Academic mobility and the partnerships existing between sports universities of Moldova and Romania are a big advantage and a real opportunity for identifying the problems in the sports sector and solutions to these, Irina Volcu, secretary of the senate of the State University of Physical Education and Sport, stated in a public debate hosted by IPN.

The exchange of good practices helps to grow new generations of teachers, coaches and professional athletes who are more resolute and confident. “As regards mobility, we have partnerships with a number of universities of Romania: the Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; the University of Bacau; the Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava; the National Academy for Physical Education and Sports of Bucharest. Our students, surely by selection, go to study at these institutions for a semester. We yearly have mobility programs and they involve not only students, but also teachers. We have cooperated with these universities for many years already. The students are very impressed by this exchange of experience. The opening of new horizons makes them be more enthusiastic and they return with positive impressions that they share with their mates,” noted Irina Volcu.

Asked if counterparts from Romania also come to the State University of Physical Education and Sport, Irina Volcu said that Romanian students come to study at their university, while teachers from over the Port come to teach at their university within crossborder projects.

She noted that in general, as a result of cooperation, things in the sports sector follow a proper path, but there are yet big expectations and they are hopeful that new projects will appear after Moldova was granted the EU candidate status and they will be able to absorb those funds that will come. “We need to have efficient management in the field of sports. Things started to move on and athletes also say this, but there is always place for the better. Only through cooperation between educational institutions, the ministry and other responsible institutions, we can do nice things,” stated Irina Volcu.

The public debate entitled “Moldovan-Romanian cooperation in sports sector, opened opportunities” was staged in the framework of the project “Double integration through cooperation and information”, which is implemented by IPN News Agency with support from the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova of the Government of Romania. The content of this article does not represent the official position of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova.