Education in Moldova


Education in Moldova is currently the responsibility of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research.

History

In 1990, the average Moldovan spent six years in school, and only 30% of people older than 15 had completed secondary education. After the end of Soviet rule, reforms were established that required nationals to receive a basic education over 10 years, followed by enrollment in a technical school or an institution of higher learning.

Grading conventions

The lowest grade in the Moldovan educational system is 1, the highest is 10. To pass a course, a subject, or an exam, the student must obtain a mark of 5 or above.

Types of education

As of 2007-2008 academic year, Moldova had ten types of primary and secondary schools:
In Moldova, there are 16 state and 15 private institutions of higher education, with a total of 126,100 students, including 104,300 in the state institutions, and 21,700 in the private ones. The number of students per 10,000 inhabitants in Moldova has been constantly growing since the collapse of the Soviet Union, reaching 217 in 2000-2001, and 351 in 2005-2006.
There are 6,200 faculty members in Moldova's universities, institutes and academies. Out of these, only 2,700 hold PhD degrees, including 358 that also hold the highest academic degree:
Habilitation. Moldovan faculty members usually teach around 20 hours per week.
52.5% of students major in economics, law, social sciences, or in some fields that the Moldovan Ministry of Education calls on its website "professional formation fields", 18.4% study engineering and architecture, 16.0% - education. There are a total of 90 specialities offered.
101,100 students, or 80.2%, pay for their studies. The state is trying to increase the number of places offered free of charge when students are admitted to public universities: there were 5,085 in 2001, 5,290 in 2002, 5,628 in 2003, 6,354 in 2004, 7,048 in 2005, 7,835 in 2006, but this rate is lower than the rate of increase in the total number of places. 15% of the free of charge places are reserved, and distributed to candidates from low-income families. In an effort to support them, the state gives scholarships to 70% of students who occupy the free of charge places, i.e. to 14.4% of the total number of students. As of January 1, 2006, these scholarships are in three categories: 210, 230, or 270 Moldovan lei per month, i.e. 12, 14, or 16 euros per month respectively.
78.4% of students study in Romanian, roughly corresponding to its respective linguistic group, while 19.5% study in Russian. Foreign languages became increasingly less popular in recent years: 1.8% studied in English or French during the 2010-2011 schoolyear, compared to 3.2% in 2006.
The National Council on Accreditation and Attestation is an organization that approves the examination programs for doctoral students, confers scientific degrees, and scientific and pedagogical ranks. The Council publishes online all PhD theses that are elaborated and defended in Moldova.

Public universities

  1. State University of Moldova, Chişinău, str. Mateevici, 60, blocul 3
  2. Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, Chişinău, str. Bănulescu Bodoni, 51
  3. Nicolae Testemiţanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Chişinău, bd. Ştefan cel Mare, 165
  4. Technical University of Moldova, Chişinău, bd. Ştefan cel Mare, 168
  5. Agricultural State University of Moldova, Chişinău, str. Mirceşti, 44
  6. Ion Creangă Pedagogical State University, Chişinău, str. I. Creangă, 1
  7. Ştefan cel Mare Police Academy, Chişinău, str. Gh. Asachi, 21
  8. Alexandru cel Bun Military Academy, Chişinău, str Haltei 21
  9. National Institute of Physical Education and Sport, Chişinău, str. A. Doga, 24/1
  10. Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts, Chişinău, str. Mateevici, 87
  11. International Relations Institute of Moldova, Chişinău, str. Puşkin 54
  12. Alecu Russo State University, Bălţi, str. Puşkin, 38
  13. Tiraspol State University , Chişinău, str. Iablocikin, 5
  14. Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu State University, Cahul, Piaţa Independenţei, 1
  15. Comrat State University, Comrat, str. Galaţan, 17
  16. Taraclia State University, Taraclia, str. Păcii 4

    Private universities

  17. Universitatea Liberă Internaţională din Moldova, Chişinău, str. Vlaicu Pîrcălab 52
  18. Universitatea Cooperatist-Comercială din Moldova, Chişinău, bd. Gagarin, 8
  19. Imi-Nova International Management Institute, Chişinău
  20. Universitatea de Studii Politice și Economice Europene „Constantin Stere”, Chişinău, bd. Ștefan cel Mare și Sfînt nr.200
  21. Universitatea de Studii Europene din Moldova, Chişinău, str. Iablocichin 2/1
  22. Universitatea de Studii Aplicate din Moldova, Chişinău, bd. Ştefan cel Mare 200, bir. 109
  23. Universitatea "Şcoala Antropologică Superioară", Chişinău, str. Zimbrului 10 "A"
  24. Institutul Umanistic Contemporan, Chişinău, str. Albişoara 78/4
  25. Academia de Transporturi, Informatică şi Comunicaţii, Chişinău, str. Munceşti 121a
  26. Universitatea "Perspectiva - INT", Chişinău, str. Alba Iulia, 75
  27. Universitatea Slavonă, Chişinău, str. Florilor 28/1
  28. Institutul Nistrean de Economie şi Drept, Bălți, str. Ştefan cel Mare 82
  29. Filiala instituţiei nestatale de învăţămînt "Балтийский Институт Экологии, Политики и Права" din Moldova, Bălți, str. Sorocii 21
  30. Universitatea Real-Umanistică din Cahul, Cahul, str. Victoriei 16

    The curriculum

At present, the graduates get two types of diplomas: one type for fulfilling the curriculum and the Licence examination, and a second type, if in addition they write a Licence Diploma paper.
The Ministry of Education defines its strategic objective for higher education to be "the integration into the European common space for higher education, and active participation in its construction". In 2005 Moldova signed the commitment to implement the Bologna process agreements. In view of this, several changes have been operated since:
The Ministry of Education's declared objectives in taking these actions are:
The quality of the higher education has been declared a :wikt:priority|priority. In this context, a prime priority is declared to the implementation of the National Framework of Qualifications for Professional Formation, which will determine the "educational finalities and competences", the "compulsory minimum of realization in higher education", and will somehow facilitate the rise in "the quality of the preparation of graduates for the national economy", and will also somehow contribute to "ensuring the continuous rise of the quality of education".
Universities and colleges are told to start creating own "systems of internal management of quality", with the aim of "organizing the internal process of ensuring the quality, in accordance with national standards, and the demands of external evaluation systems".

Citations