deans or rectorates; ethics committees; whistleblower regulations; email and survey tools in some institutions; student councils and informal petitions. Confidentiality is unclear; many universities lack visible focal points; students are uncertain about protection; fear and low trust reduce reporting. Response Ethics committees; disciplinary measures; internal review teams; audit findings; referrals to prosecutors or other external bodies. Committees are often reactive; outcomes are rarely public; enforcement can be selective or slow; action often becomes visible only after media or external intervention. 3. Regulatory and Institutional Framework Albania has built a relatively broad anti-corruption framework that is directly relevant to public universities. At the most general level, corruption is addressed through criminal-law provisions and rules governing the conduct of public officials. In higher education, this matters because academic staff and university managers in public institutions exercise public functions in grading, recruitment, procurement, admissions and budget administration. The legal framework is therefore not limited to criminal sanctions; it also includes administrative duties, conflict-of-interest rules, audit requirements and institutional responsibilities for transparent governance. The sector-specific basis is the legal and regulatory framework governing higher education. Public universities are expected to adopt statutes, internal regulations, ethics rules and governance bodies that support accountability. In practical terms, this means that universities should be able to show not only that they have a code of ethics, but also that they have a procedure for receiving complaints, a body able to review alleged misconduct, and a chain of responsibility for acting on findings. Whistleblower regulation adds another layer. Public institutions are required […]

Historia, Funksioni, Strukturat TCJE (Tirana Center for Journalistic Excellence) botoi librin “Të Njohim NATO-n ” Historia, Funksioni dhe Struktrat e NATO-s, i cili u mundësua me mbështetjen financiare të NATO Public Diplomacy në kuadër të projektit “Të Njohim NATO-n (Organizata e Traktatit të Atlantikut të Veriut) “Ky libër ju drejtohet kryesisht të rinjve që duan të marrin informacion të shpejtë dhe të përqëndruar për NATO-n. Njëkohësisht Libri ju shërben gazetarëve dhe personave të interesuar. Siguria në jetën tonë të përditshme është çelësi i mirëqenies sonë. NATO është një aleancë e disa vendeve nga Evropa dhe Amerika e Veriut që siguron një lidhje unike në mes të këtyre dy kontinenteve duke u mundësuar atyre që të konsultohen dhe bashkëpunojnë në fushën e mbrojtjes dhe të sigurisë dhe të kryejnë së bashku operacione shumëkombëshe për administrimin e krizave. Një “vendim i NATO-s” është shprehja e vullnetit kolektiv të 30 vendeve anëtare duke qenë se të gjitha vendimet merren me konsensus. E formuar në vitin 1949 me nënshkrimin e Traktatit të Uashingtonit, NATO ka si qëllim themelor të garantojë lirinë dhe sigurinë e aleatëve nëpërmjet instrumenteve politike dhe ushtarake.

Tirana Center for Journalism Excellence (TCJE), with the financial support of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, is implementing the project “Enhancing Albanian journalists’ capacities to report constructively on women and gender issues in the Albanian media refraining from discrimination, prejudices and respecting the privacy of women”The aim of the project is through pieces of training with journalists and journalism students, and a final publication of Guidelines, to improve how women and gender issues are reported by the Albanian Media. The aim is to eliminate discrimination and prejudice in reporting on women and gender issues in Albanian Media as well as to promote human rights and privacy rights in regard to this issue.

