specific needs of children and elderly left behind as a ... - IOM Moldova

CHAPTER II
discuss with the parents the eventual health effects of their children staying
alone” (III_EC_1).
The research concludes that parents refer quite rarely to community social
services thus neither the local public administration nor the other social
actors have information on children left without parental care except in
the cases when it was impossible to avoid contact with these institutions.
• Problems the school confronts with teaching staff ’s competences and
identified solutions
The circumstances of an increased number of children left behind as a
consequence of migration also lead to a worsening of problems they are
confronted with. The role of the school and of the teaching staff in helping
these children is very important. “Teachers come into contact with the
children most often, they understand very well the children’s behaviour and
notice any changes and are quite well acquainted with their families” – asserted
the experts of the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family
(III_EC_1).
Investigating the problems educational institution face, we have pointed
out, for example, the fact that children whose parents are working
abroad are less prepared for lessons, and especially those who are cared
for by their grandparents: “it is very serious when speaking about primary
classes; children are not prepared for lessons. They ask their granny for help
when they don’t know” (FG_EC_rural). At the same time the interviewed
teachers mentioned a lack of interest from migrant parents to discuss
their own child with teaching when they turn back home: “No, you practically
don’t know them when they leave for abroad” (FG_EC_rural).
It’s still teachers who are the social actors who would be among the first
to notice a deviant behaviour of a child or other behavioural changes,
among which is attending clubs at an early age: “it is too early for disco but
I found that a girl goes to the disco and she is one of the girls whose mother
is not at home” (FG_EC_rural). Teachers explain this by partial or integral
absence of family’s control: “there is no one to check the child’s marks”.
And not the least, the teaching staff revealed issues related to the remuneration
of the teaching staff, speaking about the payment they ask for
their after-school work with pupils who are behind with their exams that
as a rule is accepted by parents but treated with reserve by school’s administration:
“parents agree to pay although we are not allowed to charge”
(FG_EC_rural).
Analysing the level of the teacher’s skills to meet the new challenges of
time we conclude that these are rather different, varying depending on
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