On Monday, 6 July, Ungheni District Council announced the opening of the second session of the “Prietenia” (Friendship) camp — a “day camp” for children in the district. According to the Council’s official page, the district chair, Dionisie Ternovschi, attended the ceremony, greeting the children and challenging them to learn the anthem of the Republic of Moldova by the end of the session.
Beyond the butterflies and colourful lettering of the decor, the programme has a skeleton of figures that the announcements don’t put up front but that matters to any parent: how much it costs, how many children fit and who pays.
How much the district allocates and for how many children
The answers are in a District Council decision from 7 May. For the children’s summer holiday in 2026, the district allocated 1.26 million lei from its own budget. The money covers 400 places, split across two locations and four sessions of 10 days each:
- at the Ungheni Education Centre, in the town — three sessions of 100 children each (300 places);
- at the “Elada” Theoretical Lyceum in Măcărești — one session of 100 children.
This session is the second of the three in Ungheni. A camp voucher costs 3,150 lei for the 10 days — a rate aligned with the one set nationally for the day camp (between 315 and 479 lei per day, depending on the camp).
Who goes free and what everyone else pays
This is where the stakes lie for families. For children aged 7-16 in the priority categories, the voucher is free — paid in full from the budget. The decision lists who falls into this category: children in difficulty, those left without parental care, from disadvantaged or large families, children with at least one family member who has a disability, those who have achieved results at olympiads, children of war veterans, children from Ukraine affected by the conflict, Roma children or those in services for victims of domestic violence.
For the remaining vouchers, the district’s decision provides for a payment of 15% of the price — that is, around 472 lei for the 10 days. Nationally, the Government established that at least a quarter of vouchers are granted free to children in difficulty.
The opening of a day-camp session, in Ungheni district. Photo: Ungheni District Council / Facebook.
Where the money from a voucher goes
The 3,150 lei per child is not about fun alone. It pays for the camp team — a head, a nurse, educators, a physical-education instructor, a club leader — as well as food, at 95 lei per day per child, plus medicines, sports equipment and cultural and artistic activities. It is, in effect, a small institutional budget for each session of 100 children.
Why it matters now
The day camp has become the main form of organised holiday the district still offers children. In February, the District Council liquidated the “Codreanca” holiday camp, the district’s former residential camp. Without it, the subsidised alternative remains this day camp, where the child arrives in the morning and goes home in the evening.
With a population on the order of 11,000-12,000 school-age children in the district, the 400 places cover a small part — all the more reason for parents to inquire in good time. Applications, the priority conditions and the calendar of the remaining sessions are handled by the Ungheni Education Directorate, which organises the procurement and the camps; that is where available places and the concrete enrolment steps can be found.