150 pupils have gone for the first time to the theoretical lycee “Gheorghe Asachi” from Chisinau this year. The number of first graders was down 59 compared to the last year. The holiday of September the 1st gathered them all in new clothes and bouquets of flowers in their hands. Noisy and nervous, the kids and their parents went to school hoping to gain more knowledge. Father Ioan Ciuntu from St. Teodora from Sihla Church, nearby, blessed them, Info-Prim Neo reports. The high school master, Boris Volosatai, has congratulated them on the occasion of the knowledge day, and expressed “sincere congratulations on the occasion of the Independence and Romanian Language Day” to the older student. “Be with us, be as we are, be better than we are. May God help us!” he told them. Some 11th-grade students came with surprises for their colleagues. The members of the folklore ensemble “Ghiocel” danced and sang. The Gheorghe Asachi theoretical high is the oldest and largest Moldovan school. 2,200 students will attended it in the 2008-2009 school year, taught by 180 teachers.