PAD will organize consultations for solving the Romanian language issue in Gagauzia

The Democratic Action Party (PAD) will organize informal consultations to find solutions for the Romanian language conflict in the Gagauzia Autonomous Region. Parliamentarian Mihai Godea, leader of the initiative group for PAD’s creation, held a press conference on Friday, August 5. He said that the consultations would involve members of the academic community, civil society representatives, people from the social-cultural field, including representatives of ethnic minorities, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Beyond these political games, the essence of this problem is an educational and social one and solutions must come from these fields”, stated Mihai Godea. PAD regrets that educational and social issues are used for fueling interethnic tensions. “Knowing the official language is not only a citizen’s duty, but is needed for the youth’s social integration. Not knowing Romanian is disadvantageous for Gagauz youth”, said Natalia Ciobanu, member of the group of initiative for PAD’s creation and PhD of the Academy of Sciences. Another member of the PAD initiative group, Andrei Munteanu, magister of education sciences of the Stockholm University, said that methods of teaching Romanian in Moldova had to be updated. He added that this process shouldn’t be monopolized by the Ministry of Education. The Gagauz authorities have issued their own baccalaureate diplomas for the graduates who got marks under 5 at the Romanian Language and Literature exam. The decision was taken by the Gagauz executive body and came under heavy criticism from Chisinau. The Ministry of Education declared that these actions violated the Moldovan law and that students who failed a baccalaureate exam wouldn’t be allowed to apply at Moldovan universities or colleges.