MAFI presents reform project for professional education systems

The poor training of faculty and the weak link between education and research causes many of the agricultural sector’s issues. This is the conclusion reached by the task force that worked on an educational and research reform project in agriculture, which was discussed during a meeting on Monday; the meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI), scientific institutions, the Academy of Sciences, and agricultural producers’ associations, reports Info-Prim Neo. Minister of Agriculture Vasile Bumacov mentioned that the students’ professional training does correspond to the demands of the agricultural labor market. Only one third of the State Agrarian University graduates work in production. Pintilie Pirvan, MAFI department chief, pointed that the project was under development for two years, and was supervised by international experts. “We presently have too many research institutions. The reform aims at their unification. Only 3-4 scientific institutions will remain, ones related to wine making and viticulture. The selections from Balti, Pascani and Porumbeni will be merged. Additionally, there will be an institute of mechanics, and one specialized in veterinary medicine and zootechnics. Some changes must be done within the Agrarian University, i.e. some faculties merged, new ones created, in order to satisfy the needs of a good agricultural sector”, said Pirvan. The reform bill for the two sectors should have been finalized and approved by the end of this year, in order to budget the approved changes starting January 1, 2013. The opinions of the research institutions’ chairs were different. Some said that their results were good, and with more support from the State they would achieve even more. Others, for example Constantin Dadu, head of Horticultural Institute, agreed with the reform proposed by the MAFI, because real science cannot be done with little resource. President of the ASM Gheorghe Duca pointed out that the MAFI wants to merge science, the educational process, with production. “Such a reform, I believe, can be done, but there must be a structure, a center or an agency, that would coordinate these issues, including the financial repartition”, added Gheorghe Duca.