2024

This year, the Ministry of Education and Research has introduced a series of national reforms in early childhood education, focusing on teacher training, expanding nursery services, and reducing administrative burdens in preschool institutions: 

• Expansion of the "Investing in Teachers" National Programme to Kindergartens – the Ministry of Education and Research has announced the extension of the "Investing in Teachers" National Programme to preschool institutions. Over 2,000 educators will benefit from training sessions, with approximately 6 million lei allocated from the state budget. Participants will receive free training, accredited with 10 professional credits in the Psycho-pedagogy module.
• Approval of the List of Kindergartens with Nursery Groups in 15 Localities – a new project, implemented by the World Bank in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Research and the National Office for Regional and Local Development (ONDRL), will establish nursery groups in selected kindergartens across 15 localities.
• Reduction of Bureaucracy in Early Childhood Education – the Ministry of Education and Research has continued its efforts to streamline administrative processes in early education. As part of this initiative, the ministry revised the Nomenclature of Documentation and Reporting in Early Education, eliminating 9 report templates, 3 planning documents, 5 record-keeping registers, and 10 folders/portfolios previously required from kindergarten managers, educators, and non-teaching staff.

2023

In 2023, the Republic of Moldova implemented several important reforms in the field of early childhood education, aiming at fair, transparent financing and reduction of bureaucracy of processes in early education institutions.

An important reform aimed at initiating the process of developing the financing formula for early childhood education institutions and their transition to financial self-management. In this sense, the following documents were developed: the draft Law on granting the right to early education institutions to switch to financial self-management, the draft Regulation of early childhood education institutions to financial self-management and the draft Government Decision on its approval, the Instruction regarding the registration the early education institution for financial self-management as a legal entity. Also, the "Grădinița.MEC.2023" study was carried out on the status, network, infrastructure and budget of the early childhood education institution, and the Staff Norms for early childhood education institutions were finalised and estimated. 

To reduce bureaucracy in the documentation and reporting process in early childhood education institutions, the Nomenclature of documents and reports has been revised.

In the context of the amendment of Article 20 of the Education Code, the Framework Regulation for the organisation and operation of early education institutions was revised. 

In order to strengthen the capacities of methodologists in early education institutions, work continued on the elaboration of the Guide on the organisation of methodical activity in the early childhood education institution (Source: Annual Report: Education, Youth, Sport 2023).

2022

This year, reforms in early childhood education focused on improving the normative framework and ensuring the relevance of education for children, as well as on developing human resources and supporting parenting.

The improvement of the normative and policy framework included the development of the Guidelines for the implementation of the Framework Plan for Preschool Education. This guide provides relevant information on the main types of compulsory and optional educational activities adapted to the psychophysiological potential of children. It also focuses on planning activities for holiday periods and promotes the concept of Another kind of Education (with an emphasis on fun, playful activities).

For the first time, the normative framework that regulates the activity of the Methodist Centre and Methodists in early childhood education institutions was elaborated. It includes the regulation for the organisation and operation of the Methodical Centre, the methodist's guide and other essential normative documents for ensuring methodical activity in early education institutions.

Another important step was the establishment of indicators for the field of early childhood education, necessary for the systematisation of data at the national level. District, municipal and local administrators were trained in the use of the Education Management Information System (SIME) to ensure efficient data management.

Ensuring the relevance of early childhood education involved the development and publication of the Methodological Notes for the Organisation of the Educational Process in Early Childhood Education Institutions for the 2022-2023 academic year. These were discussed in a national methodical meeting and district and municipal meetings with around 10,000 teaching and managerial staff. The document focuses on the design of the educational process according to the main types of activities and the regime of the day, adapted to the psychophysiological potential of children. Greater attention is paid to the design of the educational process during the holidays, which is for the first time for the preschool educational system in the Republic of Moldova.

Surveys were also carried out regarding the endowment of early education institutions according to minimum standards and the needs to modernise the infrastructure. The results of these surveys were used to develop projects for the construction and renovation of water and sanitation systems for 155 early childhood education institutions, which were submitted to the State Chancellery of the Government for approval.

Ensuring effective parental education focused on psychological counselling of parents of children from refugee families in Ukraine, with the support from UNICEF. The activities included educational and psycho-emotional support sessions for children and parents, to strengthen the skills of child care and education in the context of the war in the neighbouring country.

The development of human resources in early childhood education was carried out through training seminars for administrators and teachers from early childhood education institutions, for the implementation and management of SIME. The activities to strengthen the professional skills and competences of teachers were carried out in collaboration with various international organisations (Council of Europe, UNICEF) and focused on topics such as the prevention of violence and sexual abuse towards young children, the provision of educational services to refugee children from Ukraine (Source: Activity Report for 2022).