Thirteen projects of five higher educational institutions were designated winners of the second round of the Moldova Higher Education Project. The total value of the projects is €10.4 million, IPN reports.

In the launch, Minister of Education Dan Perciun said that a lot has been invested so far in children up to lyceum level. Owing to the underfinancing of higher education, a lot of students chose to study abroad. The project was thought up to enhance the attractiveness of universities in Moldova and the provided financing is the biggest state investment in higher education. The total budget is close to 800 million lei.

The project is implemented in partnership with the World Bank and centers on equipment. The Moldova State University (USM) won the largest number of projects – six projects to the total value of €3.5 million. USM pro-rector Sergiu Corlat noted that all the projects envision the modernization of the process of study and of courses, creation of new assessment templates, outfitting of laboratories.

The Technical University of Moldova (UTM) won four projects, including in agricultural sciences and veterinary medicine. UTM pro-rector Daniela Pojar said that the project intended for veterinary medicine is designed to modernize university curriculum and to outfit a number of laboratories with equipment that enables to deal with infectious diseases in animals.

The Moldova Higher Education Project aims to improve the quality, relevance and efficiency of the country’s higher education system so that Moldovans can gain the necessary skills and education to access greater opportunities and improve their lives.

The first round of the project was launched last year and 20 investment projects in four key areas to the value of €14.3 million, of seven universities and six teacher training colleges, won.

For the second round, the financial ceiling for an institution was raised from €2.15 million to €3.5 million.