The students in Moldova will learn to assemble and program robots. The pilot-project Roboclub, launched on March 25, is intended for fourth-twelfth graders and includes extra-curricular activities that will be performed at the “Artico” Center for Children and Youth, the Chisinau Polytechnic College and the Moldovan-Turkish Lyceum, IPN reports.

In the launch of the project, Minister of Education Maia Sandu said it is an important step towards developing information technology. If the pilot phase is successful, the project will be extended at national level so that more and more students have access to it.

USAID Moldova senior project management specialist Sergiu Botezatu said the project is designed to give a fresh impetus to technology in Moldova and welcomes the robots in Moldova. He voiced hope that the project will become national. At the beginning, the teachers doubted that the initiative will take roots, but the number of those who want to become involved is increasing.

Deputy ICT Minister Vitalie Tarlev said that together with the competent institutions, including the Ministry of Education, they made effort to order the Government’s work in this respect by a strategy for developing information society.

The project Roboclub is implemented by the USAID-funded Competitiveness Enhancement and Enterprise Development Project (CEED II), the National Association of Private ICT Companies, the Estonian NGO Robootika, and the “Artico” Center for Children and Youth, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.

The USAID CEED II project will finance the purchase of the first sets of robots for three institutions and the training of teachers. On March 26 and 27, expert Heilo Altin, of Robootika, will give free training seminars to trainers. In the project launch, he made a presentation of the robots included in the program and explained the importance of robotized technology in the daily life. He said there are over 130 robotic clubs in Estonia.