Right to paid work of Solonet children is infringed, ombudswoman

The right to paid work of the children of the school for minors with behavioral difficulties in Solonet village of Soroca district is violated, said ombudsman for chidlren's rights Tamara Plamadeala, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. The school owns a farm and 28 hectares of land. The 25 students of the school are involved in farming works in summer and are not paid for their work. Moreover, the children who should leave the institution, are stopped and put to work at the farm. “This is a violation of the law and of the chidlren's right to paid work,” said Tamara Plamadeala, who paid a monitoring visit to the given school. “The children must be remunerated for the work they do so that they have their own source of income,” the ombudswoman said. Tamara Plamadeala said that she paid a visit to this school last summer and then submitted recommendations to the Ministry of Education, including instituting the post of psychologist, setting free the children who served the time, reforming the institution. According to her, this school has a negative image in the society and this has an unfavorable effect on the children's image. “When the people hear that a child studied at the school in Solonet, they treat him as a criminal and this is not right,” Tamara Plamadeala said. The school has 50 employees and a yearly budget of over 2 million lei, up about 1 million lei from last year. The conditions at the school have been improved. At the same time, Tamara Plamadeala considers that this budget is very large for an institution for 25 children. “A solution must be identified to influence the development of these minors by counseling and support services. I consider they should go to the school in their settlements, together with the other children,” she said. The school in Solonet is considered a penal colony for delinquent children, who commit minor offenses but cannot be imprisoned owing to their age. The minors serve four years there. If they commit new offenses after released, they are taken to Penitentiary No.2 in Lipcani. Tamara Plamadeala said the number of delinquent teenagers in Moldova is on the rise. The police keep under supervision more than 3,000 minors. The ombudswoman recommended reforming the school in Solonet as quickly as possible in order to create appropriate conditions for the minors and avoid the inefficient use of the public money.