The National Anticorruption Center is daily notified of irregularities in the education system. The people complain mainly about illegal taxes and informal payments. Those who pay to get a higher grade, a diploma or to pass an exam seldom complain or do not complain at all. These report the case only when they realize the sum asked from them is higher than they expected. A number of 110 complaints about irregularities in the education system have been examined so far this year. A large part of these were anonymous, the Center’s director Bogdan Zumbreanu stated in the meeting of the Parliament’s commission on national security, defense and public order, IPN reports.
“If we divide 110 complaints to nine months, we see that 12 persons complain monthly to the NAC or we are informed about a new case of corruption in education three times a week. The anonymous complaints are a problem and we try to find solutions to it. Even if the law says the anonymous complaints are not examined, for the NAC any information is precious and, if this does not produce results today, in a period it helps create puzzles that we solve and intervene. No information is lost and no denouncement is thrown. Everything is analyzed, stored and used in large cases when all the unknowns are found a place,” stated Bogdan Zumbreanu.
According to him, what is more serious is the fact that the people who refuse to pay for grades or attention become scarecrows and are marginalized, pressed and harassed by teachers or other parents. It is curious that those who complain about corruption in education are those who daily contribute to extending this by offering such payments. A lot of people give up fighting this phenomenon and denouncing those who ask money from them for fear of being harassed.
As to the informal taxes, the Center’s director said public parents associations were founded in some of the education institutions, mainly kindergartens and primary and secondary schools and predominantly in Chisinau and other district centers, to contribute to improving the conditions of study in education institutions. Under the law, sponsorship activities are performed by private individuals and legal entities voluntarily, but the principle of voluntarism is not respected in most of the cases.
“In these conditions, a screen is created to collect funds from parents by force, minimizing the possibility of strengthening the practice of joining the given associations only based on the principle of voluntarism,” stated Bogdan Zumbreanu.
The NAC considers a number of actions need to be taken in this regard, such as improving the practice of enrolling children at kindergartens through information system and checking the legality of the constituted parents associations and of the efficient and transparent management of the funds collected by voluntary donations. The transparency of financial reports of education institutions and transparent monitoring of donated goods should also be ensured.
