Almost 200 Moldovan students don't go to school

Poverty and migration is what keeps children out of schools. In October, the Ministry of Education recorded 173 students that didn't go to school. Most of them are either living abroad with their parents, or don't have the clothes and footwear that would allow them to go to school. Deputy Minister of Education Tatian Poting told Info-Prim Neo that a high percentage of the students that don't go to school are Roma. The reason behind it, besides poverty, is the fact that their parents don't see the use in studying, believing that their children would be much more useful around the household. 47 of them are living abroad with their parents, and the Deputy Minister says that they may be going to school there, yet the Ministry has no such information. According to Tatiana Poting, this number is relatively stable; almost the same number of children not attending school was registered last year. Most of the children who don't attend school are residents of the districts Nisporeni, Singerei, and Floresti. Children's Ombudswoman Tamara Plamadeala claims that the actual number of children not attending school is twice the official one, and that the Ministry hides the truth. “The Ministry has never offered real data in order to avoid panic within society”, the ombudswoman told Info-Prim Neo. Deputy Minister Tatian Poting claims for her part that the numbers used by the ombudswoman are unjustified, and that the Ministry is most interested in using real numbers in order to know what measures to take.