Association of Historians to organize protests against introduction of integrated history

The Association of Historians from Moldova (AIM) will organize, on September 11 a protest action in the square of the Opera and Ballet Theatre from Chisinau, after standing for several days in front of the Ministry of Education and Youth in order to protest against the introduction of the integrated history course in the pre-higher education system. Gheorghe Paladi, the chairman of AIM, who was elected at Association’s General Assembly on September 30, declared that in case this course will not be canceled, the Association will organize other protests too. According to the cited source, teachers and students are decided to launch a strike of the teaching staff and students in order to reject the attempt of the government to introduce historic fakes in schools. According to the historians, the government from Chisinau tries to transform history into manipulation and propagandistic indoctrination. Such a strategy in the history field is totally wrong, because it is not complying with the democratic values, historians say. On Friday, September 29 the president of the Republic of Moldova, convoked a meeting on the introduction of the integrated history course in the pre-higher education. As result of discussion, where the representatives of the specialized ministry, members of AIM, Science Academy, teachers and others, Voronin pleaded in favor of immediately canceling the lacunas found out in the textbooks. The head of state proposed to form under the patronage of the History Institute and Moldovan Academy of Sciences an expertise group, which will include all interested institutions and associations. Inquired to comment on this meeting Paladi said that it was not accidentally organized on the eve of the General Assembly of AIM. It is most likely that the government tries to decline, because it acknowledges that the protests can not be avoided, in light of the fact that the textbooks are extremely falsified and sovietized. On Saturday, September 30, the General Assembly of AIM took place. The Resolution on the situation in education was approved within its frameworks. The antidemocratic and antinational actions of the communist government are condemned; the integrated history course is categorically rejected and immediate canceling of textbooks is demanded as well as calling the persons responsible for its publishing to account, because “huge funds were spent”. The integrated history course was introduced in the pre-higher education system of the Republic of Moldova on September 1, 2006. Several parties and NGOs expressed their disagreement with the introduction of the course in school.