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Elizaveta Balanuță, assistant educator at Kindergarten No 225 of Chișinău
“I have invested time and effort in my qualification so that in the future we can be proud of a generation educated properly by certified professionals,” says confidently Elizaveta Balanuță, assistant educator for more than eight years at Kindergarten No 225 of Chișinău. The young woman knows that every morning, when she enters the building, she is greeted by curious eyes and loads of energy ready to discover the world. These moments determined her to choose and practice this profession.
“Kids are the positive energy that one cannot find easily in everyone. They are sincere and loving beings, and this motivated me to come and work here. Initially I thought I would not practice this profession for a long time, but in the meantime, thanks to the satisfaction I received from my job I remained in this area,” says Elizaveta.
Even though she has working experience, formal education has remained an unfulfilled dream for Elizaveta. She wanted to have a document recognizing her professional experience gained over the years.
Elizaveta found out about the mechanism for recognizing professional competencies developed in 2019 and applied to “Alexei Mateevici” College of Pedagogy in Chișinău to have her skills assessed and recognized for the profession of assistant educator.
“Encouragement of the management of the educational institution, as well as my desire to grow professionally made me apply. I was sure that an official document will make me more self-confident, and I will be firmly convinced that the education I offer to children is the right one,” says Elizaveta.
After a few classes, Elizaveta took the qualifying exam consisting of two tests: one theoretical and one practical.
“I have learned so many things. Even the educational activities I used to practice; I knew them only superficially. But theoretically, I learned all the information needed for a good education and training of children at the college’s certification programme,” said the candidate.
Moreover, obtaining a document validating her professional experience is an incentive for Elisaveta to move forward. Now she wants to study to become an educator.
The certificate of professional competence obtained following skills’ evaluation by an accredited educational institution of Moldova is recognized both in the country and abroad. Thanks to this programme, the lack of formal education is no longer an impediment for Moldovans who aspire to a prosperous future and a decent job. Currently, nine educational institutions provide recognition support for 46 professions in: constructions, catering, pedagogy and ecology, beauty industry, textile, IT, healthcare, and transportation. The assessment is based on the tasks that a candidate can perform in real working conditions.
“I wanted to get a document that certifies and confirms my skills”
The certificate of professional competence was a proof for Pavel Tacu that one can have the profession he wants at home, even without formal studies.
The 27-year-old completed his studies at the Agrarian University of Chisinau, specializing in Forestry and Public Gardens. However, this field was not so attractive for Pavel to make a successful career out of it. But over the years, the young man has rediscovered a passion that has been passed down from generation to generation.
“The joy of being a hunter comes from my grandfather, who passed on this passion to my father, and he, in turn, taught me confidence and love for nature and hunting. Under the supervision of my father, I learned from adolescence how to load a cartridge into a barrel, how to fire a rifle correctly. But the most important thing I learned is that animals need to be protected,” said the young man.
Given his childhood passion and desire to protect animals and eliminate any threat to them, Pavel became in 2012 a member of the Rezina Hunters Association. Like any young man who has high aspirations and wants a bright future for himself and his family, Pavel has decided that he wants to get a job with the Association to fight poaching.
“The reason for enrolling in these courses was simple. I've had all my hunting knowledge for nine years, when I got my hunting license. Thus, I wanted to obtain a document that would authenticate and confirm all my skills,” said Pavel.
Pavel applied to the College of Ecology in the capital city, which has a knowledge validation programme for hunting guard.
For the theoretical test, Pavel answered questions about features of wildlife, characteristics of shelters and ways of properly calculating animal fodder, whereas for the practical test he had to build and install a feeder for birds and animals.
“You have to know how to take care of the wildlife, to provide food to animals, to make room in the bushes, where the animals can be sheltered, so that they do not stay in the cold, rain and snow," says the young man.
In the near future, Pavel would like to become President of Rezina Hunters Association.
More than 260 candidates have been fully certified so far.
People who want to evaluate their knowledge or companies that want to certify their employees must pay a fee ranging from MDL 1600 to MDL 3000, depending on the field and the number of competences certified.
For more details on the assessment of professional competences, please visit the website of the Ministry of Education and Research.
Validation has become possible thanks to a pilot mechanism launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Education and Research. The initiative is implemented with the support of Switzerland as part of “Migration and Local Development” UNDP project and in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, Mission to the Republic of Moldova.
