Moldova

Since the country has enjoyed very high levels of literacy as a byproduct of being a part of the former USSR, at present, there is no need for having formalized adult education sector. Furthermore, in independent Moldova, the 1995 Policy and Law on Education mandates that education and primary education rates continue to be near universal; adult education does not seem to be needed in the near future.

Another sector within the educational system is the education of children with special needs. In 2000, according to the Ministry of Education and Science, for children with special needs there were 9 institutions at the preprimary level and 64 at the primary level. In addition there were 32 auxiliary schools for children with mental deficiencies with an enrollment of 4,300 students. For children with physical deficiencies, there were 14 specialized schools enrolling 2,000 such students. There was one school for the visually impaired, which enrolled about 100 students. For children with speech deficiencies, there were 120 specialized centers enrolling 4,000 children. In addition, several speech therapy institutions have also been created in Moldova.

In the area of fine arts, Moldova also has 116 artistic schools, of which 10 are directly under the Ministry of Culture, and 106 are operated through Territorial Departments of Culture. Of the 10 institutions under the Ministry of Culture, 5 are music institutions, 1 is a choreography institution, 2 are fine art institutions, and 1 is a popular arts and general artistic activity institution.

The primary mode of distance education in Moldova was through correspondence courses offered through the Academies and the National Institute of Continuing Education (NICE). A person could even complete a doctoral thesis via correspondence study. As of 2000, Internet based online computer-mediated courses were nonexistent in Moldova. However, the Internet was gaining prominence in Chisinau, the main city and capital of Moldova. Perhaps in future years, online courses will be offered, especially at higher education levels.