A joint ETF-Erasmus+: the way forward for EU support for education in Moldova

The European Training Foundation (ETF) joined the Erasmus+ National Office in Moldova to celebrate its 30th anniversary. With the ETF also turning 30 in a few days' time, the events on 19-20 November held in Chișinău marked a joint achievement. More importantly, they provided an opportunity to look at the field and coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Research and the European Union (EU) Delegation to Moldova on the 'Supporting education reforms and skills in the Eastern Partnership region' - the EaP Education Programme - the EU’s first regional programme focusing on education in the Eastern Partnership region, in which Moldova is one of the five participants.

The sessions provided an opportunity to present the Moldovan Rapid Education Diagnosis (RED) preliminary report, to both the Ministry and a wider audience of around 80 experts. RED is the ETF's methodology for analysing data and qualitative evidence to recommend reforms and identify priority areas for support and policy intervention in education. The methodology is also unique to the ETF in that it takes a sector-wide approach, from pre-primary to tertiary education, including vocational and adult education.

In the morning before the opening of the events, an ETF team visited the Centre of Excellence in Construction in Chișinău, a 1500-student school part of the ETF Network for Excellence (ENE), old in tradition (it was founded in 1932) and young in spirit - entrusted by the Ministry to coordinate the network of 21 Moldovan schools in the construction sector.

Following technical meetings on future actions to support the EU delegation in Moldova beyond the EaP Education Programme, the ETF was hosted by the Minister of Education and Research, Mr Dan Perciun. During a fruitful meeting, the parties discussed openly and in detail their views on the preliminary results of the diagnosis. Minister Perciun agreed with many of the conclusions, but also emphasised his own views on other dimensions that could be de-prioritised or where the achievement is beyond the Ministry's resources. 

However, as the RED is intended precisely to highlight areas of intervention in order to better target donors’ funding, the Minister confirmed his high interest in receiving the final version of the report. "Through data and figures we will be able to have a useful tool in our funding planning and in shaping future reforms,” Perciun concluded.

Marking three decades of education progress in Moldova

A few minutes later, both parties were already in the Organ Hall of Chișinău, welcomed by Claudia Melinte, coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in Moldova. During the opening, Minister Perciun highlighted the importance of Erasmus+ for the integration of Moldovan education into EU standards over the last three decades.

Georgios Zisimos, head of the Policy Advice Unit at the ETF, pointed out that "thirty is a prime age, a good moment for self-reflection but also for looking ahead. While the world isn't in its easiest hour, mobility through Erasmus+, education and training remain a thriving source of progress and integration," said Zisimos. While thanking both the ETF and Erasmus+ for their work in Moldova and beyond, Mate Csicsai, deputy head of the EU Delegation, stressed that "celebrating education is about unity between communities: funding it is an investment in the future".

The moment got heartfelt when the exhibition began with performances of classical piano music and opera singing, including a song in Ukrainian - an even more poignant moment as the same day marked a thousand days since the Russian invasion of the country. A fact that has affected Moldova and its education and school system more than ever. "The reception of Ukrainian refugees in the last three years has been crucial (including through a school for Ukrainian-speakers only, ed.), but it has also put a lot of pressure on the system, with classes overflowing, especially in Chișinău. At the same time, many Russian-language schools continue to be a vehicle for Moscow's disinformation affecting our country," Minister Perciun stressed during the meeting. 

The following day, during the events at the Technical University of Moldova, he returned to the preliminary recommendations of the RED report in Moldova, presented the day before, and stressed the importance of addressing these challenges for the Moldovan education system. "A report that is in line with our priorities in terms of reforms undertaken and actions planned for the future," confirmed Daniel Funeriu, moderator of the sessions and high-level advisor (he is a former Minister of Education in Romania) to the Moldovan Ministry.

Melinte stressed the importance of Erasmus+ for Moldova, in "creating opportunities and opening doors even beyond what we're aware of". While congratulating both the "iconic European programme" Moldovan office and the "reference agency for education and training in the EU" on their joint anniversary, Magdalena Mueller-Uri from the EU Delegation confirmed that education is at the heart of the EU's actions to support Moldova. 

"Geopolitics, climate change, artificial intelligence and dimensions related to fragility such as poverty, migration and vulnerability are all putting pressure on education and training systems," said Zisimos, expanding on the previous day's discussions. "But the noble role of both systems is also to respond to these challenges: in these thirty years we have left behind a condensed period of change that doubles our experience".

