Teachers and school managers from Chisinau gathered on Thursday, August 20, for the annual municipal convention of pedagogues in order to draw the totals of the 2014-2015 school year and set the priorities for the new one. Some concern the creation of proper conditions for the implementation of national education policies, while others regard projects for sharing positive experiences in institutional management, IPN reports.
Tatiana Nagnibeda-Tverdohleb, head of the city's education division (DGETS), said the event anticipates the beginning of the new school year and allows managers to share experience and discuss the challenges faced by the education system. “The capital always stood out thanks to the human and profession potential of its teachers and this is why I think that we, the pedagogues, are up to any task and any planned change will have clear and desired outcomes”, she said.
The official presented a summary of DGETS's activity in 2014-2015. One of the listed problems concerns the shortage of teachers and assistants in pre-school education because of the low wages. Another one is the insufficiency of professional skills among managers and teachers when it comes to the implementation of the national curriculum. The lack of management IT skills and knowledge is problematic as well.
The participants also agreed that schools are yet to make the most of their recently-granted autonomy. As regards the curriculum, one of the problems is the lack of a single evaluation system, which leads to divergences in the final evaluation of the students' knowledge.
The plan for next year is to decentralize education services and increase the autonomy of schools. The authorities want to optimize the structure of the municipal education system and to improve the equipment and material conditions in schools. Another priority concerns the development of the participatory process and transparency, as well as the implementation of the continuous growth system for teachers and managers, by creating adequate motivational mechanisms, professional credits and so on. Another goal is to encourage national and international projects that promote a good image of the municipal education system.
Chisinau has 155 pre-schools attended by 37,000 kids, and 148 schools, attended by 78,000 students. About 6000 children attend sports schools and 15,000 are enrolled in extracurricular education institutions.
