Moldova education system to undergo major overhaul
Moldovan Education Minister Dan Perciun announced on Friday that a series of dismissals are imminent in the country's education system.
Perciun, speaking in a live intervention on social media, said that directors of district education offices who were appointed in violation of the Education Code will be removed from office. He said that their positions will be filled by qualified candidates through a competitive process.
The minister noted that, while the Education Code has always required that district directors be selected through a competitive process, there have been numerous cases where the law has not been followed.
"Despite the fact that these provisions have been in the Education Code for 8 years, we have found numerous cases where they have not been respected," Perciun said. "This is why we have introduced this additional legal amendment to correct the current situation. From the moment the law is approved, within 45 days, all those who hold this position in violation of the Code will be dismissed. The Ministry will appoint interim candidates for up to 6 months, after which the District Councils will hold competitions in accordance with the regulations approved by the Ministry."
Perciun added that the selection process for candidates for district director positions will consist of three stages.
"The first stage is one of eligibility," he said. "We have provided fairly broad conditions for access to this position. We require a master's degree and previous managerial experience in the education system. The next stage will be the written test conducted at the Center for Information Technologies in Education, which is also taken by those who aspire to the position of school and kindergarten directors. The passing threshold for district directors will be higher than for directors. Finally, the last stage is the interview, based on a plan for the development of the district education system. We expect a work of up to 20 pages that will include the candidate's vision on all aspects of the activity in the education system in the district in which the person wants to work."
The Moldovan Parliament, in an extraordinary session in August, approved amendments to the Education Code that clarified the norms in the Code regarding the selection of district education directors and introduced derogating norms that require those district directors who were appointed in violation of the Code to be dismissed.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
