By Viorica Goraș-Postică and Daniela Preașca, Educational Centre PRO DIDACTICA, and authors of a GEM Report background paper about inclusive education leadership in Moldova
Moldova aims to guarantee every learner enjoys not just access to education but also meaningful participation, achievement and well-being in school. As the country advances toward EU integration and implements its Education Development Strategy 2030, inclusive leadership must remain central to its vision for equitable, high-quality education. Progress to date in promoting inclusive education leadership is not only a reflection of Moldova’s aspirations for EU membership, but it also serves as a catalyst for social progress and the ongoing transformation of the country’s education system.
At the heart of this transformation is the recognition that inclusive education is no longer a marginal issue or limited to integrating children with disabilities into mainstream classrooms. Instead, it is a systemic, rights-based approach that ensures access, participation, and learning for every student and teacher, regardless of ethnicity, language, disability, sexual orientation, socio-economic status or geographic location. In Moldova, as highlighted in the 2025 regional edition of the Global Education Monitoring Report, Lead for inclusion, this shift is both urgent and necessary.
Moldova’s commitment to inclusion is shaped by its complex political and economic context. Despite legislative progress and dedicated national strategies, structural inequalities continue to affect the most marginalized communities. Children with disabilities, Roma students, non-Romanian speakers, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, those living in poverty or rural areas often face barriers in accessing quality education and support services. The absolute poverty rate, and the child poverty rate alongside it, are on the rise. Coupled with a large diaspora, these conditions leave many families without the economic stability to support their children’s educational journeys. Meanwhile, efforts to improve the social inclusion of ethnic minorities, particularly the Roma, Gagauz, Bulgarian and Russian speakers, have only been partially successful. There remain cases of discrimination, abandonment and exclusion of certain groups.
But while the challenges are substantial, so too is Moldova’s resolve. The country is steadily moving toward a more inclusive education model, one grounded in shared values of empathy, equity and participation. At the core of this evolution is school leadership – the bridge between policy and practice.
Without committed, informed, and empowered school leaders, inclusive education remains a distant goal. This was the resounding message at the national launch of the GEM Report’s Lead for inclusion regional edition in Chisinau on 3 April. Hosted by the Educational Centre PRO DIDACTICA, the event brought together over 30 education stakeholders, including ministry officials, school leaders, university professors, support teachers and international experts.
Opening the event, Rima Bezede, Executive Director of PRO DIDACTICA, underscored the report’s dual value: it acknowledges Moldova’s progress while calling attention to persistent gaps that require urgent attention. Inclusive leadership is not just a component of education reform—it is its engine.
Valentina Olaru, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Research, emphasized that Moldova’s reform agenda aligns closely with the Report’s recommendations. These include fostering inter-institutional cooperation, enhancing professional development, and promoting a school culture built on respect and non-discrimination. She called for deepening leadership capacity, especially at the school level, where managers act as catalysts of change.
Anna D’Addio and Francesca Endrizzi, the GEM Report experts who presented the Lead for inclusion report, stressed that inclusive leadership must be supported at all levels. From investing in human resources to ensuring communities embrace inclusive values, they highlighted the need for holistic, well-resourced approaches. Effective monitoring, they noted, is key to sustaining and scaling success.
We presented the Moldova country study, which found that the implementation of relatively advanced legislative and policy frameworks is uneven across regions. Leadership for inclusion is underemphasized in current training programmes, and many school leaders lack the financial and institutional autonomy to drive transformation. Moreover, there is a pressing need for assistive technologies and specialized staff.
Yet, hope shines through local innovation. School leaders like Vera Balan (Petre Ștefănucă Primary School, Ialoveni) and Petru Cerbușcă (Aristotel Lyceum, Chișinău) shared inspiring models of inclusive schools. Their work, grounded in participatory governance, individualized learning, and strong community engagement, showed that inclusive leadership can generate meaningful, scalable change – even with limited resources.
As outlined in the country study, bold steps are needed to institutionalize and expand inclusive leadership:
- Integrate inclusive education into leadership training at both pre-service and in-service levels, especially targeting underserved and rural regions.
- Provide tailored support for learners with special educational needs, including family engagement, individualized learning plans, and specialized staff.
- Invest in inclusive infrastructure, focusing on universal design for learning, digital accessibility, and safe, supportive school environments.
- Strengthen intersectoral collaboration and ensure that school-level innovations inform national education policy.
- Embed a culture of inclusion through teamwork, community partnerships, and shared leadership.
Inclusion is not an add-on. It is the foundation of a just education system. By investing in leadership for inclusion, Moldova can lead by example – not just in the region, but across the globe.
