The higher education reform is inevitable. The number of students going to universities in Moldova declined from 92,000 in 2015 to 52,000 in 2020, while the number of public universities remained high. We need fewer universities that would yet meet the international requirements, rector of the State University of Moldova Igor Sharov, ex-minister of education, sated in a workshop titled “Good practices in higher education in the European Union. Opportunities for young people in the Republic of Moldova”, IPN reports. 

The former minister noted that the number of students admitted to Moldovan universities last year rose compared with the previous years and this jump was due to the fact that the Baccalaureate exams were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This way, many of the lyceum graduates who wanted to continue their studies in Romania or in other EU member states could not do this without a Baccalaureate diploma.

Igor Șarov informed that the procedure for ensuring the mutual recognition of diplomas of study issued in the Republic of Moldova and Romania is close to being completed.

The workshop was staged by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms with support from the German Foundation “Hanns Seidel”.