Fulbright Update from Chisinau, Moldova:
Prof learns about disinfo, education; brushes up on Romanian
Yesterday, the teacher went back to school for a day. Of course, the school was in Romanian, spoken sometimes so low it was barely audible, and other times articulated so quickly that it was nearly impossible to understand.

Despite this, the two events I attended were informative and fascinating. They certainly gave me a chance to exercise my mediocre Romanian, the official language here in Moldova.

Simon Panek launches disinformation event

The first event was a panel discussion titled, “Disinformation in Moldova-Perspectives of Journalists.” It featured four professional media panelists. The panel was introduced by a vice-rector of Moldova State University, where the event was held. She noted that disinformation is a “delicate situation” in Moldova, and that combating it is a “great responsibility” for journalists. In a second introduction, Simon Panek, director of People in Need, a Czech NGO and sponsor of the event, reminded the audience that, “Those who manipulate (information) are usually not democrats,” and do so for selfish purposes.

Speaker Victoria Borodin from Ziarul de Garda, a 90-year old newspaper in Chisinau, noted that there is a flood of Russian disinformation that became heavier once the Ukraine war started, and that fighting it involves the hard, sometimes tedious work of analyzing public information, confirming sources, and bringing in relevant, neutral experts into the discussion.

Audience at disinformation event at State Univ.

Another speaker, Anghelina Gaidarji, is from Tuk.md, the only independent, Russian language news outlet in Moldova. She said, interestingly, that the harder a piece if disinformation “news” is to believe, the more likely people in her Russian-speaking region in southern Moldova will believe it, because they want to believe it.

The second event yesterday was a press conference organized by the Scoala de Jurnalism din Moldova (Moldova Journalism School), for whom I am teaching and mentoring adult learners who are enrolled in a six month vocational journalism training course. Journalists peppered Dan Perciun, the country’s minister of education and research, with questions for about 90 minutes.

Most of the press conference topics were strikingly similar to the topics that would be discussed with an American education official—STEM education, soft skills (communication) vs. hard technical skills, education in rural areas, curriculum and competencies, etc. There was a lively discussion about teacher salaries. One reporter asked if incentives like airline tickets could be given to teachers to make the profession more attractive. I'm not sure if I heard a direct answer to the question. Budgets were also discussed, as the minister passed out a handout showing how Moldova stacks up vs. other European countries in the amount of their GDP expended on education. The European average is 4.8%; here in Moldova, 5.8% of GDP is spent on education.

Dan Perciun, education minister

Any glimpse I can get into Moldovan society can only benefit me as a teacher, and any chance I get to listen to and translate Romanian in my head, and take notes, can only improve my language skills. I want to get to the point where I can lecture in Romanian at the university or on my other teaching assignments. I hope to be at that level within the next month.