Draft on reformation of higher education institutions from Moldova put to public consultations

Chisinau, 1 July /MOLDPRES/ - The draft which provides for the reformation of the higher education institutions has been put to public consultations. Education and Research Minister Anatolie Topala today made statements to this effect. He noted that, following the merger, 11 out of those 16 universities would continue their academic work.  

At a news conference, the minister said that, on the next period, the institution’s representatives are to discuss with all sides involved in the reformation process. ‘’There have been discussions on the need to modernize the education institutions since 2015. The reform is necessary, in order to provide young people with quality education and to achieve concentration of the human and financial resources in a single place. We want to earmark money for the research process, not for the administration one,’’ Anatolie Topala said.    

According to the official, the reform will allow the higher education institutions to go up in the ranking of international universities. ‘’The teams of researchers will be bigger; thus, there will be more chances of winning projects. At the same time, the students will get a diploma which is much more appreciated internationally. We are set to create better conditions, laboratories endowed with advanced technology and to have modernized hostels. The teachers will benefit from better working conditions and higher salaries,’’ Anatolie Topala stressed.   

Within the reform, the ministry will allocate 700 million lei (about 35 million euros), of which 500 million lei will be provided to the universities as grant for their modernization.

According to the Education and Research Ministry, in the last five years, the number of students matriculated in Moldova’s universities decreased from 92,000 to 59,000 young people.