The president of the Party of Development and Unity of Moldova (PDCM), ex-Premier Ion Chicu, said the example of the substantial rise in salaries in the health system in 2020, when pays were raised by 70% during a year, can and should be replicated in education. The politician spoke about this and other priorities in education and science in a meeting with staff of the Tiraspol State University based in Chisinau, IPN reports.

Ion Chicu said the PDCM’s main goal in the education sector is to ensure appropriate conditions and access to high-quality education adjusted to the socioeconomic developments for all the children and young people. This objective can be achieved by sufficiently and reasonably investing in the education system.

“The underfinancing of education during the past 25-30 years, promotion of unwise reforms that were based on economic reasons rather than on future views, the superficial equipment of education institution, the deterioration of their infrastructure and irresponsible approaches as regards the material and moral stimulation of teaching staff generated major shortcomings in education,” said the leader of the PDCM, being quoted in a press release.

According to the politician, the shortage of teachers is an essential problem that endangers the national education system, but this can be solved by substantially increasing salaries and extending the program of allowances intended for young teachers working in rural areas.

Ion Chicu noted that the PDCM will plead for restoring the primary education cycle in each settlement, no matter how small this is. “The demographic situation shows that in many localities, there are not enough children. There are situations when secondary classes cannot be formed in small localities, but the state should maintain the primary classes in any settlement, even if this is not reasonable from economic viewpoint. Transporting small children to the school in another locality, including in winter, wasn’t the best solution,” stated the party’s leader.

Also, Ion Chicu noted that the PDCM continues to plead for the curriculum reform so as to ensure the balanced distribution of the curriculum’s complexity between primary and secondary or lyceum classes. “We have many meetings with people in localities and parents complain that the curriculum is too difficult in the primary classes, while its complexity at the secondary stage or even at the high school stage decreases,” stated Ion Chicu.