More Moldovan children are out of school

The number of children out of school in Moldova is on the rise, ombudswoman Tamara Plamadeala said in a news conference. She stated there were 30,000 illiterate children in 2004. No statistics are available after this year, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Migration, negligence, poverty and school abandonment became typical of Moldova. Consequently, the number of illiterate children is increasing,” Tamara Plamadeala said. Among the causes of such a situation are the overloaded school program, discrimination of the children with limited learning abilities, lack of child motivation, the high costs and bad image of the school, said the ombudswoman. According to Tamara Plamadeala, school abandonment remains yet the major cause of illiteracy. It also leads to violence, drug use, human trafficking, delinquency, prostitution, child labor, etc. The residential childcare system is also affected by illiteracy. There are children in these institutions who do not know how to read and write after they finish nine grades. Marin Alla, the head of the Union of the Young Roma “Tarna Rom”, said there are about 7,000 Romani children in Moldova, 80% of whom are illiterate. “The blame is borne both by the parents and society. These children are discriminated. That's why most of them prefer to abandon school,” Marin Alla said, adding the Government is also to blame as it does not pay adequate attention to this ethic group. Tamara Plamadeala recommended the Government to ensure the children's right to education so that they could acquire skills to integrate with the community and protect themselves, and to take measures to punish the irresponsible parents. She suggested opening late education centers that will help the children assimilate the school program.