About 79% of Students Wish to Emigrate, Survey Says

TIRANA, January 14

Highly-performing Albanian students and graduates are aware of the fact that with some experience they can make up to €2,000 (or a lot more) per month as freelancers. Yet, they decide to leave for colder countries where the higher the wages the higher the taxes. The odds are that their choices might be influenced by factors more important than money.
Based on the results of a recent survey conducted with students, 72percent of students in Albania aim to leave the country. About 1,650 students participated in a survey conducted by demography research experts Ilir Gedeshi and Rusell King.
According to Gedeshi, the wish to emigrate among students is related to their outlook on the future. He added that youth and highly-educated people immigrate most compared to other groups. In terms of the time when students fulfill their goal to leave Albania:
Seven percent wish to leave before graduation (education disappointment)
62 percent right after graduation
27 percent after a job experience (labor market disappointment).

On the other hand, about 94 percent of Albanians studying abroad don’t want to return to Albania.
Moreover, the survey shows an insignificant gap in terms of gender as 79.4 percent of females and 78.1 percent of males wish to leave the country.

In terms of fields of study, emigration intentions are higher among students in medicine (91.5 percent), nursing (83 percent), informatics (84.4 percent), and engineering and architecture (79.2 percent).
A previous survey conducted in 2018 confirmed that the number of health care professionals that emigrated was equal or higher to the number of new graduates at the Medicine University.

Source: President.al

Photo Credit: Faculty of History and Philology