Successive elections were responsible for delays and inadequate planning of the education reform efforts, stated Education Minister Mihail Sleahtitchi at a meeting with journalists, Info-Prim Neo reports. The discussion took place during the first meeting of the “Journalists: Friends of Children” network, organized by the Investigative Journalism Center and UNICEF Moldova. Mihail Sleahtitchi said that both the Ministry and the local authorities shared responsibility for the implementation of the reform. “Obviously, any reform means changes that often upset someone. A great deal of communication and dialogue with parents and children was needed in the villages where schools would be closed or where district schools would be created. None of the representatives of the local administration who participated in the previous elections warned the people that schools would be optimized. All of them assured the voters they would have a school in their community”, said Mihail Sleahtitchi. The Minister of Education blames the lack of jobs for teachers who worked in closed schools on the numerous elections in Moldova and especially on the recent local electoral campaign. “After the local elections, many heads of education divisions are replaced and they have to revise all the documents and start many things from the beginning and this requires time. We lost half a year because of elections”, he added. Mihail Sleahtitchi explained that the optimization of schools and the creation of district schools should have started 10 years ago, when the demographic growth dropped. “It’s extremely expensive to maintain a school with only a few tens of pupils”, he said. According to him, any educational institution should have at least two classes of 20 pupils each in every graduation batch in order to be functional and efficient. He assured that all the teachers from the closed schools would get another job. “They will be re-employed in district schools or for extra-curriculum activities with children in the villages where schools were closed. They could change their profession and become social assistants or psychologists”, the Minister said. 370 of the 1,500 schools in Moldova will be optimized until 2013. Children will go to district schools that are no more that 15 km far from their communities. In 2011, 221 schools in 9 districts are to be closed.