[0]

Orderly: Transdniestria's school children (shown) suffer less from corrupt education officials than Moldova's, new study reveals

CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - Already singled out by Transparency International as having Europe's most corrupt judiciary, the country of Moldova is now breaking new records with corruption in its educational system as well.

The latest survey by the Institute for Public Policy (IPP) in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, indicates that each year, Moldovans pay 3.7 million leu “for a good grade,” 118.5 million leu for after-school lessons, 6 million leu to take supposedly free exams, and 25 million leu to buy gifts for teachers.

This amount was reported for Moldova, but excluded Transdniestria (Pridnestrovie, or PMR as per its official constitutional name), which has been self-governing for nearly 18 years and functions as a 'de facto' independent country. Transdniestria does not use the Moldovan leu as its currency, but has its own Central Bank with its own national currency, the PMR Ruble. Moreover, Transdniestria's educational system follows the Russian model with higher levels of accountability and, unlike Moldova, does not suffer widespread corruption.

A just-published report by Transitions Online, "Diplomas For Sale", details how corruption has been institutionalized in Moldovan and how it is now impossible to graduate with good grades unless money is paid to school administrators, teachers and other public officials.

The report is authored by Nils Kauffman, a doctoral candidate in educational policy and international education development at Michigan State University, in the United States.

One of the sources for the report is "Ion" (name changed to protect his identity from retaliation) who speaks with quiet resignation about the corruption in the Moldovan school system. The report notes that when Ion recently graduated from a lyceum in northern Moldova, he paid 450 Moldovan leu (27 euros) to take his school-leaving exams which are required for university admission, and which are supposed to be free.

During the exam, which was proctored by a teacher from a different school, students frequently left the room claiming they had to use the toilet. While away, they met with their regular teachers to get help on the exam. When they returned to the room, the students shared the answers they had received, notes Transitions Online. The proctor, Ion believes, “was informed of the arrangements.”

Failed state

Stories like these are common in today's Moldova, which for two years in a row has been ranked as a failed state and which is officially the poorest country in Europe. A teacher who encouraged students to do construction and renovation work on her house in order to improve their grades obtained help from more than half of her students helped out. Another teacher blatantly asked for money from students in exchange for better grades.

" - Before the ninth grade exams, there was a place you could go to buy answers for the test,” a recent high school graduate is quoted in the report as saying. Another student said she didn’t think it was possible to pass exams without paying off the teacher.

With almost every Moldovan government official "on the take", very few are interesting in doing anything about the growing problem.

" - The exhibition of corruption in the educational system affects the quality of instruction, negatively influences the formation of life skills of future citizens of the Republic of Moldova, and substantially reduces the credibility of our state structures," said Tatiana Tverdohleb, the superintendent of schools for the Municipality of Chisinau, in 2006. Now, nearly two years later, the problem has grown worse with Moldova's regime turning a blind eye to the level of graft.

Situation better in Transdniestria

Foreign observers note that every single area of Moldova's government is founded on corruption. In its 2007 Nations in Transition report, the U.S.-funded advocacy group Freedom House gave Moldova a low score of six – seven being the lowest – in the area of corruption. The report said with regard to corruption that, “problems within the public administration and the society as a whole persist.” No such problems were seen for Transdniestria, however, which is widely regarded as having better governance than its larger neighbor Moldova.

In the education system, school officials siphon money away from legitimate institutional needs. The Institute for Public Policy estimates that parents of students pay 20.1 million leu annually for heating and school repairs, and that some schools also collect funds to subsidize teacher salaries. It is hard to know where some of the money ends up. It just disappears – and parents are afraid to ask why.

" - They collect more and more money for repairs, but nothing is done," one mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said of school authorities. "I don’t want to say something because my children are in the school and they might penalize them."

One parent with two children at a well regarded lyceum in the center of Chisinau said that for months, he, his wife, and his in-laws worked with the students on their school work, but despite their efforts, the children did poorly in school. They received grades barely above passing.

The children’s teachers had a solution: they told the man he should send his children to after-school classes, for a fee. Many Moldovan teachers teach this "second shift," in which they tutor their own students for extra money 'na levo' ("on the left)". The children’s grades inevitably improve.

"No future inside Moldova"

Part of the problem comes from the fact that Moldova is the world's leading supplier of gast-arbeiters on a per-capita basis. Close to half of Moldova's working age population has left the country to find employment abroad, often as illegal immigrant workers. Having left their children behind with relatives, many of them are now paying teachers to ensure that their children graduate, go to university, and have opportunities – even if the students’ efforts are less than sufficient. Recent surveys estimate that 28 percent of children have one parent working abroad, and another 9 percent have both working abroad.

One teacher, who admitted to taking bribes, said that many students cheat and don’t study because - like their parents - they don’t care about their record in Moldova. They simply want to leave Moldova, and they see their future outside the country.

" - There is no future inside Moldova," say most of today's graduates. This sentiment is echoed on the other side of the Dniester, where the 'de facto' independent state of Transdniestria also regards as common future inside Moldova as a non-starter.

The Transdniestrians, numbering over 500,000, agrees with the Moldovan students who also do not see their future inside Moldova. Having declared independence in 1990, the population of the new and emerging country has consistently resisted pressure by Moldova to form a common state. Transdniestria, which is also known as Transnistria in Romanian or Transdniester in English, has its own Ministry of Education and far stricter controls on corruption than Moldova. (With information from Transitions Online)

See also:
» Moldova among most corrupt nations, says watchdog [1]
» Failed state index ranks Moldova as worst in Europe [2]
» Moldova falling apart as corruption, poverty force half the country to leave [3]