Minister Perciun: "We need to make our universities more attractive"
The Moldovan Ministry of Education and Research is aiming to raise the number of high school graduates who stay in the country to study to 75%, according to Minister Dan Perciun.
Speaking on the "Public Space" radio show, Perciun said that half of Moldova's high school graduates currently leave the country to study.
To encourage them to stay home, Perciun said that it is necessary to make studies and university programs more attractive.
"We want to increase the number of people who choose to study in Moldova. It depends a lot on the prestige of our universities, the quality of the education they offer, their reputation, and the study conditions they can provide. We need to address all of these aspects," Perciun said.
The Ministry of Education has been working in partnership with the World Bank on a project to modernise universities for several years. The project has allocated around €25 million to improve study conditions, equip laboratories, and develop new programs that could convince some students to return to Moldova to study.
According to an analysis by economic expert Veaceslav Ioniță, Moldova has about 90,000 students. Of these, over 50,000 are studying in Moldova, while about 35,000 are studying abroad.
Ioniță said that there is a trend of declining student numbers in Moldova and increasing numbers of students choosing to study abroad.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