“You have your principles, we have structural funds” – whose words are these? They were uttered by the French president François Hollande in 2017. From his perspective, the “you” referred to the new EU members states from Central and Eastern Europe, whereas the “we” stood for the countries of the so-called Old Europe. Fateful words indeed. It is worth recalling that they were said in the context of the preamble to the Lisbon Treaty and the hundreds of statements made by western politicians about “European values” supposedly defended by the countries of “Old Europe” against the new member states. Hollande’s words have been borne out recently by the war in Ukraine as the leaders of “Old Europe” have shown more concern for their money than for the EU’s founding principles, while the countries of NATO’s eastern flank, aware of what is at stake for Europe, have called for solidarity, justice, common security and genuine care for those in need. Russia’s barbaric aggression against Ukraine threw the practice of implementing “European values” in the EU into sharp relief. Let’s take a closer look at the values in question as they are rarely mentioned by name. The recurrent themes in EU discussions are freedom, democracy, fighting discrimination and combating exclusion. Lately, however, it has been more pressing to curb discrimination of male individuals who want to win at women’s sports events and use female toilets. It was more important to ensure the freedom to talk gibberish about human nature not to discriminate against “any views” as guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The view that there is truth, good and justice or even that there is reality rather than its multiple narratives has often been pigeonholed as “fascism”, in line with communist nomenclature, and considered not worth defending. How do these values look in the light of the recent demonstration of Russian pride on the streets of Berlin? Those Russians who live in Germany, and are thus not subject to Putin’s terror, did not think it right and proper to condemn the crimes committed by the Kremlin. Instead they followed the ideology of “non-discrimination” to defend their imperial pride manifested by the hundreds of people who were raped and horrendously murdered in Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin. Was no one bothered by this? Inspired by Isaiah Berlin, Western Europe seems to take it for granted that freedom should not be used to pursue a higher purpose lest that purpose becomes an obligation and a threat to freedom. Inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche, the sophisticated representatives of the West have positioned themselves in a strange place “beyond good and evil”. It it really so comfortable and safe out there? After all, it is the domicile of wrong-doers and criminals such as Putin and his clique. Who in today’s Europe believes that good, evil, truth and justice really exist and require sacrifice; that there is a price to pay for comfort and freedom; that freedom without responsibility is pointless anarchy? Finally, who in the EU has spoken up for common sense, respect for natural law, truth and justice? Were these not mainly the politicians of Central and Eastern Europe, who have been accused of “fascism” and having links to Putin? Who has provided the most funding to Putin’s Russa? Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia? To give the correct answer, we would have to point at people driven by their own financial and political interests for whom European values are so many empty words. I will spare the reader the long list of western politicians. Suffice it to say that when you violate principles with an eye for the main chance, you may lose both your good name and the chance. The dilemma is well-known from European history. It was mentioned by Winston Churchill in his comment about Neville Chamberlain’s efforts to “save peace” on the eve of WW2.  A lot had to change for things to remain the same. The providers of huge funds feeding Putin’s war machine still lecture Poland on the rule of law and pretend to see no difference between the defence against the migrants invading the EU from Belarus and the help offered to Ukrainian refugees.  The text is simultaneously published in the Polish monthly “Wszystko Co Najważniejsze” as part of a project carried out with the Poland’s central bank (Narodowy Bank Polski) and the Institute of National Remembrance.

 Një nga botimet më të rendësishme të Tirana Center for Journalism Excellence, një ndihmese e shkëlqyer për cdo gazetar apo student gazetarie që dëshiron të kuptojë dhe mësojë se si duhet raportuar feja në media, pa bërë gabime në terminologji dhe pa prekur ndjeshmëritë e publikut me raportime të pasakta. Botimi është realizuar me ndihmën financiare të Ambasadës së SHBA në Tiranë. One of the most important publications of Tirana Center for Journalistic Excellence, an excellent help for any journalist or journalism student who wishes to understand and learn how to report religion matters in media, without making mistakes in terminology and without affecting the sensibilities of the public with incorrect report. The publication was made possible with the financial support of the US Embassy in Tirana.

Në kuadër të projektit “Arsimi në Shqipëri: Rrënjët e krizës” të financuar nga Rrjeti Investigativ i Shqipërisë, Tirana Centre for Journalistic Excellence ka prodhuar një dokumentar investigues mbi tematikën e plagjaturës në sistemin arsimor shqiptar. Dokumentari i shkurtër “Plagjatura në Universitetet Shqiptare” synon të depërtojë në përdorimin, ose mospërdorimin, të platformës së parë në vend për identifikimin e plagjaturës nga institucionet e edukimit të lartë në Shqipëri. Nevoja për një platormë të tillë u theksua gjatë protestës së studentëve në fundin e vitit 2018 dhe masat kundër plagjaturës ishin një prej kërkesave të studentëve në Paktin për Universitetin. Sipas investigimeve, nga 3,500 punime doktorature në total, vetem 312 prej tyre u publikuan në portal, për t’u përdorur më pas vetem nga dy universitete nga 12 në vend. Një vit pas nënshkrimit të kontratës për përdorimin e platformës anti-plagjaturë, mund të themi me bindje se projekti ka qenë një dështim.

In the framework of the “Education in Albania: The Roots of the Crisis” funded by the Investigative Network Albania, Tirana Centre for Journalism Excellence (TCJE) has produced an investigative documentary on the topic of plagiarism in the Albanian education system. The short documentary “Plagiarism in Albanian Universities” aims to bring a closer look into the use, or lack of thereof, of the first anti-plagiarism platform in the country by the Albanian higher education institutions. The need for such a platform was emphasized during the students’ protest in late 2018 and measures on plagiarism were one of the demands of the students as part of the Pact for the University. According to the investigations, out of 3,500 doctoral theses, only 312 of them were uploaded in the portal, to be used by only two universities out of 12 in the country. One year after the beginning of the contract for the use of the anti-plagiarism platform, it is safe to say that the project has been a failure.

A video about Journalism School of NATO and Security Studies.

Here you will find all podcasts of the lessons held during Journalism School of NATO and Security Studies.

Intro video of Journalism School of NATO and Security Studies.

TCJE with the financial support of NATO will organize a ‘’School of Security and NATO studies’’ in October-November 2020.

On Wednesday, June 10th TCJE held a second seminar with Albanian journalists and keynote speaker Prof. Dr. Përparim Kabo to discuss how religion is currently being reported in the media. Journalists and Prof. Dr. Kabo exchanged ideas and suggestions on the improvement of the current situation.  

Using the profit accumulator is one such way, and you should understand why it increases your chances of the profits.