Secondary vocational education provides training for an occupation (profession), as well as skill perfection and skill conversion for qualified workers and unemployed.

The state guarantees vocational training for an occupation for gymnasium graduates who didn’t attain the age of 16 and don’t continue their studies in lyceums (or general culture secondary schools).

Secondary vocational education is organised as a full-time or evening education in frame of versatile vocational schools and trade schools.

The list of occupations, in which vocational training is organised, is approved by the Government, according to the suggestion of the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Labour, Social protection and Family, and Ministry of Education, together with other ministries and departments.

A versatile vocational school is organised in three steps. It implements successive vocational training in a large qualification area – from worker to technician, providing in the same time lyceum education.

Enrolment to the vocational school is competition based, not impeding graduates from gymnasium, general culture secondary school and lyceum, with or without baccalaureate diploma.

Duration of studies in a versatile vocational school is up to 5 years for gymnasium and incomplete secondary school graduates, and up to 3 years for lyceum and general culture secondary school graduates.

The I step of a versatile school provides with training up to the level of qualified worker in a vocation and ends with awarding a qualification certificate, which opens the way for enrolment in production, for continuing the studies in the II step of a versatile vocational school or in XI form of a lyceum.

The II step provides with the extension of the vocational training up to level of master and professional initiation for entrepreneur activity. The II step ends with qualification examinations and awarding a qualification certificate, which gives access to enrolment in production, to continuing the studies in the II step or in the last form of a lyceum.

The III step continues vocational education up to the level of a technician, which ends with qualification examinations and awarding a diploma of technician.

General lyceum training, implemented in versatile vocational school, ends with a baccalaureate examination and baccalaureate diploma awarding.

Trade school provides with vocational training in an occupation or in some related occupations.

Gymnasium, lyceum and general culture secondary schools graduates can be enrolled in trade schools. As an exception groups of pupils, who didn’t finish 9 forms, but attained the age of 16, can be formed, if approved by the Ministry of Education and Science.

Duration of education in trade schools is from 0.5 up to 1.5 years and ends with examinations and awarding a qualification certificate, opening the way for practising the obtained vocation.

It is organised for gifted children in music, choreography, fine and theater arts, sport, in frame of lyceums comprising I-XII or V-XII forms, depending on the profile.

Enrolment in artistic education is based on testing skills, specific for the profile, after passing competition-based examinations.

Higher education is implemented in higher education institutions: colleges, universities, academies and institutes.

Enrolment in higher education is based on competition of baccalaureate diploma, secondary education certificate or equivalent education certificate according to the general criteria indicated by the Ministry of Education and Science. Higher education is organised as full-time, evening or education by correspondence.

Duration of the full-time education is 2-3 years in colleges and 4-6 years in universities. Higher education by correspondence lasts with one year more as full-time.

Higher education ends with license examinations on specialty subjects and awarding license diploma.

Post-university education is implemented through doctorate, post-doctorate, residentiate, secundariate, specialisation and and perfection courses, organised in accredited higher education institutions or in scientific research institutions.

Finalising post-university education:

Specialising and perfection courses – passing some tests and awarding graduation certificate.

Doctorate – public defence of a thesis and awarding a scientific title of doctor in respective scientific field.

Post-doctorate – public defence of a thesis and awarding a scientific title of doctor habilitat.

Special education is an integrate part of the education and has the aim of education, training, rehabilitation and social integration of the pre-school children and pupils with psychic, physical, sensorial, logopaedics, social-affective and behaviour deficiencies or with related deficiencies.

Special education is organised in special training-education institutions of the orphanage type or with extended studies program.

Duration of compulsory special education depends on the type and level of disabled person and is 8 years for children with psychic deficiencies and 10-12 years for children with physical and sensorial deficiencies.

Ministry of Education and Science is the central body of public administration in the area of education. Ministry of Education and Science develops strategy and promotes state policy in the sphere of education, participates in developing state policy in the field of children and youth problems.

Specialised educational administration bodies are Directions of Education, which function in regions and municipalities. The structure of the directions of education is indicated by the Government after suggestion of the Ministry of Education and Science.

A direction of education has a school inspection, as is indicated in a regulation, approved by the Ministry of Education.

Methodical cabinets, medical-psycho-pedagogical centres, subordinated to directions of education, function in every region, municipality. Structure and competencies of those units are indicated in regulations approved by the Government.

