A pilot project will be implemented in the districts of Rascani and Causeni in 2010 to test a formula-based scheme of financing primary and secondary education establishments from local coffers, Info-Prim Neo reports. Explaining the project, Education Minister Leonid Bujor said its goal is to optimize the mechanism of allocating public resources to education institutions. Currently, the local authorities of both levels, being financially autonomous, neglect the recommended average allocations calculated by the Ministry of Finance in determining the budget of each education establishment. As a result, the average allocation per pupil differs from school to school, from village to village, from district to district. The project, initiated by the Ministry of Education and endorsed by governmental ordinance, introduces a formula for per-student allocations to be used in calculating the budgets of the education institutions. The formula was elaborated with the help of the World Bank's “Quality Education in Rural Areas” Project. The essence of this methodology is in that, regardless of which budget provides the financing, allocations will be calculated primarily based on the number of students. The pilot project will cover the entire 2010 budget distribution period in the two selected districts. The project will involve 34 institutions with 11,316 pupils in Causeni district, and 39 institutions with 7,424 pupils in Rascani district. The expenses calculated following the recommended formula will not include expenses related to the provision of free meals and major investments. Although common for all the institutions, the Ministry says the formula can be adjusted to the specifics of a particular district. If the expenditure cap calculated by the Ministry of Finance doesn't exceed total allocations calculated per pupil (called categorial transfers in the governmental ordinance), complementary allocations will be determined based on the difference between these figures, plus 3 percent of the expenditure cap for 2010 calculated following the formula.