Record number of young people employed in schools, kindergartens of Moldova; education minister says willing to make decision to come to system even more attractive

A record number of 426 young specialists were employed in schools and kindergartens in 2025. They benefit from a one-time allowance of up to 200,000 lei and other facilities. Minister of Education and Research Dan Perciun has told MOLDPRES that a goal set for the 2026 year was not only to increase the number of young specialists assigned to educational institutions, but also to enhance the attractiveness of certain disciplines, where the shortage of staff is greater, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology.

"A major achievement of 2025 is the number of young specialists, something we care about very much. We have over 420 young people assigned to schools and kindergartens this year. More than in 2024 and the largest number, in fact, since 2018, since this allowance programme existed. Once again, we have broken a record and I am happy," Dan Perciun said in an interview given with MOLDPRES.

Young specialists who go to work in schools and kindergartens benefit from a one-time allowance of up to 200,000 lei, a 75-per cent reduction in the teaching norm in the first five years of activity, compensation for teaching materials, support for housing expenses in rural areas, annual leave of up to 62 days and mentoring provided by an experienced teacher.

The education minister said that statistics data reveals that the vast majority of young specialists who are initially assigned to schools and kindergartens do not give up at the beginning of their way, but choose to remain in the system and work in educational institutions.

"We don't necessarily have a retention problem. From our figures, last year, 93 per cent of those who were assigned stayed in the system, so it's a very high percentage. So, if we manage to convince them to embrace the profession, the vast majority of them stay," said the education minister.

Dan Perciun said that an objective set by the Education and Research Ministry (MEC) for the current year was not only to increase the number of those assigned to schools and kindergartens, but also to enhance the attractiveness of certain subjects, where the deficit is particularly large, such as real subjects, like mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology.

"In this respect, we will have to come up with scholarships to improve admission, this will yield results in the long term, but we may also differentiate the distribution allowance. Now, we give it to everyone in equal amounts; next year we may increase it in some disciplines, where we lack more specialists, in order to make the decision to join the system even more attractive," noted minister Dan Perciun.

According to statistics data, the popularity of pedagogical studies has increased in the last three years. In 2024, 1,849 students were enrolled in the field of educational sciences, compared to 1,699 in 2023 and 1,566 in 2022. Educational Sciences also stay in the top fields of study according to the average admission. Students in pedagogical specialties also receive larger scholarships, which vary depending on the category and year of study.