Moldova's Education and Research Ministry demands cancellation of Education Law adopted by People's Assembly of Gagauzia

The Education and Research Ministry (MEC) has taken notice about the adoption by the People's Assembly of Gagauzia of the so-called Education Law, a normative act which, according to the institution, contravenes national legislation and exceeds the competencies of the autonomous local authorities.

According to MEC, the document, voted on November 3, 2025, infringes the provisions of the Education Code and the principle of the unity of the educational space of Moldova. According to Article 39 of the Education Code, only the Education and Research Ministry has the legal competence to develop and approve state educational standards, the framework curriculum and the list of school subjects.

Therefore, the territorial autonomy cannot substitute the competencies of central authorities and cannot establish its own standards in the field of education outside the national normative framework. Similarly, local authorities cannot adopt regulations which change the status of the language of education or impose subjects that contravene the national curriculum frameworks.

"Although we support initiatives for learning the Gagauz language, the history of Gagauzia and the Gagauz people, these projects cannot be promoted at the expense of the right to study the mother tongue (Romanian, Bulgarian or Ukrainian) and must not infringe on the principle of equal access to education for all children, regardless of ethnicity," MEC says.

The Ministry recalls that the Constitutional Court, through the decision No 21 from December 10, 2013, established that the development of curricula and the promotion of linguistic policy are exclusive prerogatives of the central public authorities. In the context, the territorial autonomy of Gagauzia "cannot substitute the competencies of central authorities and cannot establish its own standards in the field of education," the institution emphasizes.

Moreover, MEC points out that the law was adopted without prior consultation with central authorities and without the observance of the principles of transparency and specialized approval. In the explanatory note, the authors of the draft say that the act aims to "restore scientific objectivity" in teaching the history of Gagauzia and the Gagauz people, but the Ministry warns that such an approach represents "a direct interference" with the subject "History of Romanians and Universal History," part of the national curriculum.

The Education Ministry said that it would analyze the content of the adopted act and would ask the People's Assembly of Gagauzia to annul it.

The Ministry recalls that a similar situation occurred in 2016, when a similar law was cancelled by the Supreme Court of Justice in 2018, being declared illegal.