Following administrative and consulting bodies function in the system of education:

1. On the level of republic:

Council of the Ministry of Education and Science, the minister being its president. Members of the Council are named by a decision of the Government.

2. On the local level:

Local administrative and consulting bodies function according to a regulation in frame of some Councils, headed by General Director of the Direction of Education.

Education staff is formed from didactical personnel, scientific personnel, auxiliary didactical personnel and administrative personnel. Conditions for employment of didactical personnel are indicated by the Ministry of Education and Science.

Didactical load of the educational personnel is indicated by the Government after suggestion of Ministry of Education and Science, together with Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family, Ministry of Finances.

Wages of didactical personnel depend on level of education, occupied post, grade and didactical title, scientific title, as well as on the length of service.

Training of the didactical personnel has a high priority, it anticipates development of the education and is implemented on a single level – universities. Taking into account the peculiarity of the didactical personnel activity in pre-school and primary education, in the last period their training is held mostly in pedagogical colleges.

Skill perfection of the didactical personnel is compulsory and is implemented at least once in 5 years, aiming to permanent bringing of the level of qualification into accord with concept, methodological, curricular and technological educational renovation.

The education is financed according to the law on Education, having a priority. The principal source of financing the state education system is budget funds.

The state guarantees annual allocation of budget funds for education of at least 7% of GDP, including currency funds, and it provides with protection expenditures articles from the budget.

Budget funds, allocated for education, and incomes of training-education institutions, coming from legal sources, are untouchable. Actual structure of the system of education in Moldova can be qualified as satisfactory and corresponding to a society, which wants to be integrated in European and world educational community. The best indicator of the effective functioning of the system of education is share of schooling of children.

The main aim of the Program is creating legislative, managing and curricular framework for implementation of the state educational policy, determined by Education Development Conception, Law on education and other legislative acts. The Program is meant to be implemented in two stages.

The first stage (1999-2001) aims to determination and implementation a system of actions concerning creation of a scientific, juridical-normative, managerial and financing base of reforming and developing the education, overcoming barriers and negative trends in the field of education.

The second stage (2002-2005) aims to building of a educational system, corresponding to the needs and interests of the personality and society.

Principal trends of the educational development:

• national educational system development;
• provision with a unified educational space, opened towards the values of the world community;
• introducing developing education, adapted to the social and economical changes;
• building a modern system of educational evaluation and monitoring;
• provision with a democratic direction of the national education system, its integration to the European education system.

General forecast results:

• national education system will be created;
• national curriculum will be developed and new educational contents and technologies;
• state educational standards will be developed and implemented, new unified criteria of measurement and evaluation in the educational system will be introduced;
• a modern management system of the education will be created;
• an effective mechanism of social assurance in the educational system will be developed;
• educational development programs for national minorities will be developed and introduced;
• a diverse system of educational financing will start functioning;
• specialists’ training for all national economy branches will rise to the level of international educational standards;
• a system of marketing of the educational services will start functioning;

(Concrete actions of this program implementation are attached in Appendix 1).

Until the last years, according to the traditions, most of which are stipulated in the base document – Law on Education, all problems regarding development of the policy, strategy and education for all (EFA) implementation are treated on the central level, without a lot of consulting with social partners. It is obvious that this consideration, taking into account transition period to the market economy, with all its implications on educational system, is even more difficult today, and results obtained by EFA as a part of educational system are more insignificant, in some chapters even in permanent decrease.

In this context the actual Law on Education (1995) was developed, a considerable part of its forecast don’t function today because of the lack of some mechanisms which would allow creating a participative education with distinguished responsibilities on the horizontal and vertical directions, especially of the local communities. Some amendments which would partially liquidate some obstacles in educational development are suggested for being adopted by the Parliament, but it is evident that undertaken efforts are greater than obtained results. Political instability is one of the principal obstacles in promotion of a consecutive policy in education.

In the context of competency decentralisation, especially of those regarding organisation and functioning of the base compulsory education, as well as of the territorial-administrative reform, are determined by the new strategies regarding competencies and responsibilities review for this step of training. The state will develop policy and strategy of educational development on the level of curriculum, standards, didactical personnel, in the same time taking into account new demands, it declines step by step monopoly of financing an detailed control of the education. A significant part of competencies will be shifted to regional directions of the education, as well as to local city administrations. This process is at the moment being prepared by means of consulting with all levels of educational management, the fact which will allow sensibilisation of the society in common, as well as of the local communities as regards the education.

