UNDP makes recommendations for Moldova's education system

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched two studies about the education system of Moldova and teaching of human rights. The studies contain recommendations that will be analyzed and possibly included in the draft Education Code, Info-Prim Neo reports. At the launch, Deputy Minister of Education Loretta Handrabura said the study “Education and Human Development: current challenges” focuses on the access to education, quality of the education process, qualifications of the teachers and financing of the education sector. The study recommends including a chapter on the decentralization of the education system in the Education Code. The central authorities should play only the role of promoters of the education policies and set the national assessment and accreditation standards for education institutions. The Education Code must clearly say that the aim of the education activities intended for the persons with disabilities is their integration into the society. Loretta Handrabura said that the method of admitting students to universities should be changed. “More people plead for introducing a single test with questions that will reveal the student's abilities,” she said. Anatol Gremalschi, program director at the Public Policy Institute, said the management system in education institutions should be based on results, not length of service. “A teacher should be considered good when he achieves results, not when he reaches a length of service of 35 years,” Anatol Gremalschi said. The education system should be open so that the persons who return from abroad can confirm the jobs they learned overseas in their native country, he added. The second study entitled “Human Rights Education” analyzes how the human rights are known and observed in the education system. Loretta Handrabura stressed that the courses “Civic Education” and “We and the Law” should be reviewed as they should lay emphasis on the knowledge of the rights and obligations, not on the notions of tolerance and nondiscrimination. The recommendations will be discussed at the national teachers' conference that will take place in August. Afterward, the draft Educational Code will be submitted to the Government for approval. The Government imposed a moratorium on this document following the discontents expressed by the academic circles.