Education for democracy in the Republic of Moldova

What is the project

The project “Education for Democracy in the Republic of Moldova” is implemented by the Council of Europe and is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in the framework of “Moldova: Fostering Active Civic Engagement” Programme.

The project is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova over a period of four years starting in January 2019. The total budget of the project amounts to 1,080,000 Euros.

The Project aims to contribute to an inclusive, peaceful and democratic society in the Republic of Moldova by helping strengthen the capacity of the Moldovan education system to develop the knowledge and competences that schoolchildren need to become engaged citizens.

The Project promotes the Council of Europe approach to citizenship education: a holistic view on knowledge, skills, values and attitudes, a focus on democratic school development and an integration of young people’s civic experiences in the wider community.

The project supports the on-going reform process lead by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova, and helps:

Further develop the policy and methodological framework for the reconceptualised civic education subject “Education for Society” in line with the Council of Europe standards;
Promote the integration of competences for a democratic culture in other subjects;
Strengthen the capacity of national institutions, teachers and other education professionals to develop democratic competences in learners and apply the new educational approaches in practice;
Develop a methodology for democratic school governance and pilot it in schools;
Develop and publish information and methodological materials for education decision makers and practitioners;
Raise awareness and understanding of the role of citizenship education in the wider society.

What is the legal context

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova has developed a new curriculum for the “Education for Society” subject for grades V to XII which was introduced in grades V and X in September 2018.

The new curriculum is largely based on the Council of Europe standards – the CoE Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE) and the CoE Framework of Competences for a Democratic Culture and has been developed with CoE expert support.

This ambitious curriculum reform and its alignment to CoE standards are part of the broader process of modernisation and transition to a competence-based approach to education in which Moldova has been engaged over the past few years.

The reform will impact not only the educational input or the content of school subjects, but also, and importantly, the educational practices: teaching and learning methods, assessment, school governance, etc. It requires a real change of educational paradigm in the Republic of Moldova, which could be very challenging to implement.

What do we aim to achieve?

Legal and policy framework

Training and capacity building

Decision-making processes

News

Back The winners of "My Competences for Democratic Culture" contest, awarded by the Council of Europe

The Council of Europe announced the winners of the short video contest “My Competences for Democratic Culture” opened to V-XII grades’ pupils. The contest was organised by the "Education for Democracy in the Republic of Moldova" project in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Research, "Ion Creangă" National Library for Children and National Section of the International Board on Books for Young People.

The participants were encouraged to produce a short video (up to 3 minutes) showcasing how they or their colleagues apply in the school or/ and community the competences acquired during civic education classes.

On 16 and 17 November, the Council of Europe organised two online workshops for pupils interested in participating in the contest on how to create and produce short videos. The workshops were provided by journalists of Telefilm-Chisinau Documentary Film Studio.

The organizers received 210 short videos. The jury evaluated the videos based on the following criteria: relevance and timeliness of the topic, creativity and accuracy, original approach, and quality of video images.

“We were happy that the students addressed various topics in their videos: respect, civic spirit, responsibility, tolerance, empathy, cooperation, conflict resolution, etc. However, bullying in school or society was the favorite topic, being addressed by about 20% of the participants. I would highlight the creativity and the original approach to the subjects chosen by the applicants", said Eugeniu Popovici, jury member, film director at Telefilm-Chisinau.

Following the evaluation of the videos, the jury designated the winners. The 1^st prize, in the amount of 7500 lei, was awarded to Aliona Gaidarji, student in the 11^th grade, Cazaclia Theoretical High School (Cazaclia village, Ceadâr-Lunga district).

The 2^nd prize, in the amount of 6000 lei, went to Sergiu Guțu, student in the 8^th grade, and Irina Rudnic, student in the 9^th grade, "Constantin Negruzzi" Gymnasium-Kindergarten (Târnova village, Dondușeni district).

The 3^rd prize, in the amount of 4,000 lei, was awarded to Ariadna Bobeica, student in the 10^th grade, "Ștefan cel Mare" Theoretical High School (Șoldănești).

The jury decided to award diploma of merit to 15 participants in the contest and participation certificates – to the rest of the applicants.

The project „Education for Democracy in the Republic of Moldova” is implemented by the Council of Europe and is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in the framework of “Moldova: Fostering Active Civic Engagement” Programme.

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Who we work with?

The project is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova.

Who benefits from the project?

Teachers: key target group; they are crucial in implementing the new civic education curriculum which introduces new teaching, learning and assessment approaches and that many of them may find very challenging. Sustained capacity building and support is necessary over a period of time. This should take into account the structural problems affecting the teacher profession – shortage of teachers, high teacher turnover, age of teachers, low salaries.

Schoolchildren: key beneficiaries; in the context of Moldova’s low civic participation and political culture, but also the broader socio-economic problems, such as mass migration and the fact that many children are reared by their grandparents, schools play a central role in nurturing schoolchildren’s competences for active and responsible citizenship. Schools need to develop both cognitive and socio-emotional skills and provide them with a values framework.