It’s that time of year again—a new school year is about to begin. Preparations are in full swing. In addition to the usual tasks, Amaro Tan faces a very special challenge: enrolling the first-graders.
Each child must be registered online for first grade by their parents. Albania is way ahead in this regard; almost everything that still requires a trip to the government office here is handled online in Albania. But that also has its pitfalls: You need internet access, a cell phone, and a password to log in. Anyone who doesn’t have these (or loses them) has a problem.
Especially in the families of our Amaro Tan kids, things aren‘t particularly organized. Many forget their passwords, can‘t afford data plans, swap cell phones, or have trouble navigating logins and online forms.
August 1 was the registration deadline—and almost everyone missed it! For Principal Marin and his staff, this means a lot of extra work and headaches. But in the end, they always manage to make it work somehow. In any case, we’re looking forward to our new first-graders!