Ukrainian refugees in Moldova encouraged to learn Romanian to integrate into the workforce
Refugees from Ukraine in Moldova are encouraged to learn Romanian to integrate more easily into the workforce.
Most of the Ukrainian refugees in Moldova are women with young children who are not yet ready to enter the workforce, according to Ana Gherganova, head of the Occupational Policies and Labor Regulation Directorate at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection. She said on the radio program "Parallel 47" that learning Romanian would help Ukrainian refugees in the country integrate into the workforce.
"Most of the 80,000 are women with young children who, in principle, are not ready to access the labour market in Moldova for various reasons, whether they do not know Romanian, or do not have someone to leave their children with. Another reason, I believe we have to say, is that many of them do not accept the level of pay offered in Moldova and this information is provided by Ukrainian citizens who say that those who wanted to work have left for Germany, France, Belgium and so on."
Ana Gherganova also noted that currently, over 1,300 Ukrainian refugees have found a job in the country.
Refugees who choose to stay in Moldova for a longer period of time are learning Romanian, either through in-person or online courses. This helps them to integrate into society and to acquire the knowledge necessary to facilitate this integration.
"I am Irina, I am Ukrainian, I am 31 years old, I am a Ukrainian language teacher at school. Now I live in the beautiful city of Soroca. Thanks to the courses, I can now read and speak a little Romanian." "I am Ala, I am from Ukraine, from the Luhansk region, it's nice to meet you. Thank you for the opportunity to learn Romanian." "I am Victoria Șerbacova, I am from the city of Kharkiv, now I live in Chisinau. I am 30 years old and I work as a kindergarten teacher. I learned many new words and expressions in the courses." "I am Roman Zveaghințev, I am from Kharkiv, a fifth-grader, I love football and in my free time I study Romanian at the Alecu Russo University. Thank you very much to the teachers for the interesting and informative Romanian courses."
Currently, there are approximately 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in Moldova.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