Taking into account that until the 90s the problem of involving all children of respective age in compulsory education didn’t exist, and at the moment there doesn’t exist a special body which would be responsible for EFA provision. National Council for Educational Reform, composed of representatives from all ministries and interested directions, local public authorities, patronage and trade unions, co-ordinates in general educational reform problems in the view of adjusting the actions on horizontal and vertical directions, synchronisation of the curriculum components, personnel, evaluation, financing perfection. Trends of economical development, labour force migration from rural to urban localities, even more amplifies cultural, economical difference between town and village, that that implies the fact that a larger part from village school population remains outside of the educational system, not mentioning its quality. So, creating a specialised mechanism at the national and local levels, that would treat problems regarding creation of equal chances in access of the education for all children, is at the moment very actual. Political decisions, will of the central and local governments, will be passed into concrete actions and responsibilities.

Although all society members benefit from educational system services, the state, in conditions of an economy in decline, continues to remain almost single as regards many problems, which demand urgent solving, in educational system. Until now, the state integrally covered all expenditures linked to provision with education in all steps, especially where it is compulsory. The situation changes so fast today, that the state is almost not able to make respective efforts for amelioration of the system, not mentioning the educational development, but the positive results are very insignificant.

Moreover, if the private system is involved in offering educational services (more in higher, short-term higher education, less in secondary vocational), then the most difficult task for base compulsory education remains on the lot of the state and, being more exact, the financing comes from local budgets, which at the moment are only being formed.

In some rural educational institutions, where families of the children have a stable place of work and respective income, different parents foundations were created, which substantially aid the implementation of didactical process and complimentary remuneration of didactical personnel. However, this situation refers to a small number of children only, for whom a real danger in access to the education at the moment doesn’t exist. In the same time the most of the school population is in the risk area, because the parents don’t have the possibility to pay some internal expenditures of the education.

So, from the one hand, the state is almost single to provide with educational services on the level of compulsory education, investing in the future of the

whole society (even if these investments are insufficient, they are a heavy burden for the budget) and, from the other hand, private sector, which is consolidating, has anchored on the steps bringing income, using as human as material potential, created from budget resources and actually not having any responsibilities for basic compulsory education.

Lack of a clear policy in distribution of the responsibilities and of some mechanisms, which would provide with attracting into education extra-budget resources, will even more complicate in future educational situation, even if there are significant results regarding curriculum, evaluation and didactical personnel perfection. That’s why this is one of the central problems, which must be solved in very short terms, oriented to the stabilising the mechanism of co-operation of all agents in educational policy development and implementation.

Republic of Moldova, as a country in the period of transition, is facing many difficulties in adequate financing of the education, taking into account the demand for optimising investments, which are being paid from a more frail budget.

Public allocations are much under demands level, but level of pauperisation of the population doesn’t allow official founding of some mechanisms of financial participation of the parents for compensation of the deficit, although some tries are being made. As a result: schools are being deteriorated, repairing and current maintenance (sanitary conditions, heating, illumination etc.) and donations to the schools do not correspond sometimes to the most elementary comfort demands. It is sufficient to mention, that budget allocations cover only 40% from current expenditures of the education.

The share of capital investments in total sum of public expenditures during last 5 years (1994-1999) didn’t exceed 4%.

Sum of public expenditures for education in 1998 was less than in 1996 and 1997 with, respectively, 17% and 27%, which is 7.5% from GDP and 21.7% from the budget, which is much more than in other countries. But, if calculated per pupil / student, this sum amounts only 752 lei per year (about $70), which is far from being sufficient for actual demands.

Material base of the schools continues to be deteriorated. Half of the schools in 1998/99 needed capital repairing (in 1997/98 – a third part); 7% of the schools were in emergency conditions.

Shortage of allocations leaded to liquidation of extra-school buildings – houses for technical creation, of institutes for young technicians, naturalists, tourists and others. During the last 6 months a third part of libraries for children was closed.

