The deficient infrastructure remains one of main problems of the education system of Moldova. Many pre-university education institutions are not connected to water supply and sewage systems and do not have sanitary facilities inside. The laboratories, physical and artistic education halls of district schools and theoretical lyceums are improperly outfitted, Minister of Education, Culture and Research Monica Babuc told a news conference where she presented the accomplishments of 2018, IPN reports.
Monica Babuc also spoke about the shortage of teaching staff, with 2,500 posts of teachers being now vacant. To consolidate the profession of teacher and to make sure the rural education institutions have enough teachers, the average monthly salary was increased by 40% on 2015. The allowances for young specialists who work at the assigned jobs were raised from 30,000 to 120,000 lei for university graduates and from 24,000 to 96,000 for graduates of post-secondary technical vocational schools. For the first time, the continuous professional development of teachers was financed by the state and 22 million lei was allocated for the purpose.
In the 2018-2019 academic year, there were implemented the first state-funded dual programs for training kindergarten educators who do not have the necessary qualifications. The curriculum reform was implemented in general education to exclude the overloading of students due to the large number of subjects and classes and to reduce the discrepancies between the taught curriculum and the evaluated one, between the training of students and their professional orientation.
As to the modernization of the infrastructure of education institutions, 845 kindergartens or 60% of all the kindergartens were renovated with the support of the Government of Romania. A number of 23 district schools were repaired or are being repaired. The Government of Romania also helped purchase and distribute196 school buses.
In 2018, there were introduced a number of optional disciplines aimed at developing skills to efficiently use contemporary information technology. A digital education textbook was designed for the first grade and introduced for the first time this year. There were launched different projects, such as “Classroom of the Future” and “Twenty Tu” and teachers were trained to teach information and communication technology.
Among the Ministry’s priorities next year are to develop school infrastructure, to reassess the current financing formula “per child” in primary, secondary and lyceum education and to develop the disciplinary curriculum at secondary schools and lyceums. In the framework of a project funded by the Word Bank, 15 district schools will receive financing and the labs of 160 schools will be equipped.
