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 Vocational schools teachers enhanced their skills in teaching the “Education for society” subject

Circa 60 teachers from vocational schools throughout Moldova successfully completed a training seminar on practical application of innovational tools and techniques in teaching the reconceptualised civic education subject “Education for society”.

The training seminars took place in Chisinau on 19-20 August and 21-22 August 2019 and were organised by the Council of Europe Project “Education for democracy in the Republic of Moldova” in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research.

The national experts presented and discussed with the participants at the trainings the first module of the teachers’ handbook for the subject “Education for society” (grades V, VI, X and XI) developed with the support of the Council of Europe. The trainees learnt the best practices and examples in teaching and assessing the subject “Education for society” in line with the new curriculum and the Council of Europe standards.

“This is the first ever workshop organised for teachers from vocational schools on planning and preparing the lessons for “Education for society”. The subject contains a number of innovative elements, such as active learning or qualitative assessment. This training offers a unique opportunity to better understand different methods and approaches in teaching the reconceptualised civic education subject”, said Lilia Bologan, a teacher from Chisinau.

This is the first round of training seminars organised by the Council of Europe in the school year 2019/2020 for teachers from vocational schools. The second round is planned in October 2019.

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.

Chisinau 23 August 2019

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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.