Institutionalization of pre- and in-service training for VET Teachers in Moldova

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Research (MoECR) of the Republic Moldova acknowledged that the quality of Teachers in vocational education and training is a key pillar for implementing high quality training appropriate to address the demand of the business sector in human resource development as a core element for enterprise and employment development.

Evaluating prior experiences and results of short and mostly fragmented approaches of further training for teaching staff in VET institutions led to the conclusion that the impact of these interventions was rather limited, therefore resources used for this purpose can be considered as not entirely effective. A simple analysis of the structure and characteristics of the teaching staff in VET highlights that an insufficient number of teachers in VET institutions is a serious obstacle to the training process. One out of six VET teachers is of retirement age; 2000 jobs are vacant due to a lack of teachers – this number increased in comparison with the previous year.

With that background MoECR identified Teacher Training in general and more specifically the education and training of TVET Teachers as one of the strategic focus areas and solutions to improve the VET system in Moldova. In this respect MoECR committed to develop and consolidate an institutionalized systematic approach for pre- and in-service education and training for VET teachers in the country. Within this strategic development area, the focus areas are oriented on one hand towards establishing degree programs at Higher Education (HE) level for pre-service training and further development of a modular approach in the case of in-service training. At the same time, the approach builds in opportunities for awarding ECTS or ECVET credit points upon completion of the programmes, in line with the provisions of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

The GIZ project “Support to Vocational Education in the field of Green Economy” in Moldova was requested by MoECR to support capacity development in the creation and roll-out of an initial training program for VET teachers in Moldova. A number of consultations on a stakeholder’s platform took place in 2019 involved both the project team in Moldova as well as specialists of the UNEVOC Centre Magdeburg (representing the GIZ Academy for International Cooperation Magdeburg and the “Otto von Guericke” University Magdeburg). Relevant dialogue partners at national level, such as MoECR, HE institutions, the National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Agency and dual partners from both VET providers and the business sector have analysed and discussed all elements and necessary steps to be considered in the process of the study program development. This includes adjustment of the normative framework, accreditation procedures, teaching and learning material development, as well as financing aspects. Last but not least, the need for further capacity development of potential lecturers to be involved in the implementation of the MA study program in Moldova has been identified.

As a result, a draft work plan with milestones, activities and deliverables was elaborated and agreed with the ambitious objective to start the implementation of the MA Study Program at the Technical University Chisinau from September 2020.

You can find more information on the current and former projects in Moldova in this article on our website.