In the following session, Julda Kielyte, Team Leader for Inclusive Growth at the EU Delegation, referred to the European Commission's recent Enlargement Report on Chapter 26 on Education and Culture. "It highlighted that Moldova is at a moderate level of preparation, roughly halfway. But we see that the Ministry has made a strong commitment in the last year to key reforms and that public expenditure in relation to GDP is quite high in Moldova, even higher than in some EU member states, although monitoring such as PISA doesn't highlight the progress of pupils in recent years," said Kielyte, before going into a deeper overview of Moldova's progress in areas also closer to the ETF's activities, such as qualifications, vocational training and the gradual introduction of dual education.

"Education quality and relevance will also be driven by the investments announced by Ursula von der Leyen in the €1.8 billion Growth Plan for Moldova," she noted, before opening the floor to an overview of international donors' projects and activities in Moldova. Before the RED presentation, which highlighted the dimension of child vulnerability in Moldova, UNICEF Deputy Representative Ilija Talev stressed the significance of the timing of the event - 20 November being the 35th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. After presentations from the International Children's Emergency Fund, OECD and UNDP, the ETF's Moldova country liaison Filippo Del Ninno gave a brief outline of the ETF's activities in the country - from the Torino Process to the Labour Market Observatory support and more recent requests such as a study on the skills gap in the agri-food sector, a key economic dimension for the country.

Aware of the challenges ahead: the RED report analyses Moldova's reality

As the sessions progressed, the presentation of the Rapid Education Diagnosis (RED) became a focal point for discussions on Moldova's education landscape and the way forward. Christophe Masson, representing the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) coleading with the ETF the EaP Education Programme, emphasised the importance of reforms in Moldova’s education sector, noting its alignment with broader EU strategies.

"Education must provide equal opportunities for all children based on merit," Masson said, adding that critical thinking is key to combating disinformation and promoting independent thinking. "In today's world, there is an abundance of information, but the ability to filter it is a core skill that we need to foster in schools."

Funeriu echoed these sentiments, stressing the importance of teaching students to distinguish between essential and peripheral information in an age where digital noise is ever-present. "This is a skill we need to prioritise," he remarked, echoing Masson's call for stronger critical thinking embedding in schools.

Timo Kuusela, team leader of the Eastern Partnership Education Programme, provided a comprehensive overview of the RED's context and its integration into the broader three-year, multi-country initiative. "We have had intensive exchanges with stakeholders, including peer learning events in Turin and Finland, which are laying the groundwork for capacity development activities based on the RED findings," Kuusela explained. The coming year will focus on finalising the RED report, disseminating its recommendations and launching targeted capacity building activities.

Marie Dorleans, ETF’s leading analyst on RED, presented the preliminary findings of the report: a mix of qualitative and quantitative evidence highlighting Moldova's strengths and challenges in education through a methodology that employed a wide range of data collection, including data from the Moldovan government, field visits, bilateral interviews, qualitative interviews through seven focus groups with hundreds of stakeholders. 

Key themes were clustered around three dimensions of analysis: inclusion, finance and governance. These included persistent rural-urban disparities, teacher shortages, and gaps in governance and data management. Despite high public spending on education as a proportion of GDP (6.3%), inequalities remain high, with rural schools often understaffed and urban classes overcrowded.

Dorleans also addressed the issue of teacher recruitment, revealing that “a third of rural teachers do not have a bachelor's degree, while low salaries discourage young professionals from entering the profession”. Gender disparities also persist, with women dominating the humanities but underrepresented in STEM fields. 

"Without reliable data, especially on vulnerable groups, policy interventions risk being ineffective," Dorleans warned, underlining the urgency of harmonising data systems across ministries for the different vulnerable groups, whose definition may vary depending if we refer to children with special education needs, minorities or refugees.

The RED preliminary findings sparked a lively discussion among participants, with many questions addressed from the audience. Funeriu praised the report for its clarity, commenting: "I am usually allergic to long presentations, but not when words behind them have strong, actionable content such as in this case". The reference person for the EaP programme at the Ministry of Education and Research Olga Tretiacov, added her thanks: "When I first saw it, I thought: this report really reflects our reality. RED gives us a structured opportunity to address these well-known challenges from a data basis and with actionable recommendations".

The mood at the end of the event was one of cautious optimism. "Complaints always have a double meaning. Many principals in Moldova lament the lack of communication from the Ministry, but there is a positive side: if you dig deep, you can see a great willingness to put themselves at the service of making things better," Dorleans noted after a detailed presentation. "It could have taken even longer, because the devil is always in the details,” she remarked. As we move towards the final version of the report, it will be important to define the appropriate follow-up mechanisms to translate the findings and recommendations into sustainable change.