The Ministry of Education is concerned about the increasing number of cases of child abuse and severe negligence, including at school. During a thematic seminar, Minister of Education Maia Sandu said the kindergarten and school are environments where the children spend most of the part of the day and what they learn there and the way they interact and are treated must be an example for them and their parents, Info-Prim Neo reports. The official said that there are yet no specialists ready to identify and report cases of abuse and to provide the necessary assistance. “There are no official mechanisms for cooperation between the institutions responsible for child protection. The education divisions do not have instruments for monitoring the situation,” said Maia Sandu. A two-day seminar held in Chisinau is a first step taken by the Ministry to address the problem of child abuse. It is attended by 36 specialists from district and municipal divisions. “We want to prepare specialists-resource who will deal with child abuse in every district of the country. They will inform the colleagues from education divisions about the legal provisions, the competent institutions, the procedures for dealing with child abuse and negligence, and the methods of preventing such cases,” stated the minister. The number of cases of child abuse has increased over the last three years. Specialists of the Ministry of Education established that the managers of education institutions sometimes hide these abuses in order to protect certain persons or not to damage the institution’s image.