Dan Perciun
The Minister of Education and Research, Dan Perciun, in presenting the bill, stated that the agency’s director will hold a public office position, appointed by ministerial order following a competitive selection process, with two fixed terms of five years each. However, following the territorial-administrative reform, the number of terms could change.
According to the minister, the reform is intended to ensure greater equity among students across the country: “We want to make sure that this ‘elevator’ works equally for everyone.”
The minister also said that the reform aims to transform schools into “larger, stronger, and better-equipped regional hubs.”
Starting in 2027, the reform will require additional spending for new positions within the ATE and adjustments to salary levels. These costs are estimated at approximately 38.2 million lei for up to 35 agencies.
By November 15 of this year, the agencies are to be registered with the ASP. By December 15—an inventory of the assets of the district directorates and their transfer to the ATE. By January 10, 2027—the change in school founders. By March 15, 2027—the transfer of assets to schools and the finalization of loan-for-use agreements.
“The buildings will remain where they are; they are still owned by the city government, but we’re talking about expenses—just as the building has been maintained so far using school funding. This will continue to be the case. If there is interest, willingness, and a budget for the building’s owner to make additional investments in the building, that will also continue to be possible.”
“The Prologue to Territorial-Administrative Reform”
The opposition has criticized the reform, arguing that the establishment of territorial agencies in education represents a new step toward excessive centralization of the system and the consolidation of political control over the sector. Following the reorganization and subordination of institutions, parents’ requests, petitions, and complaints would risk being reviewed for years on end.
Lawmakers cited similar reforms previously implemented in other sectors, such as social services, where, according to them, leadership positions in regional directorates ended up being filled by individuals close to the government, as well as in the health sector, where the heads of some regional medical institutions were appointed directly by the relevant ministry.
At the same time, the view was expressed that the Restart reform is a “prologue” to territorial reform.
When asked whether the current situation regarding school failure and other problems that Perciun raised might be the result of previous reforms in the field of education (when the decision was made to calculate school funding based on the number of students), he replied that what is happening in Moldova is very “counterintuitive.”
“What’s happening in the Republic of Moldova is very counterintuitive. But we like to rely on numbers and data, and we look at the results. I’ve shown you the correlation between the number of students in a school and academic performance. And, yes, paradoxically—this is not what you’d intuitively expect—working with three students should give you more time to help them achieve good results, but as it turns out, in larger schools and larger classes, the results are actually better.”
Regarding school closures, he confirmed that it is possible: “We will have schools in the Republic of Moldova with as few as five students. And it’s possible that those educational institutions—in fact, the law already stipulates this—may not be able to continue operating in the 2027–2028 school year.”
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