Even more difficult was the situation with financing in the academic year 1999-2000. For functioning of educational institutions, subordinated to MES, in the first semester budget funds in sum of 46882.3 thousand lei was foreseen, from which only 19402.2 thousand lei was allocated, or 41.38% from those calculated for indicated period, including articles and paragraphs:

• Wages – 7079.9 thousand lei (41.38%). Electrical energy debts increased from 320.0 thousand lei on 1.01.98 to 1712.0 on 1.04.99
• Thermal energy – from 5436.6 thousand lei to 8627.9 in the same period
• Water – from 3009.6 thousand lei to 4858.1 thousand lei.

Alimentation of the children, pupils, from orphanages, boarding and special schools was financed at the level of 2589.3 thousand lei or 47.82% from the necessary sum.

Menu of the children and pupils from the mentioned schools is very poor, the cost of the food for a day is 3.22, real norm is 10 lei per day (regarding real cost of the food).

It must be mentioned that the adopted budget for education for the year 1999 is 127.7 thousand lei, while minimal necessity is 214 thousand lei. Comparing to the year before the budget is reduced with 31.5%.

Some educational institutions are disconnected from electrical networks and water-supply, which affects their normal activity. So, in October, 1996 because of these reasons more than 50 educational institutions were disconnected from thermal energy network and 37 – from the water-supply. These led to appearance of some infection diseases and created danger of epidemics.

Even more delicate is the situation with current and capital repairing of the buildings, installation of counters, provision with detergents, household materials.

So, on 1.10.99 from 444 of roofs only 18 were repaired; 6 out of 312 heating systems; from 68 boiler-houses, which needed urgent repair, no one was bought to normal condition; out of 375 water-supplies only 8 were repaired, but internal capital repair was performed only in 8 out of 56 institutions.

In the state budget for 1999 with this aim were approved necessary funds in sum of 2.6 million lei, which is 3.5% from the necessary. From this sum 1.0 million lei is debts for the last year.

Current repairs at the beginning of the school year were performed in 60% of the educational institutions from resources of the special account and with help of the parents.

It should be mentioned here that in pre-school institutions during the last years current repairs are being made only on the money of parents, and, taking into account how are the wages paid, we can realise how many institutions are simply not repaired for years.

Breakdown is in provision with fuel. From necessary 23.55 thousand tones of coal and 800 thousand tones of black oil only 6806 tones of coal and 90 tones of black oil was deposited on 1.10.99 from humanitarian aid of the USA.

A compensatory alternative of financial deficit in educational system is founding private sector, as it is foreseen by the law. A series of normative and regulatory acts, regarding criteria and mechanisms of authorisation of educational institutions, was developed in order to assure development and functioning of this sector.

At the moment function 163 institutions of private education, which integrally include the structure of educational system in republic:

• Higher education university institutions – 27, including those state universities – 10;
• Colleges – 9;
• Lyceums – 11;
• Gymnasia – 2;
• General secondary schools – 2;
• Primary schools – 3;
• Trade schools – 5;
• Courses for adult and pupil training – 101.

Private schools system (primary, secondary general schools, gymnasia, lyceums) comprises only 0.4% from school population, annual pay is between 1-4 thousand lei.

Privatisation covered especially higher education (the III level), which includes at the moment 17% from the number of students and continues to extend.

In secondary and higher vocational state education the share of students who pay for their education according to the contract system is being extended. In the school year 1998/99 pay for their studies on the base of contract: 4% pupils from vocational education (annual payment– 0.25 – 2.3 thousand lei) and more than 50% from the university students (annual payment – 1.3 – 4 thousand lei).

One of the main problems is provision of the schools with textbooks. A the moment didactical assistance from the budget is sufficient only for the I-II forms. In the III-IX forms budget provision is on the level of 30-40%. Textbook reserves in school libraries have long ago outlived their validity period. Lack of financing forced initiation of commercialising the textbooks through specialised shops, controlled by MES. A system of leasing the textbooks is being implemented now.

Pre-university educational institutions, as well as some colleges and universities were donated with last generation computers in 1997-1998 (885 classrooms – about 10000 educational places), the fact which creates appropriate conditions for implementation of the new informational and didactical technologies in the process of training. Unfortunately at the moment these computers are used only for 25-35% from the possible time.

