On December 16, 2020 ‘Gagauzia Dialogue’ project in cooperation with Gagauz authorities organized an online workshop entitled ‘Development Of Education Policy In ATU Gagauzia: Discussions On Strategic Directions’. The workshop gathered together representatives of autonomy and central authorities, independent field experts, educational institutions, civil society organizations, development partners and other relevant actors. The scope of the workshop was to discuss the findings of the situational analysis in the field of education in ATU Gagauzia, as well as to identify the strategic directions for the long-term policy document in the field of education.
In December 2020, the Executive authorities of ATU Gagauzia launched the process of developing a long-term programme of ATU Gagauzia in the field of education. The scope of this process is to define strategic goals that could be implemented by the autonomy in the sphere of education and pursued in the institutional dialogue on clarification of competences, as well as expand the dialogue with central authorities on educational needs of the autonomy to be addressed in the national education strategy.
As the initial stage, a situational analysis in the field of education in the autonomy was conducted by CMI (Crisis Management Initiative) independent experts. The analysis identifies a set of issues, needs, and interests of relevant stakeholders in the autonomy and suggests potential directions for the long-term development of the education sphere in ATU Gagauzia.
The process of developing the policy document in the field of education is coordinated by the Executive Committee, with facilitation and technical support from ‘Gagauzia Dialogue’ project, implemented by CMI and funded by Sweden.
CMI is supporting the process of developing strategic policy visions for Gagauzia in the fields of Education, Tourism and Culture. In this context, a specific Policy Development Task Force, composed of representatives of the Executive Committee and People’s Assembly of ATU Gagauzia, ministries, and independent experts from Chisinau and Comrat, has been established. CMI is committed to working in complementarity, partnership and support of on-going efforts by the Moldovan government including the Gagauzia authorities, in the policy sphere such as education. In 2017, the Parliamentary Working Group on Gagauzia developed a road map in which a systematic and strategic vision of autonomy in key policy areas was determined to be necessary for better governance and efficient coordination with the central level.
said the CMI Country Manager, Steve Young.
The Bashkan of ATU Gagauzia thanked the partners for their support and expertise provided through the Gagauzia Dialogue project over the years.
Today’s measure is one of the exercises in which we elaborate the detailed vision of the development of Gagauzia and the evolution of our Autonomy within the Republic of Moldova. Education is the foundation of the modern economy. We have declared the industrialization of Gagauzia as a priority. But the industrialization of the economy will require a large number of well-educated technical specialists and modern engineers. To meet these needs in 2021 we will build a modern industrial college, which will train specialists for the region’s industrial platforms. In order to ensure the uninterrupted and efficient activity of the college, we must now update our policies in the field of education. I know you would expect me to talk only about the importance of policy development in education. But I decided to come up with a bigger picture, which brings us even more arguments that confirm the importance of this project.
stated the Bashkan of ATU Gagauzia, Irina Vlah.
Over 60 participants agreed on the directions to be included in the policy document. Development and promotion of an effective multilingual education system, coordination mechanisms between the autonomy and center, quality of education, inclusive education, funding mechanisms, and others were identified as key priority directions.
Education is one of the biggest systems of integration of our society. The Gagauz education system is almost 25,000 children and 5,000 education personnel. Therefore we need a thoroughly developed policy document on education to avoid fragmentism, to provide a complex approach in fulfilling the activities regarding the quality of the education at all the levels, including professional development, implementation of an effective multilingual system, considering the peculiarities and necessities of our region. This sectoral program will be the basis of the education system development for the next 10 years. The document must include the indicators of what identifies the level of ensuring the right on education, considering the international standards and national purposes.
stated Natalia Cristeva, the Head of the Education Department of Gagauzia.
The policy development process is inclusive and participatory. It involves independent field experts, representatives of autonomy and central authorities, education institutions, civil society organizations, development partners, and other relevant groups.
The work of the policy document will be strengthened by expert support in the field of European autonomies and sectoral policies from the European Institute EURAC Research, and will conclude in 2021.
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CMI is a non-profit organization founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland in 2000. The organization’s efforts are aimed at preventing and resolving conflicts and maintaining lasting peace. In Moldova, CMI is implementing the Project ‘Gagauzia Dialogue’ funded by Sweden. The project focuses its work on supporting the efficient exercise of Gagauzia’s autonomous powers through building constructive dialogue between legislators from Chisinau and Comrat and finding joint solutions to common issues related to multilevel governance linked to Gagauzia autonomy.
