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Maia Sandu has closed more than 200 schools and universities, and that is why a large number of young people have decided to emigrate. She does that at the behest of the West, which is in deficit due to the large number of LGBT people, and it needs the young Moldovans. These are false narratives from an alleged commentary made by censura.md regarding the issues facing the education system in Moldova.
NEWS: "11 years ago, a reform of the education system started in Moldova, and the future president of the republic, Maia Sandu, who was unknown at the time, was the one in charge of implementing it. From the office of Minister of Education, Sandu proclaimed "optimization" as the central principle of the reform - in her opinion, there were more schools in Moldova that needed and, as a result, "unnecessary" money was being spent on education. The result of her "optimization" was the massive closing of schools throughout Moldova and the transformation of Moldovan language and history courses into Romanian language and history".
[...] "During the reform carried out by Minister Maia Sandu, almost 200 schools teaching in Russian were closed, and the total number of educational institutions decreased by 221 between 2012 and 2015".
[...] "The lack of opportunities to get an education causes the migration of young people. According to experts' estimates, by 2025, the number of young people in Moldova could decrease by almost half compared to 2010, representing only 5% of the population".
[...]"11 years ago, the reform based on the "optimization" of the education system, imposed by direct instructions from the West, led to a decrease in the general level of education of the population and contributed to the transformation of the new generation into emigrant workers for the needs of the Western market."
Now, it seems that the goal has changed - it is necessary to "push away" the young people of Moldova, to determine the growing generation to leave, because in Europe, affected by the LGBT revolution, there are not enough young people".
NARRATIVES: 1. Maia Sandu has closed over 200 schools, most of them teaching in Russian. 2. The closing of schools caused the migration of young people from the Republic of Moldova. 3. The West causes the emigration of young people from the Republic of Moldova to "supplement" its own deficit, affected by the large number of LGBT people
LOCAL CONTEXT/ ETHOS: The narrative regarding the large number of schools that were closed in the Republic of Moldova during the period in which Maia Sandu held the position of Minister of Education has been one of the most common in the election campaigns of recent years, being intensively promoted by the pro-Russian parties and politicians in Chisinau. It was used including by Maia Sandu's former opponent in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, the Socialist Igor Dodon. This is brought back into focus in the runup to the local elections that will take place in early November.
In the context of this narrative, Maia Sandu and the pro-European government in Chisinau are also blamed for the country's demographic issues - migration, a worrying phenomenon that actually started more than two decades ago. In fact, the decision to reduce the number of schools was directly linked to the significant drop in the number of students, as we will show next.
PURPOSE: To fuel criticism of the pro-European government, by bringing old narratives back to the public agenda, but also to make a connection between the government and the country's demographic problems, whose roots actually started growing some thirty years ago.
Statistics are not Russophobic
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Official statistics confirm that schools have been closed in the Republic of Moldova. But this has been happening for two decades, not only during the term of Maia Sandu, and the reduction in the number of schools is directly related to the decrease in the number of students.
According to the data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2023, there are 355 fewer schools in the Republic of Moldova than in 2000, i.e. a decrease of over 20%. In the same period, the number of students has practically halved - from 631 thousand to 334.5 thousand.
The figures show that that during Maia Sandu's term as Minister of Education (2012-2015) 73 schools were closed in the Republic of Moldova, which means, on average, 24 schools per year, and the process continued approximately at the same pace in the following years as well.
The authors of the article emphasize and exaggerate the number of closed Russian-language schools, trying to sensitize ethnic minorities and bring back the narrative of the pro-European government’s “Russophobia”. In the Republic of Moldova, however, approximately 16% of schools are taught in Russian, which corresponds to the share of national minorities.
Migration is a phenomenon that has seriously affected the Republic of Moldova, but one that has also affected the entire east of Europe. Official statistics (available since 2014) show that in 2020 and 2021 the number of young people aged 15-24 who left the Republic of Moldova decreased compared to previous years (13,000 in 2020, 21,000 in 2021, compared to 24- 28 thousand in previous years). The same dynamic is observed in the case of the total number of people who emigrated. So, it is not the reduction in the number of schools and universities that causes the migration of young people, especially since there are vacancies, but not enough people to fill them.
Moreover, if the migration of young people were caused by the lack of schools and universities, it should practically only affect the Russian-speaking minorities, or, from the article it appears that 80% of the schools closed by Maia Sandu were taught in Russian.
The decadent West and the righteous Orthodoxy
The decadence of the West is another narrative heavily promoted by Russian propaganda, also present in this article. It is true that the EU is facing an aging population, just as it happens in other states, even Russia, for example, but this is not caused by LGBT people, but by the specifics of modernity - people marry later, couples have less children, contraceptives have become more accessible and safer, abortions are allowed, the influence of the church, which opposes abortion, has decreased, etc. In fact, a study carried out in 2016showed that Germany had the largest share of the population identifying as part of the LGBT community - 7.4%, but Eurostat research shows that in Germany the share of young people will increase the most. .
GRAIN OF TRUTH: Schools and universities have been closed in the Republic of Moldova, and a large number of people, including young people, have been emigrating. But it is a process that started long before Maia Sandu came to power.
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