The school of Borceag village of Cahul district is looking for financing to carry out repair works. According to teachers of the school, owing to the deplorable state of the institution, it is cold and humid inside and the wind blows through the old window. Contacted by IPN, the Ministry of Education said the institution faces a shortage of funds because it uses only 24% of the building following its reorganization from lyceum into secondary school, while the costs for maintaining the whole building remain excessive. The Ministry formulated recommendations for the school of Borceag and other institutions that are in similar situations.
Teacher of English Alexandru Gaibu has told IPN that the lessons are given on the first and second floors, while the third floor was closed. The building is in a deplorable condition and the health of the students and teachers is endangered. The roof is seriously damaged and allows leaks when it rains. Owing to the high level of moisture, there is mold on the walls. As a result, the children and teachers often become ill.
The teacher also said that the school’s façade needs to be renovated as stones are falling off the building. The last time the school was extensively repaired in 1972. Now this thing is impossible owing to the lack of funds. The district authorities expressed readiness to offer a part of the financing on condition that the community or the institution also contributes money. The specialists assessed the repair costs at about 1 million lei. The school does not have this money.
Alexandru Gaibu forms part of the category of people who care. That’s why he wants to contribute to identifying finances for repairing the school and potential backer.
In its response to IPN’s inquiry, the Ministry of Education says the Theoretical Lyceum “Ion Creanga” was reorganized into a secondary school with a contingent of 153 students divided into nine classes last September. The 2014 budget of the institution was 1.5million lei, which was increased additionally for feeding the children. The budget for 2015 is 1.6 million lei. The institution can also benefit from money for infrastructure from the district component. The school experiences a budget deficit because it now uses only 24% of its capacity (640 places). This generates excessive costs for maintenance.
The Ministry also said that the current mechanism for financing the schools offers the possibility of collecting funds at district level for financing costly projects that the schools cannot implement with own funds. In order to create such a fund, the district/municipal council can retain up to 3% of the budget of schools. Additionally, the Ministry of Education allocates money for renovating and outfitting the education institutions with the help of foreign partners, including a World Bank project and the financial resources provided by the Government of Japan. For all the forms of financing, the education institutions are selected at a contest.
The Ministry also informed that the schools can take part in open contests of projects, including international ones, without specifying yet which are these.
