Teacher crisis in Moldova: Over 1,500 school positions vacant this year
The 2025-2026 school year is set to start with a shortage of over 1,500 teachers in public general education institutions, highlighting a concerning trend of declining teacher numbers in schools across the Republic of Moldova. Mathematics is the subject that is most severely impacted by this shortage.
According to data from the Ministry of Education and Research (MEC), there are currently 1,540 vacant full-time teaching positions (over 13.5/14 hours per week). This figure represents a 16% decrease from 2024, when there were 1,833 vacancies, and a 25% decrease from 2023, when 2,041 positions were unfilled.
The teaching staff crisis is particularly pronounced in subjects such as Mathematics, Special Psychopedagogy, Physics, Romanian Language and Literature, Physical Education, and Music, as noted by MEC representatives in an interview with Teleradio-Moldova.
Vacancies are distributed unevenly across the country, with urban schools facing the most shortages—855 positions, which accounts for 55.5% of the total vacancies. The Chisinau municipality has the highest number of unfilled positions at 416, followed by Comrat with 101 and districts such as Hâncești (97), Nisporeni (83), Ungheni (78), Anenii Noi (63), Cantemir (52), and Ialoveni (44).
To address the teacher shortage, the MEC launched a national competition in June aimed at placing graduates from Pedagogy programs into vacant teaching positions. Following this competition, approximately 375 graduates from universities and pedagogical colleges were successfully placed in schools, which is still insufficient to meet the needs of the education system.
