The higher education reform is a new reason for dispute between representatives of the government and of the parliamentary opposition. PAS MPs, the minister of education and rectors said the reform is necessary due to the precarious demographic situation, while the opposition considers the reform lacks transparency and asks for one more year for public debates, IPN reports.
PAS MPs said the decision to merge a number of universities and research institutes will lead to the modernization of universities and to the improvement of the quality of studies. The reform will contribute to the enhancement of competitiveness of Moldovan universities at foreign level.
“The move is aimed at strengthening higher education and research and is rather late. It is an important reform covering the students, teachers and researchers. We want to ensure a modern learning process for students, to ensure cooperation between professors and researchers so that we have competitive universities that would offer the best program for our children,” PAS MP Liliana Nicolăescu-Onofrei stated in the program “Good Evening” on the public TV channel.
The rector of the State University of Moldova Igor Șarov provided figures in favor of the reform, saying that the number of students decreased considerably the last few years and the demographic situation in Moldova is not expected to improve.
“The number of students declined from 132,000 in 2007 to 52,000 in 2020. The diminution of the number of universities is inevitable. At the same time, we must place emphasis on people. We will not cope if we do not invest in teaching staff by raising salaries. The third argument is based on infrastructure aspects,” stated Igor Șarov.
For their part, members of the parliamentary opposition said they support the higher education reform, but this should not be done in a hurry. To ensure transparency, the government should stage public consultations involving all the stakeholders.
“We are not fully against this reform. But a reform in such an important area on which the country’s future depends cannot be done by an announcement made on TV by the minister. We were announced overnight. The reform hadn’t been discussed. At least a year should be offered before doing this reform and this should be launched at the beginning of the next academic year,” said MP of the PCRM-PSRM Bloc Alla Darovanaya.
“We have discussed such a reform for seven years and it is necessary for developing the higher education and research sector as the number of students has decreases. The average age of teachers and researchers is very high. Few young people came to work in the higher education and research sector the last few years. We should concentrate the resources and give these systems the chance to develop. We will offer additional funds for modernization to universities,” said Minister of Education Anatolie Topală.
The Ministry of Education and Research decided that the State University of Moldova will absorb the Public Administration Academy, the State University of Physical Education and Sport and a number of institutions. The Agrarian University will be absorbed by the Technical University. The Academy of Economic Studies will absorb the National Institute of Economic Research, while the State Teacher Training University “Ion Creangă” will absorb the Tiraspol State University and the Taraclia State University “Grigorii Țamblac”.
