A National Agency for Quality Guaranteeing in Vocational Education and Research will be set up in Moldova. Deputy Minister of Education Loretta Handrabura has told IPN that the ministry is preparing a relevant proposal. The draft is available on the ministry’s website. The agency will carry out the external assessment and accreditation of higher and vocational education institutions. It will appraise the universities based on the performance in education and research and will set their category and rating.
The agency will assess the quality of education in education institutions with a view to testing the capacity of education establishments based on quality standards and to contributing to developing the culture of quality of higher and vocational education.
“Such an agency is very necessary and should be created as soon as possible. Afterward, there will be formulated the standards and assessment and accreditation regulations. The agency will accredit both the existing teaching programs and the institutions that will have to meet the quality standards. When applying to an education institution, the people will know which institutions, and, respectively, teaching programs are accredited and recognized, not only in the country, but also abroad,” said the deputy minister. According to Loretta Handrabura, the number of higher and vocational education institutions in many countries decreased significantly after such an agency was set up. There remained only institutions that provide education of a high quality and are competitive.
An independent accreditation agency in education existed in Moldova until 2005. Afterward, its powers were transferred to a department of the Education Ministry, which was soon closed.
Moldova has 66 vocational schools, 46 colleges and 33 higher education establishments.
