[Info-Prim Neo article from the series “2011: how it was and hot it wasn’t”. Repeat from 22.12.11] “The education reform is a sensitive, but necessary one for Moldova. It should have been implemented ten years ago. It is overdue, but it is now our task to reconfigure the structure of the Moldovan education system and I believe that we will manage to do it in 2012,” Minister of Education Mihail Shleahtitski stated for Info-Prim Neo. The minister spoke about the process of optimizing the education system and the district schools opened in 2011. “We were harshly criticized for the decision to set up district schools. Is it better to have schools with 10 children or with a teacher teaching eight subjects? In other countries, the children are taken to schools situated 40-50 km away. In Moldova, they got into a panic when we decided to open district schools 15 km from the children’s settlement. Some of the political forces try to build an image by criticizing the education sector and the Ministry’s decision,” said Mihail Shleahtitski. In the same connection, the minister said that this year they have spoken a lot about the need to simplify the school curriculum. Conceptually, it was decided that the nucleus of the curriculum should contain six or at most eight compulsory subjects, while the other subjects should be optional. Now the curriculum includes 18 mandatory subjects. “It is overloaded and wearisome both for the students and teachers. In 2012, we will make effort to simplify it,” said the minister. As to the investments in education, Mihail Shleahtitski stated that the Ministry of Education’s budget for 2011 is larger than those of other ministries and will be even larger next year. “This enabled us to increase the salaries of teachers and other employees working in the education sector. We understand that the 25% rise in salaries is not sufficient, but the authorities plan to invest in education, this being a priority,” said the minister. Speaking about failures, Mihail Shleahtitski said not all the graduates of teacher-training universities go to work where they are sent. “Almost 60% of those who studied on a budget-funded place did not present themselves at the assigned workplace. We did not manage to motivate and mobilize them. In the future, we intend to increase the sum paid to them if they go to work where they are told to. But we also think about penalties as it is not right that the state spends money on their studies, while they refuse to work. We may also give a test to those who want to become teachers as some of them do not have a vocation, but go to the faculty because they enjoy concessions,” said the minister. He expressed his regret at the fact that there are still children out of school. “Over 150 children do not attend the school at present. The disseminated figure of almost 4,000 children out of school is incorrect. We have not yet solved the problem of school abandonment, but will be making effort to eradicate this phenomenon,” said Mihail Shleahtitski. In the end, he voiced hope that the political class will not attempt to stop the education reform by making attacks on the Ministry of Education, while society will gradually accept what is beneficial to the people and the country in general. More than 378,000 children study at the over 1 400 schools and lyceums of the country. [Mariana Galben, Info-Prim Neo]