OREANDA-NEWS. Starting form January, 1, 2013 all schools of Moldova to transit to a new methodology of financing.
At seminar in the Ministry of Education coordinator of the Qualitative Education in Rural Areas WB project Victoria Catanoi said the new methodology to finance the primary and secondary schools in Moldova are based of the principle Money follows the pupil, applied in most European states. In line with the new methodology the state will finance schools depending on a number of pupils in them. In 2013 the rate is 6282 leis per pupil and 380285 leis per school.

The new methodology is to be applied in pre-schools, primary and secondary schools and each level will be applied to a separate coefficient in addition to the base rate, from 0.75 for pupils of primary schools to 1.22 to pupils of secondary ones. Managers of each school will budget revenues and expenditures independently, according to a number of pupils. According to the new formula, the school budget will include budget transfers, municipal transfers and non-budgets means. Principal expenditures, such as remuneration, payments for services, purchases of text books, etc, are supposed to be backed from the state budget depending on a number of pupils.

Some funds will be provided by local authorities to cover expenditures for transportation, maintenance of hostels, overhauls, and the budget deficit. Besides, administration of schools will accumulate and manage non-budget money received from sponsors, for leasing of school premises, parents associations, etc. At the first stage, which will last 2 years, schools will be provided with extra budget transfers if their budgets are drawn up in an improper way. Starting from 2015 it will be impossible. If during the transition period the school has the deficit-ridden budget, its administration will have to develop the plan of rationalization.

The school budget can be adjusted in few cases only: If the Ministry of Finance changes the rate of expenditures for one pupil, for example if prices for electricity grow or wages to teachers increase; if the school is closed; if a number of pupils grows or declines by 5%. The new methodology has been successfully applied in some regional schools. It helped to optimize maintenance expenditures and to spent money saved on equipment, text books, etc., to ensure efficient management, to administrate financial and human resources independently.