Over 300 high school students from across Moldova developed competences that are needed to take action to defend and promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, during information visits to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova. This is an innovative experience-based learning process through democracy piloted with the support of the Council of Europe project “Education for Democracy in the Republic of Moldova” in the school year 2023-2024. 

The judges and staff members of the Constitutional Court of Moldova explained to the students the role and functions of the Court in a rule-of-law-based state, and presented and discussed real-life cases and controversies arising under the Constitution or the laws of the Republic of Moldova. The participants were encouraged to deliberate over complicated cases, which were analysed and judged by the Court in the past. As a result, the students better understood how the Court interprets the Constitution as the final arbiter of the law.

Domnica Manole, President of the Constitutional Court, emphasized the importance of these visits to educating the future citizens of Moldova. “The information is presented in an accessible [age adapted] manner. And, if you attended a lesson, you would see the reaction of the children, the children's eyes. They are excited. I realized how necessary this information is for the future citizens of the country. We need these lessons. We need to continue this project launched with the support of the Council of Europe. We are investing in our future, in the future of our children, in the future of our society”, Domnica Manole added.

Corina Lungu, Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Education and Research said that 300 high school students from 11 schools across Moldova attended the information visits to the Constitutional Court in the school year 2023-2024. “This is a real-life experience – to learn about the functionality and implementation of the Constitution – and this is an opportunity to learn about the applicability of what students are studying during the “Education for Society” classes: how human rights are analysed in a rule-of-law-based state and applied in the context of current events in the society”, Corina Lungu said.

Madina Sava is one 300 high school students who attended the lessons and information visits to the Constitutional Court. “I’m in high school now, in 11^th grade, and I have a lot of areas I’d like to explore. Our high school is very much based on cooperation and communication. And therefore, now having this opportunity, we can better understand how judges interpret the Constitution in the best interests of Moldovan people”, Madina added.

In addition to the visits and lectures at the Constitutional Court, the students also had a guided visit to the Moldovan Parliament. They explored how the Parliament and parliamentary democracy are functioning in practice and discovered the history and heritage of the parliamentary building.

A video about this innovative initiative has been developed with the Council of Europe support and may be watched here .

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The Project “Education for Democracy in the Republic of Moldova” supports the integration of Council of Europe’s flagship Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture in the primary and secondary education cycles, including the upper secondary technical education and vocational education and training. It also further strengthens national teacher education capacities and the professional competences of teachers, and supports the implementation in schools of the methodology on the democratic school governance.