The electoral players partially kept the promises related to the education sector made during the campaign that preceded the parliamentary elections of 2010. In general, the promise fulfillment level is satisfactory, but there are yet many drawbacks. The assessment was carried out by experts of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) and can be followed on the website www.promis.md.
In a news conference at IPN, ADEPT executive director Igor Botan said that most of the promises, if analyzing all the categories, were made in the education and youth sectors as the young people are a category of more active people who can be easier persuaded.
According to the ADEPT report, the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) promised to adjust the education system of Moldova to the European standards. Its first promise was fulfilled as there was adopted a new Education Code. One of the objectives of this Code is to harmonize the national education system with the European one and to appropriately meet the labor market requirements. The honoring of the second promise to raise students’ scholarships was described by experts as ‘unsatisfactory’ as the scholarships were increased by only 10%, which is insignificant in the light of the high rate of inflation over the last few years. Another promise made by the Liberal-Democrats was to raise the lump-sum child benefit up to 10,000 lei. This promise wasn’t delivered. In 2014, the lump-sum child benefit is 3,100 lei and, respectively, 3,400 lei for the second child, which is about three times lower than the promised one.
The Democratic Party (PDM) promised to improve the prestige of the profession of teacher and to significantly increase teachers’ pays. The experts of ADEPT said the teachers during the last four years continued to leave the education system. In the 2013–2014 academic year alone, about 700 teachers left their jobs in education institutions. The average salary of teachers rose almost proportionally to the rise in the average salary in the economy, but remained by about 20% lower than this salary.
The PDM pledged to modernize the living conditions in dorms. The modernization was delivered but sporadically, without concrete planning. This party’s promise to reduce the public transport fares for students by 25% wasn’t kept. Another unfulfilled promise is to offer grants of 100,000 lei for supporting the young entrepreneurs.
In the campaign that preceded the 2010 elections, the Democrats also promised investments in education and in the future of the economy of knowledge. According to experts, the classrooms were reequipped, but sporadically, without a definite plan of action. The party also promised to launch a modern internship organization system for all the students. Parliament amended a law providing that the public institutions and authorities and the state-run companies will annually offer internship places representing at least 10% of their personnel.
Another promise by the PDM was to promote the social inclusion of the persons with disabilities. A series of efforts were made to ensure disabled people’s access to education. However, about 50% of the 15,000 children with special needs do not go to school. In order to increase accessibility to education, the authorities adopted the national strategy on the social inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Another parliamentary party, the Liberal Party (PL) pledged to ensure institutional autonomy and this matter is regulated by the new Education Code. Another promise was to increase the number of budget-funded places in state higher education institutions. The experts determined that the number of such places declined. The promise to adopt a program for building apartments based on mortgage for young people on low incomes, with the partial assistance of the state, also wasn’t kept. According to the ADEPT experts, there are no data concerning the building of such apartments in a significant number.
The promise to decentralize and depoliticize the education system by adopting the Education Code was partially honored. The PL also promised to create appropriate conditions in kindergartens, schools and universities. According to the experts of ADEPT, in most of the settlements of the country, the kindergartens and schools were repaired and rehabilitated. In this respect, the Government of Moldova obtained a grant of €20 million from the Government of Romania, which is yet to be distributed.
Another promise by the PL was to offer residence visa in the settlements where the persons study based on the student card even if the students do not live in dorms. The residence visa based on the student card is normally offered to dwellers of dorms that belong to education institutions. The students who rent accommodations can get residence, but in this case the owners of the accommodations increase the rent as they must pay income tax.
The portal www.promis.md is a platform centering on the activity and performance of politicians and elected officials. Its major goal is to make the politicians responsible for the activities carried out within the mandate given to them by the voters.
