Moldova’s higher education system will benefit significantly from a $ 39.4 million credit for the Higher Education Project, approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. The project aims to improve the quality, relevance and efficiency of the country’s higher education system so that Moldovans can gain the necessary skills and education to access greater opportunities and improve their lives, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the World Bank Office in Moldova.

Anna Akhalkatsi, World Bank Country Manager for Moldova, said that Moldova’s higher education system is insufficiently geared at present towards labor market demand. “The biggest challenges facing firms are inadequately skilled and undermotivated workers. The Higher Education Project will help Moldovans acquire the knowledge and skills they need to find good jobs at home instead of leaving for a better life abroad, and will help employers hire the skilled workers needed to grow their businesses,” stated Anna Akhalkatsi.

The Higher Education Project supports the government’s efforts to tackle the continued decline in the number of tertiary level students and better prepare young people for the demands of a rapidly changing labor market. The project is aligned with the goals of the country’s National Development Strategy – Moldova 2020, which emphasizes the importance of adjusting Moldova’s education system to the needs of the labor market.

Implemented over a period of five years, the project will comprise systemic interventions in higher education quality, financing and management, including a program that selected universities and pedagogical colleges will use to improve learning outcomes in engineering, information technologies, health (medicine) and pedagogy.

Since Moldova joined the World Bank in 1992, over $1 billion has been allocated to more than 60 operations in the country.