Trainings in “Digital Education” for teachers from the southern region of the Republic of Moldova

Switching to online education during the pandemic revealed and emphasised the need to introduce Digital Education in the school curriculum. The teachers had no other choice than to assimilate, as quickly as possible, and successfully apply innovative teaching methods so that their school students could adapt better to digital schooling. Since 2018, primary school pupils study “Digital Education” as a compulsory subject. In order to enhance the teaching skills, circa 1200 teachers have embarked on the relevant education programme provided by the “Tekwill in Every School” Project. As of the new school year, these teachers will teach subjects related to digital literacy, creation of digital contents, cyber security, as well as troubleshooting toolkits in the online environment. This Module will be taught to approximately 50 thousand of school students over the 2021-2022 school year. The training of teachers from the Southern Districts, namely Cahul, Cantemir, Leova and Taraclia, takes place with the support provided by the “EU4Moldova: Start-up City Cahul” Project.

“Over those five years of experience I realised that in order to teach successfully, especially under the terms of distance learning, the children shall get acquainted with and use the technologies. This includes the possibility to develop a document in a certain application, navigate through a web page, use the applications for educational purposes, as well as other benefits made available by technologies. The children are open and ready to explore the digital opportunities we have got, and we shall help them deploy such opportunities for educational purposes: to learn new stuff, to create something, to facilitate the access to information, and many other possibilities,” highlighted Veronica Stanga, Teacher.

Svetlana Prisacaru, Primary School Teacher, Enichioi Village Gymnasium of Cantemir District: “Since autumn, I will start teaching Digital Education to 15 first grade pupils. Previously, I took part in the Education and Teaching Programme for Teachers, because I would like to offer full education to my pupils, which is up- to-date and interesting. I have more than 30 years of teaching experience, and I am convinced that today the young generation needs digital education more than ever. Why? Because we participate in the technical and scientific progress and we must be in line with the trends and follow continuous education. Teaching the school children about the need to use technologies in a conscious, committed and responsible manner shall lead to raising the next generation of qualified professionals.”

In 2018, Digital Education was introduced in schools so that the primary school pupils could learn how to use digital devices and technologies. During the first year of Project implementation, this subject was taught to the first grade pupils. In 2019 and 2020, Digital Education became a school subject for the second and third grade pupils.