Online security is achieved by educating safe behaviors in the virtual environment, said the International Center "La Strada" representative, Elena Botezatu. According to her, findings of a 2018 questionnaire conducted by the Center show that 96% of 12-15 year old Moldovan children access social network profiles. "This means that children create their own communication environment online. If children do not have knowledge on how to do it safely, they can be exposed to certain risks", said Elena Botezatu.
According to the same questionnaire, out of 25 students, eight received messages containing uncensored words, six involuntarily visited a sexual video, five students were asked to send sexual images, two received offensive messages which targeted them, while only four din not encounter any issues online. Two out of ten respondents said that it is not their responsibility to intervene in case of online abuse. They considered that the responsibility laid on the shoulders of the parents, while the school should not get involved. "Online abuse is not always perceived as a form of abuse", she concluded.
Elena Botezatu said that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research (MECC), despite all the challenges it faces, such as the lack of technical equipment and the lack of digital training for teachers and students, has managed to provide online education. However, this was less than enough and it was ineffective, because many online training activities were not carried out. Many online educational activities relied on the digital skills that teachers acquired before the pandemic.
Natalia Grîu, state secretary at MECC, said that the digitalization of educational processes is inevitable both due to technological innovations and because of the pandemic, which imposes online solutions. “Between March and May, we switched to another learning format. Throughout this process, we learnt that we must prepare for such changes and that digitalization is not just a fad, but a reality of the times we live in. Unfortunately, not only children, but also the teachers and the system as a whole, were not prepared for such changes".
"We understood how important the resilience of the system is in the face of the pandemic. Online learning has many opportunities to offer, but it also requires proper training for both teachers and students", said Natalia Grîu.
