Christian organizations ask Education Ministry to add Christian-Orthodox topics to Civic Education subject

Two Christian organizations – “Pro Ortodoxia” and the Association of Orthodox Christian Youth and Students – ask the Ministry of Education and Youth to add modules from the Christian-Orthodox education to the Civic Education subject and to work out a clear and encouraging policy for teaching this subject. Today, religion is an optional, marginalized subject in schools, members of the associations told a news conference on August 26, Info-Prim Neo reports. Priest Vasile Negru, father confessor of the Association of Orthodox Christian Youth and Students, said that religion should be included in the school program as separate, compulsory subject. “When the ideas are taken from context they lose their importance,” the priest said, adding that the religion teachers usually are not paid. Even so, they are ready to do their job. ”Form September 1, Civic Education was included in the school programs as obligatory subject. It t is based on the conceptions of patriotism, statehood, citizenship, civism and ideals. But it does not contain Christian-Orthodox morals,” said Ghenadie Valuta, teacher of religion and president of “Pro Ortodoxia”. University lecturer Iurie Mihalache, a member of “Pro Ortodoxia” said that the present legislation envisions the possibility of studying the subject Moral-Spiritual Education, which can also focus on the Orthodox religion. The fact that the Ministry of Education and Youth changed the name of the subject into Civic Education is defiance of the law, he added. The Civic Education subject will be taught in the first-twelfth grades.