The Embassy of Romania in Chisinau signed an agreement with the Austrian Development Agency for the implementation of the Partnerships for Quality and Relevance in Technical Professional Education in the ICT Sector Project. The project aims to modernize the capacities of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Professional Education of Moldova, IPN reports.

The accord was signed by the Ambassador of Romania Marius Lazurca and the head of the Coordinator Office for Technical Cooperation of the Austrian Embassy in Chisinau Gerhard Schaumberger. The objective of the given project is to contribute to improved quality and relevance of the professional education in the information and communication technology sector for Moldova’s economy.

“We are glad that the Romanian expertise, the result of the own efforts to do reforms can be used in a very important sector - quality assurance in the education system of the Republic of Moldova. The modernization of the capacities of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Professional Education and the introduction of new quality standards aligned with the European norms will enable the Moldovan students to have access to studies of European quality,” said Marius Lazurca.

Gerhard Schaumberger underlined the importance of promoting quality education with a view to ensuring living conditions close to the European standards. “Austria decided to continue the cooperation with Moldova in this fundamental sector that was included in the new bilateral strategy until 2020, in accordance with the National Technical Professional Education Strategy, because it is convinced that the people and the quality of their training will determine the creation of well-paid jobs, which will ultimately contribute to the rise in people’s incomes and, impolitely, to better, sustainable living conditions in Moldova,” he stated.

The 36-month Partnerships for Quality and Relevance in Technical Professional Education in the ICT Sector Project is financed by the Austrian Development Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, USAID and the National Agency of Information and Communication Technology Companies. Its budget is €694,000.