Over the past decade or so international schools have recognised that they need to become more outward-facing in their local communities - a trend that rapidly accelerated in the pandemic as schools played a pivotal role in keeping communities connected.
This desire to be outward-facing was instilled in our school, Heritage International School, by the founders, who were keen to have a positive influence on Moldova’s national education community. Of course, it’s one thing to have this aim and quite another to put it into action.
However, having just engaged in a series of meetings with the nation’s education ministry, I think there are some clear ways that this can be done with the possibility of having a real impact.
International schools linking up with government
1. Reaching out
One thing we did early on was simply reaching out and letting the education ministry know that we were open to meeting if we could be of service - the letter was simple and respectful, not designed to show off but to encourage dialogue and offer our help if it would be considered useful.
We mentioned that we would be welcoming a number of international education visitors to Heritage and that we could perhaps arrange for the ministry to be present at those events.
This was clearly of interest as last November the head of the Cambridge Assessment in Europe visited the school and we included time for them to meet the education ministry.
This was a very productive meeting and a great opportunity to show that we were true to our word by using our connections to help the ministry.
2. Providing connections
Having made these connections, my colleague and deputy academic director, Tatiana Popa, was invited to serve on several ministerial task forces, from “de-bureaucratisation of schools” to reform of the schools’ inspection service, sharing her insights to influence policy changes.
Since starting this work, Tatiana, who was recently named as one of ISC Research’s top 20 “edruptors” for 2023, has also been invited to work with president Maia Sandu on education reform and the European Union alignment process.
This means she has to spend time away from school for these meetings, and while that could be seen as a concern, if we are to truly deliver on our commitment to be a supportive institution then letting senior team members have time to engage with other organisations - whether government agencies or charities, perhaps - is a must.
3. Sharing knowledge
Our engagement with the ministry also led to a subsequent meeting in school with minister Dan Perciun and his senior team last month.
This meeting involved us presenting our curriculum, including how we use a mix of the International Primary Curriculum (IPC), Cambridge primary curriculum, maths and English provision, and how we balance this with a Russian/Romanian bilingual pathway for students.
We also presented our wider curriculum model, our approach to teacher retention and recruitment, our structures, our school improvement plan, how we developed leadership capacity, our CPD model and our Council of British International Schools (COBIS) accreditation linked to governance, safeguarding, ethos and global learning.
The questions came thick and fast, and it was clear that the ministerial team was fascinated, especially as they could see a potential model for the primary sector in Moldova and considerations around recruitment and retention for teachers to stay within the country.
They also asked to tour the school and it was a real honour to show them around our campus and explain how the facilities we have link to our learning.
As we walked around I was mindful that we have resources that state schools may not, so it was important to keep the conversation centred on what happens in the classroom in order to stay relevant and respectful.
4. Keeping it going
This work has all been very positive but there is plenty more to do.
We have already started to arrange future meetings, including for the minister and his team to look at our secondary and post-16 model more closely. And a meeting with COBIS CEO Colin Bell, during a visit in the spring, to discuss accreditation processes and school improvement frameworks is in the diary.
I am aware that being in a smaller nation like Moldova may make it more realistic for a school to meet with an education ministry.
Nonetheless, as schools consider their duty to play an active role in communities around the world, it is clear that through respectful outreach and a genuine willingness to engage, positive relationships can be formed that allow international schools to be truly engaged in their host country.
Rob Ford is director of Heritage International School in Chisinau, Moldova
