The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the participants in the educational process in the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

The Republic of Moldova, with a GDP per capita of US $ 4503.5 (according to the World Bank) in 2019, remains the poorest country in Europe. Faced with critical challenges such as corruption and mass migration, the country's resilience to crisis situations has been severely weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, social and economic inequalities have become much more pronounced. Of these, inequalities in education are among the most sensitive because they target children and young people. This paper aims to evaluate: the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the right to education in the Republic of Moldova; the cost of accessibility to educational services during the pandemic; the correlation between personal expenditures of the participants in the educational process and National Public Budget’s expenditures for education during the pandemic; the level of redistribution between personal expenditures of the participants in the educational process and the National Public Budget’s expenditures for education during the covid-19 pandemic. Method From a theoretical and scientific point of view, the study was carried out in the context of an integrated and systematic approach of modern economic and social concepts. The paper is largely based on the results of sociological research (survey) designed to measure the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the right to education in the Republic of Moldova. The survey conducted by the author is quantitative and targets two categories of respondents addressed in two separate questionnaires - parents whose children study in educational institutions; teachers employed in educational institutions. The complexity of the studied social, economic and financial phenomena required the use of statistical methods, namely the method of simple regression. Comparative analysis was also used. Outcomes (expected) The results of sociological research will be used to design funding mechanisms to support equity in the educational process in the Republic of Moldova. Acknowledgments. This paper is developed within the project "Human Rights in the Republic of Moldova: financial dimension and consolidation through the efficient public expenditures management" (code 20.80009.0807.35), funded through the National Agency for Research and Development of the Republic of Moldova. References Al-Samarrai, S., Cerdan-Infantes, P., & Lehe, J. (2019). Mobilizing Resources for Education and Improving Spending Effectiveness: Establishing Realistic Benchmarks Based on Past Trends. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (8773). Di Pietro, G., Biagi, F., Costa P., Karpiński Z. & Mazza, J. (2020). The likely impact of COVID-19 on education: Reflections based on the existing literature and recent international datasets. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Pokhrel, S., & Chhetri, R. A (2021). Literature Review on Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Teaching and Learning. Higher Education for the Future, 8(1), 133-141. doi: 10.1177/2347631120983481. UN (2020). Policy brief: education during COVID-19 and beyond. World Bank (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: Shocks to Education and Policy Responses. Washington D.C., World Bank.