“My School”: Community Participation for Better Education Results in Moldova

Print
Publishing date: Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Views: 6486

Moldovan independent think-tank Expert-Grup presented annual results of the Scoala Mea (My School) project being implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education and five regional civil society organizations and supported by the Global Partnership for Social Accountability, the World Bank-administered initiative.

In three years, the project engaged about 40,000 people in 21 districts and municipalities, 60 beneficiary schools learned and applied social accountability tools for school budget analysis and created opportunities for students and their parents to make their schools better. The project promotes changes in attitudes, mentalities and participatory behavior.

“My School” initiative managed to mobilize thousands of people who want to make their schools better through increased participation at community level,” noted Ms. Victoria Catanoi, expert, Minister of Education - “This way, the project contributes to Ministry of Education efforts in promoting transparency and better educational services.”

Each community wants a better school. During the public hearings, students, parents, teachers, school managers and local public authorities discussed how to improve the educational process and make their schools safe and efficient. The proposals for budget planning vary from bike parking and lunches to modern science labs and video-security of schools. Local officials that took part in public hearings promised immediate attention to critical school infrastructure, such as repair of heating and sanitation facilities.

“When the community is involved in school decisions, children learn more and get better jobs,” said Mr. Alex Kremer, World Bank Country Manager for Moldova. – “So it is important for parents, teachers and administrators to be trained and motivated to bring the community into school management.”

Past years’ beneficiary schools became more transparent, efficient and successful in attracting donor projects and other extra-budgetary funds. In Ungheni district, the Council allocated MDL 40,000 (about USD 2,000) for each beneficiary school to co-finance priorities identified during the public hearings which the schools used for books, IT-equipment, other needs. Moreover, officials in Cahul and Riscani districts hold public hearings to discuss local budgets and priorities in their communities.

Expert-Grup also presented results of a study that assessed perception of the educational process by 4,200 students, parents and school professionals in 2016. The analysis revealed a relatively high level of satisfaction of the educational process but also recommended an increased transparency in the execution of the school budget, including regular presentation of budget information in a user-friendly format and how parents’ contribution is being spent and need to increase attention to students’ health and safety related to transportation, school lunches and sanitary services.

At the end of the conference, Ana Popa, My School project coordinator at Expert-Grup, invited all schools to visit their school profile on Scoala Mea web-site updated with 2015/2016 data, she also announced a call for schools to express an interest to become project participants in 2017.

For more information, please visit http://www.scoalamea.md

Download the presentation


Școala Mea initiative is implemented by the Independent Think-Tank Expert-Grup and its regional partners, with the support of the World Bank Group within the Global Partnership for Social Accountability, with the informational support of the Ministry of Education from Moldova. The project’s mission is to involve citizens, together with authorities in creating efficient, transparent and better schools.

Print

Access the monitoring application

app61
apl1 en
aplicat6en
aplicat611en
app7
apl2 en
rap eu en
app8
apl3 en
aplicat81en

Projects

scoala en

lapunct en

budget en

You use the ADS Blocker component.
We do not use advertising elements, we only present our own products or donors that promote some projects. Some features may be blocked, please disable the ADS Blocker component.
Thanks for understanding!

Resetează

Cursor:

Contrast:

Dimensiune Font:

Alb/Negru:

Referințe:

Imagine: