Location

Moldova is currently experimenting with decentralization in education. Moldova’s Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) “Viitorul” wanted to assess the extent and effect of the decentralization, as well as the general state of financing for Moldovan education. Researchers examined budget data and laws, as well as national and international reports, and interviewed mayors, local government officials, and the directors and vice-directors of 30 schools chosen to represent a broad swath of Moldova’s education system. They found that Moldovan education budgeting remains highly centralized, and is allocated by a system that is vulnerable to politics and creates huge inequities in funding.