The Ministry of Education and Research (MEC) will incentivize universities with high graduate employment rate.
Ministry head Dan Perciun said this at a press conference on Tuesday while presenting a plan of measures for the development of the education system that the ministry plans to implement. Part of the MEC's goals is related to increasing the number of university students in the country, as well as equipping and renovating university halls, buildings and dormitories. The investments will amount to about 500 million lei. The goal is to increase the link between the education programs and the demands of the labor market, as well as to increase the number of employed university graduates - the ministry plans to allocate additional financing to the universities for the employment of their students. At the same time, MEC proposes to increase the number of foreign students by 50% and to promote local universities at the international level under the common brand of the country. At the same time, a set of measures will be implemented to increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession in the country. MEC has set a goal to increase the number of young teachers in the education system to 500 per year, as well as to provide professional development opportunities for thousands of teachers who are already working in the system. To improve the quality of teacher training, the National Institute for Educational Leadership, a structure that will manage a national network of 1,000 mentors selected from among the best teachers, will soon be established. At least 3,000 general education teachers will be able to take free professional training and retraining courses. In order to raise the prestige of the teaching profession, it is planned to raise scholarships for students of pedagogical faculties to the minimum wage in the economy. At the same time, admission to pedagogical faculties will be open only for young people with an average academic score above 7. MEC plans to provide sanitary blocks for at least 90% of educational institutions in the country; to equip 300 educational institutions with computers, digital laboratories and other equipment; to purchase at least 100 units of transport for the transportation of students, etc. It is also planned to stimulate the development of dual education. Vocational schools, centers of excellence and colleges will be financed on the basis of performance indicators, including employment rates. At the same time, it is planned to invest at least 50 million lei in equipping and renovating the institutions involved in the dual education system. Referring to the pre-school education, Dan Perciun said that conditions will be created to open at least 3,000 new places in public kindergartens. In the near future, a new formula of financing per child will be approved, while the number of staff will be revised so as to ensure the hiring of specialists - speech therapists, psychologists, etc. - needed by pre-school institutions. Kindergartens will be entitled to switch to financial self-management. //01.08.2023 - InfoMarket.
