The recent international accreditation of five higher education institutions in Moldova represents an additional recognition of the quality of studies and compliance with European education standards, says Nadejda Velișco, general secretary of the Ministry of Education and Research.

Accreditation has been granted for a period of five years to the State University of Moldova, the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, the State University Alecu Russo from Balti, the State University Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu from Cahul, and the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts.

“They are criteria related to European standards for ensuring the quality of education approved in Yerevan in 2015. This includes management matters, the quality of the academic staff, the quality of programs, and internationalization of higher education. All accredited institutions are participants in an ERASMUS + project, co-financed by the European Commission. The project provided funding for this international accreditation. In practical terms, this accreditation means an additional assurance of recognition of the diplomas issued by these institutions. This means that the diplomas of these institutions are compatible with those of the European Union”, Nadejda Velișco in an interview with Radio Moldova.

Nadejda Velișco added that she hopes the accreditation will convince future students to choose Moldovan universities.

“All the reports of the five Moldovan institutions will be placed in the database of the European network. The reports are in English and, thus, all European institutions can view the activity of Moldovan universities. They can see what possibilities these universities offer and thus the recognition of diplomas takes place much more easily. We very much want this accreditation to be an additional argument that the university education system Moldova is as competitive as the one in the European Union, even if we still have to make efforts to implement the principles of the Bologna process”, said Nadejda Velișco.

In 2019, the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy obtained international accreditation from the Astana-based Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR).