A group of 12 students from university institutions of Germany are taking part in the ninth summer school entitled “A changing society? Historical, cultural and social aspects” during August 23 - September 12. The students will have meetings with representatives of governmental institutions and civil society where they learn about the sociopolitical situation in Moldova and the history of different regions, IPN reports.
The students, who are bachelors of political, administrative and social sciences and history, will be able to interact with representatives of international institutions and will attend an intensive Romanian language course to develop and improve their communication skills. To familiarize themselves with the regions of Moldova, they will go on trips to Orheiul Vechi, Bender, Tvardita, Cernauti and other towns.
The representative of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research Igor Sharov said the themes of the summer schools reflect the problems not only of the Republic of Moldova, but also of a changing society. The young people will have very good teachers and a team that will support them in all the activities in which they are to take part.
“We are glad that the initiative is constant. We can prove that the circulation can have two directions and students from Germany can come to Moldova and vice versa. We think that Romanian cannot be learned perfectly in such a short period of time, but with such good teachers you can surely make progress,” said Vasile Dumbrava, vice president of the Moldova-Institut-Leipzig (MIL).
Jozef Sallanz, lecturer at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), said the DAAD provides many possibilities, such as scholarships and interpretation for students who want to study in Germany. A favorable period from political viewpoint was chosen for the current summer school given that many political changes took place and will yet take place in Moldova.
Theresa Kocher studies social and cultural sciences and economy in Germany. She said she came to Moldova’s not for the first time, but every time is very happy to be here. She noted she wants to learn more about the country, the people, culture and language while she is here.
Tilman Schaechtele studied the Romanian language in Romania, where he was involved in volunteering work for a year. He said he liked Romania a lot and then came to Moldova because they speak the same language here. He also said the Republic of Moldova is an interesting country, also because they speak both Romanian and Russian here.
The Moldovan-German summer school is financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the program “Go east-sommerschulen” of the DAAD and was initiated by the president of the Moldova-Institut Leipzig, professor and academician Klaus Bachmann in 2009. The goal of the program is to build a bridge between young people from the two states and to increase the interest of German students in Moldova and the Romanian language.
