Two Chisinau principals and student arrested on corruption charges

Two school principals and a high-school student from Chisinau have been held by police on charges of corruption, Info-Prim Neo reports. Vasile Sarco, an Interior Ministry officer, has told a news conference on Tuesday that the female principal of the Chisinau-based school no.35 was held at the moment when she was releasing a graduation certificate in exchange for 1,600 lei. The person who called the Ministry's helpline told the police he had been contacted by someone who offered better marks for the Baccalaureate exams in a new high-school graduation certificate. Sarco also told reporters about the case of another female principal of a school in a Chisinau suburban village, who was arrested at the moment when she was receiving 300 euros from a student of another school in exchange for a graduation certificate. The police also tracked down a ten-grade student who was selling graduation certificates against $500. According to anonymous reports, he has operated with the help of two other students, whose identities are unknown yet. Sarco revealed that the teenagers showed caution and opened an electronic account on a Russian portal. So far the police have revealed 10 cases mediated by the students. Three versions are being investigated as to the origin of the graduation certificates: the involvement of certain staffers of the Education Ministry; the illegal purchase of the certificates from the publishing company; falsification of copies with the help of computers and printers. The Interior Ministry is urging the students and parents who encounter cases of corruption during the graduation period to call the Ministry's helpline at 577 238. So far it has received 14 calls, five of which are under investigation. From the beginning of the year, there have been initiated 40 criminal cases against the teaching personnel, as compared with 21 last year.