Public Hearings: An Unprecedented Exercise in Civic Participation
Automatically translated summary. The full article is available in Romanian.
The “My School” initiative held a series of public hearings in all 20 of its partner schools across Moldova. More than 1,500 pupils, parents, teachers, school administrators and mayors took part in what the organisers describe as an unprecedented democratic exercise in the Republic of Moldova.
At the hearings, school administrations presented how funds had been spent, draft budgets for the coming years and development priorities. Many pupils and parents said they were learning about the school budget for the first time and had not realised such information should be public.
Pupils’ needs were also discussed. At the “Gaudeamus” Theoretical Lyceum in Chișinău, a pupil asked the director for age-appropriate tables and chairs, and the director agreed and ordered multifunctional tables. The organisers argue that informed, engaged citizens will know how to hold authorities to account and demand better services, and that this change in mindset begins at school. The project is implemented by Expert-Grup with World Bank Group funding under the Global Partnership for Social Accountability, with informational support from the Ministry of Education.
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