About 110 people informed CNA about corruption in education institutions

Chisinau, 7 November /MOLDPRES/- About 110 complaints regarding corruption in schools were submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Center (CNA) in the first nine months of the year. CNA head Bogdan Zumbreanu made the statement at hearings held at the parliamentary session on national security, defense and public order.

The CNA leadership noted that according to a survey, the amount of illegal payments in educational institutions would have doubled. “When referring to the case of the Academy of Economic Studies, 60 teachers are suspected of being co-participants in a corruption scheme through which students could buy their exams, bachelor's and master's theses. I will also remember the case of the Dean of the Faculty of Law, accused of business with doctoral degrees. Also, the five professors of the Center of Excellence in Electronics and Energy, who are suspected of having created schemes of money to promote the exams,” Zumbreanu said.

The head said that those who refuse to pay informal fees are marginalized, subjected to pressure and harassment by teachers or other parents. "At the same time, specialists have identified vulnerabilities in leased premises managed by educational institutions, such as prices 3-4 times lower than market prices, or uncertain selection of beneficiaries. Also, there have been cases where directors, deputy heads and accountants of educational institutions benefit from "salary bonuses" on behalf of parent associations. It was also found that in some public associations, most staff are actually teachers within educational institutions to which these associations are operating," he said.

Attending the hearings, state secretary of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research Angela Cutasevici said that the institution had worked out a plan to prevent corruption in the education system. "Soon we are going to sign a collaboration agreement with the CNA to more effectively counter corruption. At the same time, we aim to improve practice for enrollment of children in educational institutions through information systems. We urge managers of education institutions to be very vigilant and to initiate service inquiries to immediately identify people involved in corruption," Cutasevici said.

According to CNA data, in the nine months of2018, over 60 teachers by anti-corruption officers. At the same time, CNA announced it would increase its presence in three social areas to detect corruption offenses: education, health and European assistance.

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor A. Răileanu)