Moldova

In late March 2020, the UNICEF office in Moldova received a GPE grant of US$70,000 to support the Ministry of Education with developing a COVID-19 response plan in coordination with donors and development partners.

Moldova has used to funds to increase access to distance learning by providing IT devices for students and teachers and distributing learning packages to the most deprived children with no access to technologies.

To ensure the quality of distance learning and child well-being, educators were trained online on how to work with parents to support the education of young children.

The government of Moldova identifies education as a national priority and recognizes the role of education in building a knowledge-based society. Education is considered as a determinant of quality of life and opportunities. The education sector in the country is transitioning from a centralized, traditional system to a student-centered one.

Moldova’s main challenges relate to early childhood education coverage, especially for minority and disadvantaged children, and the management, monitoring, and evaluation of the education sector.

Education 2020, the country's sector plan, encompasses seven strategic objectives:

1. Increase access and level of participation in education and training by expanding access to quality pre-school education, providing access to inclusive education and a 12-year general compulsory education, increase attractiveness and access to vocational/technical education, and increase participation in higher education and adult training programs.
2. Ensure relevance of study for life, active citizenship, and career success through adjusting the content of early education, ensuring the relevance of primary, secondary, and vocational/technical education, modernizing university curriculum, and promoting scientific research.
3. Ensure the effective integration of ICT in education through providing educational institutions with modern equipment, developing digital literacy, and increasing the efficiency of school management through information technology.
4. Develop, support, and motivate teachers to ensure quality education through increasing the attractiveness of the teaching profession, balancing the supply and demand of teachers, improving initial teacher training, and creating an efficient system of continuous training.
5. Design and institutionalize an effective system of evaluation, monitoring, and quality assurance of the education system through developing national standards and creating an institutional framework for quality assurance.
6. Optimizing resource management through improving educational institutions planning and management, achieving efficiency in educational financing, modernizing the infrastructure of educational institutions, and providing textbooks and teaching materials.
7. Achieving social cohesion while providing quality education through expanding students’ participation in decision-making, ensuring effective parent education, and developing partnerships in the field of education.