30 schools to be closed on September 1

Thirty schools will be closed, while 42 reorganized from September 1, 2011, Deputy Minister of Education Tatiana Potang said Thursday. She stated that the information was provided by the local education divisions, Info-Prim Neo reports. ”It is true that not in all the cases the local councilors gave their consent. The approval was given for 19 of the 30 schools that are to be closed,” said Tatiana Potang. The situation in every district is different. In Calarasi district for example, the local authorities accepted to close only three of the four institutions. Three schools are to be reorganized in Nisporeni, but the local public administration has not yet given its consent. Tatiana Potang said problems are encountered in the process of purchasing buses for taking the children to school. The World Bank provided money for buying 35 units of transport. 37 buses were to be purchased with money from the state budget. The tender contest for the financing from the state budget was cancelled owing to some impediments and is to be held again, while the buses bought with the World Bank’s money have not been yet brought. “The 35 buses are not in store. They are yet to be manufactured. From previous experience, we know that the acquisition process lasts for over three months. We have examined the possibility of renting units of transport until the buses are purchased and delivered,” said the deputy minister. There are 1,500 preuniversity education institutions in Moldova. According to the Ministry of Education, 370 of them are to be reorganized until 2013. The US$10 million Quality Education in Rural Areas of Moldova Project is financed by the World Bank.