Students Are Few: Moldova to Merge State and Technical Universities

The number of students in Moldova is sharply decreasing and solving this problem requires new measures. The State and Technical Universities of Moldova announced the possibility of merging with each other. This was announced the previous day on the air of tv8 by Education Minister Dan Perciun. “We could talk about creating a new university. There is such a practice, as a rule, many of such universities get the name of the city. For example, there could be the University of Chisinau, a structure that would include these two universities or others that would like to join it. The advantages of such a structure are, of course, related to increased competitiveness,” he explained. According to Perciun, the idea to merge the two high schools comes from universities’ rectors. However, the final decision will not be made soon - before that there is a long way of internal discussions. So, the final decision on this issue can be made only next year. A reason for the need for the merger, the Minister of Education says, is the decreasing number of students. This problem is not in decline from year to year. “In 2013-2014 there were 78 thousand students, today we have 42 thousand. It means, practically half of the students are left. The number of applicants has somehow stabilized in recent years, mostly due to the pandemic, when the majority of young people remained in Moldova, and the ongoing modernization in our universities also affects the attractiveness of high schools. The maximum number of applicants entering Moldovan universities today is about 15 thousand people. In this context, we speak about the need to join our forces, because it will bring a competitive element, ensure financial stability and increase the possibility of attracting investments,” Perciun said. The absorption of smaller universities by larger ones began last year. The project was approved despite protests and dissatisfaction of high schools’ employees. The institutions left are: the State and Technical Universities of Moldova, the Academy of Economics, the Medical and Pedagogical Universities, the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts, and the Interior Ministry Academy “Stefan cel Mare”. The opposition said that the purpose of these mergers was land appropriation; the central authorities argued the decision took place for economy and cost optimization. In practice, the names of some faculties were changed, while the educational buildings remained the same.