Because of the lack of rooms every tenth studies in the second session. Because of the lack of funds the problem of perfection and skill conversion of didactical personnel remains unsolved, especially in the rural zones, which are more and more forced to find some other sources of existence (work in agriculture, services, commerce, unqualified work abroad etc.) because of small wages and the fact that they are not paid. A new mechanism for continuous training of didactical personnel is necessary.

Because of small wages (average is 200 lei) and delays in its payment, at the moment (03.1999) 2200 of didactical posts in secondary education are vacant, from which 40% are at foreign languages. 4800 people from personnel have 1.5 didactical charge and more, but a good share from the posts are occupied by pensioners. "Ageing of the personnel" takes place in schools – a negative phenomenon for the quality of education. Young specialists, graduates from the universities, don’t go to their work places as they are assigned. Two thousands out of 2.7 thousands of young specialists with pedagogical profile were assigned in 1998 to schools, from them only 31% came to their posts.

From all above mentioned it is absolutely evident that in actual conditions of pauperisation of the population, drastic decrease of financing by the state and privatisation of education, increase of the pay for education, affects substantially the equality of access to education and chances of a long development in general.

According to the level of its importance, real guarantee for equal access to education equals to the right choice of the direction of founding social security and long-period human development. In this context, institutionalising of new financing mechanisms for the system of education is possible, which would provide:

• diversity of the financing sources;
• separating training expenditures from those for social protection of the students;
• differentiating of beneficiaries’ contribution, depending of income;
• creation of a crediting fund for medium and long period for paying university and other studies.

The general educational reform project in Republic of Moldova, supported by the World Bank, officially began its implementation on 1.07.98, aiming to support the first stage of reforming educational system in Moldova.

The principal objective of the project is modernisation of the school curriculum in primary and gymnasium education, development on its base of the new textbooks, teachers’ perfection and creation of a modern evaluation system.

The project is structured in the following components: "Curriculum Development", "Textbooks Development", "Retraining of the Teachers" and "Educational Evaluation".

Training of the personnel, implied in Project implementation started in March 1997, in the same time with creation of first institutional structures in frame of the Project (CNCE, evaluation committees, work groups, etc.). Training seminars with participation of experts from Great Britain, Holland, USA, Slovenia, Romania took place, as well as meetings with didactical personnel, development of the first regulatory documents and methodical guidelines for curriculum development and school results evaluation system development. In the same year the first national competition of textbooks was announced.

In contrast to previous documents of the same type, the new curriculum has an evident creative character and contains following innovations: accentuating the objectives and not the contents, abilities and not reproductive knowledge, integration of the components: forming fundamental knowledge and basic competencies, techniques of intellectual work and of social integration, optional and decisional abilities etc., reflected in a model of objectives and contents. From the structural point of view, the curriculum of every school subject includes: presentation note, subject concept, reference objective, training contents, educational opportunities, methodological suggestions, evaluation suggestions, bibliography.

School curriculum evaluation and respective textbooks editing are performed coherently, implying a considerable number of the specialists in this area. So, 140 specialists, from them 27 didactical personnel from gymnasia and lyceums, 20 specialists from the Ministry of Education and Science and 81 from higher educational institutions participate in development of the school curriculum for compulsory education.

University professors, teachers-practitioners from Moldova as well as from other countries participate in school textbooks competition. 23 editions from different countries (Moldova, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria) took part in the competition of pre-qualification.

As the schools were provided with new textbooks, a mechanism of reediting these books was after the end of the Project was created. A Scheme of leasing the textbooks as a long lasting process accumulating finances for self-financing of the textbooks after 2-3 years was developed. In the first year of implementation of the Scheme 350 thousand lei was collected, which were transferred to the account of extra-budget textbooks fund of Chisinau Treasury, created with this aim.

Total sum of the Project, envisaged for 5 years is about 20 million USD, from which 5 million USD are given from IDA credit, 11.8 million USD – from World Bank credit and 3.2 million USD – share of the Government of Republic of Moldova.

In the same time, an international, regional and local technical aid was granted, regarding curriculum expertise organisation, as well as of consultancies through the country, courses, implementation of the Scheme for Leasing etc.

At the moment the Project attained the phase of curriculum approbation for V-VI classes. The textbooks competition for the V class continues, a competition for the IV class was announced.

In summer 1999 about 8000 of teachers from primary classes passed through the system of perfection, ending in this way the first training cycle for teachers from primary education.