Genc Pollo

Genc Pollo (born April, 1963 in Tirana, Albania) is the current Deputy Prime Minister in Mr. Sali Berisha's cabinet.

Genc Pollo was born in 1963 in Tirana. After graduating in Historical Studies from the University of Tirana in 1986 he worked as researcher at the Academy of Sciences for two years and than followed post graduate studies the Vienna University thanks to a scholarship awarded by the Austrian Government.

Mr. Pollo has participated actively in the founding of the Democratic Party the first pro-Western political party that dismantled the Communist rule by election victory. During 1992 to 1996 he served as an advisor to the President of the Republic of Albania. He has held various party and parliamentary senior positions related to education, foreign affairs and European integration. Since 2001 he chairs the New Democrat Party which was part of the center right coalition that won the summer 2005 general elections. He assumed the portfolio of Minister of Education and Science in the following government. Education has been declared the major priority of the new majority that has pledged among other things to double expenditure on it.

Minister Pollo has committed himself to thorough reforms of the education aimed at regaining public confidence in the education system by increasing transparency and correctness in school administration and especially assessment, modernizing the curriculum by lowering the rote-learning load and raising the subject integration, and the reform of teaching methods to encourage creative thinking. Matching knowledge and skills acquired in school with labour market needs is also a challenge to be faced. The Ministry of Education and Science, under Minister Pollo’s leadership, initiated important reforms, including successful implementation of the national exam on secondary school leaving the State Matura (that is the base for university admissions) in 2006, liberalization of the textbook market, and introduction of a new salary policy based on market needs and merit. The government also designed and launched a major e-schools project.

The Minister is also embarking on the reform of tertiary education to improve accountability of universities, increase access and improve the quality. To this end, in line with Bologna Process a new law on higher education will be passed soon and a 10-year Strategy for Higher Education development has been prepared and will soon be adopted.

Genc Pollo was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in August 2007

He is married and has two children.Excellent command of English, German, French, Italian language apart from the Albanian mother tongue