The Council of Europe Project “Education for Democracy in the Republic of Moldova” launched the call for proposals “Supporting democratic school governance in Moldovan schools”. It aims to co-fund a national project aimed at strengthening democratic school governance policies and practices in the Republic of Moldova by piloting the democratic school governance methodological guide in 50 Moldovan schools.

The CoE Project “Education for democracy in the Republic of Moldova” supports the integration of the CoE Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC Framework) in the education system of the Republic of Moldova. In this context, the Project helps develop the policy framework for the reconceptualised civic education subject “Education for Society”, reinforces the capacity of national institutions and education professionals to implement the revised curriculum and the new approaches in practice, develops a methodology for democratic school governance and pilots it in schools, and develops and publishes information and methodological materials for education decision makers and practitioners.

Objectives 

The grant will fund a project designed to strengthen democratic school governance in the Republic of Moldova via piloting the democratic school governance methodological guide in 50 Moldovan schools.

Funding Information

The indicative available budget under this call for proposals is EUR 100 000 (one hundred thousand Euros). The CoE intends to award one grant of a maximum amount of EUR 100 000.

Means of action

Project may include:

• Expert assistance in drafting schools’ internal policy documents in the field of democratic school governance through a participatory and inclusive process, and in line with existing legislation;
• Expert assistance to facilitate the effective functioning of schools’ decision-making structures, such as the Administration Boards, Teacher Councils, Parents Councils and Pupil Councils;
• Trainings and workshops for school directors, teachers, school children and parents (general, peer-to-peer, seminars, etc.);
• Other events and actions to support school children participation in the life of their schools and their communities;
• Awareness raising events and campaigns in schools and in the community on key topics covered by the “Education for society” subject (e.g. democracy, human rights, children’s rights, solidarity, diversity, tolerance) or on topical issues such as bullying, including cyber-bullying, fake news/media literacy, inclusive education, etc.

Target stakeholders

Project should target in particular the following key stakeholders in lower and upper secondary schools (grades 5 to 12):

• Schools’ administration
• Administration Boards, Teacher Councils, Parents Councils and Pupil Councils - “Education for society” teachers
• School children
• The school community (parents, local authorities, etc.)

Further to the general objective, preference will be given to:

• Project/action proposed by non-governmental organization with extensive experience in the field of education for democratic citizenship, human rights education, democratic governance of schools, children’s rights and children and youth participation in civic life;
• Project/action targeting main areas of responsibility and decision-making in Moldovan schools and the wider school communities, both formal and informal;
• Project/action involving the schools' administration, Administration Boards, Teacher Councils, Parents Councils and Pupil Councils, etc.
• Project promoting the standards and approaches of the Council of Europe and integrating the horizontal principles of human rights, gender mainstreaming and sustainable development

Expected Results

The expected results of the CoE Project “Education for democracy in the Republic of Moldova”:

• A policy framework and implementation guidelines regarding the civic education subject and the democratic governance of schools are developed in line with CoE’s Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE) principles and the CoE’s Reference Framework of Competences for a Democratic Culture (CDC Framework).
• The national capacities to train teachers and to support them in the implementation of the reconceptualised civic education curriculum are reinforced via revised teacher training programmes, training of national teacher trainers and multipliers and other capacity building activities.
• Children and adolescents have developed the skills and acquired the knowledge to be able to participate in their schools’ and communities’ decision-making processes and they are offered opportunities to engage in community development activities in cooperation with the local public authorities and civil society organizations.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for a grant, an applicant must:

• be legally constituted as a non-governmental organisation in the Republic of Moldova;
• have been active for at least 5 years in the field of education for democratic citizenship, human rights education, democratic governance of schools, children’s rights and children and youth participation in
• civic life;
• have sufficient financial capacity (stable and sufficient sources of funding) to maintain its activitynthroughout the period for which the grant is awarded and to participate by waynof its own resourcesn(including human resources or in-kind contributions);
• have sufficient operational and professional capacity, including staff, to carry out activities described in its project proposal;
• have a bank account in the name of the organisation.

For more information, visit Council of Europe.