Moldova aims to become education hub for foreign students
Moldova has the potential to become an education exporter, with the number of foreign students in the country increasing for the second year in a row, education experts say.
To retain these students, universities need to be competitive and offer modern programs, experts say.
The Ministry of Education and Research has announced that institutions of higher education that develop programs to attract foreign students will receive additional funding from the state.
At the State University of Moldova, the number of foreign students has increased for the second year in a row, according to rector Igor Șarov. He said that 350 foreign students have been admitted so far, and over 100 applications are being processed.
“Internationalisation at the State University of Moldova is going well this year as well. In fact, the admission process for foreign students continues throughout the year. We receive daily confirmations from the Ministry of Education of the applications that are being checked for compliance,” Șarov said.
Foreign students come from Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Syria. They choose a variety of programs, including economics, mathematics, and less often pedagogy.
Education expert Anatol Gremalschi said that Moldova needs to become an education exporter, especially in light of the country's accession to the European Union.
“Our universities need to be competitive. We cannot force a student or graduate to stay at a university in Moldova if they don't think the university is competitive. We have an obstacle, which we must admit, in the form of teaching staff of a certain age who don't speak English or French very well. Our education will only become international when more training programs are offered in international languages,” Gremalschi said.
Attracting students and modernising universities are key objectives for the authorities. Minister of Education and Research Dan Perciun said that institutions of higher education in Moldova that attract more foreign students and develop programs in multiple languages will receive additional funding from the state.
“We will stimulate internationalisation. Universities with a higher proportion of teachers who speak an international language, especially English and French at the B2 or C1 level, will receive a lot of resources from the state. The same goes for universities with more programs in English. And universities that are more successful in attracting foreign students, that is, have a higher proportion of foreign students, will also benefit from additional resources,” Perciun said.
According to an analysis by economic expert Veaceslav Ioniță, every tenth student in Moldova is from outside the country, mostly from Romania, Israel, and India. In his opinion, by attracting foreign students, universities in Moldova can survive, as the number of students has decreased by about 3,000 in the past year.
According to official data, there are over 50,000 students in the higher education system in Moldova, of which about 5,000 are from other countries.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
