Today, April 9, 2025, the “EDUCATION Platform” project conducted the second part of the seminar “Education for the Future: Which IT domains should be integrated today for tomorrow’s students’ success?”, facilitated by trainers Victoria Calistru and Alexandru Obada.

The training took place with both online and offline teaching in the UPSC “Ion Creangă” Future Classroom.

The 50 managers and teachers from both sides of the Dniester River participating in the seminar continued to deepen their knowledge and develop the necessary skills to support students in the final grades of secondary education in the act of professional self-determination and orientation towards the professions in demand on the labor market; to motivate them to master modern information technologies and improve their digital skills as a basis for new career opportunities.

This time, participants explored the potential of web pages as a tool for teaching, learning and assessment; practiced the use of artificial intelligence tools in STEAM project development; familiarized themselves with game design and its beneficial implications on stimulating and sustaining students’ motivation for learning.

The trainers provided the trainees with concrete digital solutions and practical approaches that can be successfully implemented in curricular and extra-curricular approaches, including in the process of career guidance of students.

The activity is part of the “EDUCATION Platform” project of the European Union program “Confidence Building Measures”, implemented by UNDP Moldova, in partnership with the Educational Center PRO DIDACTICA and the Educational Center RAZVITIE, Tiraspol. It is part of the actions of the project aimed at training managers and teachers on both sides of the Dniester River for the digitalization of the instructional-educational process in educational institutions at all levels.

The “Education Platform” project continues to provide managers and teachers from both sides of the Dniester River with the necessary professional training to digitize the instructional-educational process in educational institutions at all levels.

Yesterday, April 3, 2025, the “Classroom of the Future” of the State Pedagogical University “Ion Creanga” in Chisinau hosted a new seminar – “The use of artificial intelligence in digital education: challenges and opportunities”. It was facilitated by Dr. Veaceslav Cunev, expert in systemic thinking and artificial intelligence, President of the Association of private IT companies in Moldova.

The activity aimed to familiarize the 90 participants with several topics: “The main possibilities of ChatGPT”, “Using Gemini and Perplexity in the educational process”, “Prompt engineering” and “Working with AI assistants – capabilities and ways of application”.

Thus, the trainees discussed in detail how to use the ChatGPT platform in lesson planning, in the generation of learning materials and tests, in the development of digital competences and creativity of students. Special attention was paid to the comparative analysis of this platform and two artificial intelligence tools – Gemini and Perplexity, as well as their applicative potential in relation to school practice.

A learning session was dedicated to prompt engineering, or the process of designing the instructions given to an artificial intelligence model, a 21st century skill that enables accurate and useful responses from neural networks, saving time and valuable resources for the endeavors undertaken.

The final seminar sequence focused on working with AI assistants, which can take over routine tasks, automate tasks and support personalized learning. Learners were shown how these technologies can ease teacher workload and improve the quality of education.

Studying the possibilities of artificial intelligence is becoming a necessary part of the professional development of the modern educator. Technology is changing day by day. Therefore, in order to keep up with it, to make education more flexible, effective and interesting for students, teachers need to continuously develop their digital skills.

The activity is part of the “Education Platform” project of the European Union program “Confidence Building Measures”, implemented by UNDP Moldova, in partnership with the Educational Center PRO DIDACTICA and the Educational Center RAZVITIE, Tiraspol.

The Republic of Moldova faces numerous inclusion challenges due to its political, economic and historical context. The country seeks to provide equitable opportunities for all its citizens, especially vulnerable and marginalized groups. Thus, inclusive education is becoming increasingly important in the overall educational landscape and management plays a critical role in creating an inclusive school culture.

In this context, a study was conducted between March and May 2024, which focused on inclusive school management, outlining a leadership model that encourages collaboration between all stakeholders to ensure that vulnerable pupils benefit from quality education. This focus aligns with the Republic of Moldova’s commitment to promote inclusive practices and remove barriers of social exclusion of children.

For a comprehensive picture of the situation, primary data was collected from 4.5% of school leaders through questionnaires, in-depth interviews and a focus group, and secondary data – through document research, including analysis of existing policies, legal framework and previous studies. The information obtained was used in the preparation of the Global Education Monitoring Report 2024/25 “Leading for inclusion: the new regional report on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia”.

The Report was launched during an event organized by C.E. PRO DIDACTICA on April 3, 2025, at “Summit events” in Chisinau, with the participation of 25 school managers, support teachers, specialists from the Pedagogical Psychological Assistance Services, project coordinators, university professors, national and international experts, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Research.

In her opening speech, Dr. Rima BEZEDE, Executive Director of C.E. PRO DIDACTICA, emphasized that the study highlighted that the Republic of Moldova has made significant progress in promoting inclusive leadership. And although some challenges remain, there is a strong commitment among educational leaders to promote inclusive education. This commitment is reflected in the broad consensus among education stakeholders on the importance of inclusive organizational culture as a catalyst for future reforms.

Valentina OLARU, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Education and Research, praised the findings and recommendations of the Report both for strengthening inclusive school culture and for emphasizing the importance of collaboration between different educational actors to achieve visible success in innovative and inspirational school leadership, open for quality changes in school relationships, process and outcomes.

Presenting the findings and recommendations of the Report, Anna D’ADDIO and Francesca ENDUIZZI, experts, UNESCO, said that for educational inclusion to be successful, authorities and the community must give educational leaders all the support they need. This must be materialized by increasing human resource support for pupils with special needs; initiating inclusive practices throughout the community; providing specialized training; improving infrastructure and accessibility. All these efforts must be accompanied by effective monitoring, which will ensure the sustainability of change as well as continuous focus on inclusive values.

Viorica GORAȘ-POSTICĂ and Daniela PREAȘCA, experts, C.E. PRO DIDACTICA, the authors of the study, referred to the research methodology; the legislative, political and social context of the country; the challenges of inclusion; the characteristics of the school leader; good leadership practices for inclusive education. The authors emphasized that, compared to 10-15 years ago, inclusive education in the Republic of Moldova has significantly improved by focusing on local solutions and promoting adaptive models at the level of each school. However, for greater social inclusion, it is imperative to reduce economic inequalities, ensure political stability and improve access to quality health care, combat some prejudices, improve inclusive practices and educational infrastructure. And to build an environment in which all citizens can participate fully and equally in society and to ensure sustainable progress, government, civil society and international partners need to work together.

The event presented some successful practices, recognized at national and international level, promoted by Vera BALAN, headmistress of the “Petre Ștefănucă” Theoretical High School in Ialoveni, and Pavel CERBUȘCĂ, headmaster of the “Aristotel” Theoretical High School in Chisinau.

Finally, in a constructive discussion, the participants of the event shared their views on the successes achieved in the field, but also on the problems that still persist in schools in terms of the perception and de facto implementation of inclusion and its impact on children’s well-being.

The EDUCATION 2024/25 GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT “Leading for inclusion: new regional report on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia” was produced in partnership with the Network of Education Policy Centers (NEPC), of which C.E. PRO DIDACTICA, directly involved in the data collection for the Republic of Moldova and in the elaboration of the Country Case Study.

The report provides a comparative analysis of leading practices in inclusive education, based on in-depth studies and perspectives of education systems in 8 countries: the Republic of Moldova, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It provides recommendations to governments and stakeholders to promote inclusion and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality education throughout the region.

All materials discussed will be posted on the official website of UNESCO and the other partner organizations and will be widely disseminated internationally.