The opposition Party of Communists says that the optimization of the education system, an item on the Filat Government's anti-crisis plan, in fact means closing of schools, layoffs of teachers, cuts in stipends, etc.; and asks the minister of education and the minister of youth for explanations on the reasons for these measures, which, according to the party, will drive the education system to breakdown. Ion Ceban, former deputy education minister, has told a press conference on Tuesday the recently adopted anti-crisis program in education “centers on the magical word 'optimization' (...) but behind this word we see some rather not magical things for Moldova, and I mean reduction, cutbacks, layoffs”. The Communists denounce, in particular, the school mergers, the rise in the fees for student dormitories, the decrease in the cap of government-subsidized students from 70 to 50 percent. “I want to openly ask Mr (Leonid) Bujor (minister of education), whether he was present when the program was being devised and what he thinks about it”, the former deputy minister said. Asked to comment, Leonid Bujor said Ion Ceban wasn't speaking as a specialist. “I truly regret that by making these allegations he also targets his party fellows, because what we call optimization of costs and performance of education is not a campaign by the government, as he claims, but is a very important and serious intervention, initiated by the Communists themselves”, replied Bujor. The minister went on to add that he possessed documents endorsed by the former prime-ministers, Vasile Tarlev and Zinaida Greceanyi, as well as other ministers, authorizing similar cost-cutting measures.