Criuleni school children await decision of local officials

The Russian-language gymnasium in Criuleni town is on the list of institutions that might be closed as part of the efforts to optimize education expenses. Nonetheless, a decision in this regard is yet to be taken. Ten days before the beginning of the new school year, the pupils still don’t know if they’ll go to school on September 1. Vladimir Soltanici, head of the Criuleni education division, told Info-Prim Neo that the local officials, mostly representatives of the Party of Communists, delay the decision, because in the electoral campaign they had promised the locals to keep the institution open. According to Soltanici, the teachers didn’t have their leave allowances paid because of the incomplete budget. The gymnasium’s financial problems worsened after it switched to the method of financing per pupil. The classes are attended by 19 pupils, and the expenses of the institution are estimated at 1 million lei. According to the new financing method, the allotments per pupil are 6100. Multiplied by the number of pupils, it means 115,900 lei, the tenth part of the school’s needs. “How can you keep a whole school for 19 pupils?” asked Vladimir Soltanici. Town mayor Vitalie Onisciuc of PCRM told Info-Prim Neo that he would try to convince his colleagues in the local council that the school has to be closed. For the primary school pupils, a special Russian-language class was created in the town’s Romanian-language school. As regarding gymnasium pupils, an agreement hasn’t been reached yet, but it was proposed for pupils to go to a school from a nearby locality. “I’ll try to convince them (the PCRM councilors, Ed.) that there is no other solution. Everybody is waiting, both parents and teachers”, said Vitalie Onisciuc. According to the mayor, there 12 teachers in the gymnasium, 7 of whom reached retirement age and 5 will be employed somewhere else. The local council will meet until the end of the week.