Fewer students, but same number of lecturers

More than 109,000 persons study at universities during the 2009/2010 academic year, a decrease of 4.3% compared with a year before. The decrease is due to the 22% reduction in the number of students in part-time education. At the same time, the number of students in full-time education rose by 5.4%, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics. There are 33 higher education establishments in Moldova, which include 19 state institutions, up 2 units from the previous year, and 14 private institutions. 82.1% of the total number of students study at state universities, as against 81.0% during the 2008/2009 academic year. Compared with the previous year, the number of students in private institutions fell by 9.9%, while in state institutions – by 3.0%. The number of students whose studies are financed from the state budget increased by 3.8%. 84.1% of the students are in university education, 9.8% study for the master’s degree, 1.1% are in integrated higher education, 3,7% - in higher medical and pharmaceutical education, while 1.3% - in higher preBologna education, the last year. More than 83,000 of the students or about 75% study in Romanian, 24,000 or 22% in Russian, 1,500 or 1.4% in English, while 1,000 or 0.9% in other languages, mainly French and Ukrainian. The number of university teachers remained at the same level as during 2008/2009 – 6,413. The lecturers with a scientific degree total 2,913 or 45.4% of the total number. 2,469 of them are doctors of science, while 444 are doctors habilitate. The auxiliary personnel, which include laboratory assistants, technicians and librarians, total 2,176. The number of foreign students at the start of the 2009/2010 academic year was 1,300. 40.4% of them are from Israel, 18.1% - from Ukraine, 11.2% - from Turkey, 10.8% - from Russia, 4.8% - from Syria, 3.7% from Romania, 3.4% from Bulgaria, etc.