Chisinau historians claim that integrated history course might have the same fate as Life skills lectures

The chairman of Moldovan Historians’ Association, Anatol Petrenco, during the “Current problems of the Romanian history” symposium that took place on Wednesday, August 30, declared that the integrated history course could have the same outcome as “Life skills” course that was recently excluded from the school curriculum. According to Petrencu, until now only professional historians from the Republic of Moldova were against the implementation of integrated history course in lyceums. “The society plays the ball now”, claims the scientist. “It is time for the parents, pupils and teachers to make a stand”, Petrencu declared for the press. According to Petrencu, the introduction starting September 1 of the compulsory course of integrated history in schools from the Republic of Moldova is a political action, because the initiators of this course haven’t brought enough arguments to justify the change, compared to the courses of universal and Romanian history that were approved by the Council of Europe in 1996. “The communist leaders intend to eliminate the courses of Romanian history out of the study curriculum” Petrencu declared. Mihai Gheorghiu, representative of the Department for Romanians within the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared that history can be taught in various ways, what is really important is that the content should reflect the historical truth. “The problem is not in the teaching method, but in the material taught” the official declared. Academician Mihai Cimpoi, chairman of the Writers’ Union from Moldova declared that the symposium “Current problems of the Romanian history” offers an inroad in the 1900 years of the “Roman period”. According to him, the event is also important in the integration of Moldova in the European society meaning that Moldova enters the EU with its own cultural values, with its history and language. Historians from the Republic of Moldova and Romania took part at the symposium.