Moldovan Higher Education
Right now, there are about 100.000 students enrolled in 16 state universities in Moldova. About 25.000 students study in private universities. Most of the Moldovan students study on their own expenses, while around 5 percent of students in public universities study on a state scholarship.
Since the independence of Moldova there has been a high increase in the student population. In the nineties the number of students enrolled in public and private education has almost doubled. Whilst the number of students increased rapidly public funding did not. Therefore the financial means are not sufficient for the entire student population. The ministry of education tries to tackle this imbalance by deciding on how many students can enroll into higher education as well as on the number of students receiving a scholarship.
Although finances are lacking, the Moldovan authorities show a strong will to improve the quality of higher education and quantity of students enrolled in higher education. There is a special urge to join European processes, such as the Bologna Process. However, to join this process, reforms of Moldovan higher education seem necessary. One of the core values (as also stated in the Bologna communiqué) is the involvement of stakeholder in higher education policy making.
This group of stakeholders should include student organisations, rector’s conferences and state organisations. Moldova seems to be in a developing stage regarding the involvement of stakeholders. The will to join the Bologna Process has led to the appointment of Bologna coordinators at every state university and an increase in student participation on the national level. In September 2004 the so-called SAM has been established. This group of students has the goal of forming a national student organisation in Moldova.
A short history of the Moldovan student movement
Moldova has a long tradition in state-steered student organizations. Student trade unions have been established at every university in Moldova. These unions were formed with an aim to provide transport discounts to student members, administer the student accommodation and provide scholarships. However today they are not involved in the accommodation issues anymore, don't provide scholarships and only provide small discounts in transport on a limited basis.
The universities also inhabit their own student organizations. There are university senates, student leagues and student committees, which have different structures all over the public higher education sector. Typically, these student organizations are project based and have a focus on social and cultural events. There is no official regulation for these organizations. Moreover, there is no national or provincial body connecting these local organizations.
However, there was the construction of a national body of student organizations in August 2000. This organization, carrying the name of NASYM (National Association of Students and Youth in Moldova) was formed by individuals as an NGO. The first activities of NASYM were round tables and seminars at different faculties to promote the organization and attract members. The main issues that NASYM wanted to address were lack of information and lack of scholarships. Besides, NASYM focused on corruption in the medical care system and insurance for students, accommodation and inequality between urban and rural areas of the country.
Due to the success of the organization, it absorbed many local organizations and started to become very interesting for political parties and private companies. This opportunity was taken and NASYM decided to give services to students in the form of a so-called student card. Besides, NASYM started organizing miss university elections throughout Moldova. Lastly, NASYM started to make contracts with private companies to give scholarships to talented students. These activities had strong leadership from NASYM’s current and past president.
In September 2004 SAM came in to being. This group split off from NASYM (The National Association of Student and Youth in Moldova) and mainly consists of former NASYM department heads and University Senate and Student Senate students. The group split off for a variety of reasons, but mainly because of the lack of democracy and authoritarian leadership within NASYM. At the moment there are around 15-25 students in the coordinating body of establishing a new national student organization. In December 2004 SAM achieved the formal NGO-status.
At the moment SAM is busy establishing sound structures and involving student representatives and activists from as much universities as possible. By creating SAM, they wish to represent all students towards the Ministry and want to be a platform for discussion and debates on both Higher Education issues and wider societal and socio-cultural developments. SAM has the support of the vice-Minister for Higher Education and the rectors of the 2 biggest universities in Chisinau, Moldova State University and the Academy of Economics.
Formal student representation in Moldova
When it comes to student representation in Moldova there is no national regulation on participation of students within the higher education governance system. Each Senate in the public Universities decides on what percentage of students will be represented within the University Senate or the Faculty Council and how they will be elected or appointed. However the vast majority of the Universities use a system as was also used in Soviet time. A group ‘Chief’ or ‘Leader’ is elected from an academic group (25-30 students).
Once approved by the Dean all group leaders have regular Chief Meetings. At the Chief Meetings they decide who of them will represent students at the Faculty Council. Each Faculty also decides who will represent them at the University Senate. The group leaders’ tasks, among others, are to inform the faculty-administration of the possible problems within the group and registration of attendance. Moreover, the students in the Faculty and University Council have an advisory role in the policy making of the University and can present their views towards administration and staff.
The Student Senates constitute an important part of SAM. Student Senates are a parallel structure to the University Senate. E.g. at MSU they involve around 90 students from all faculties. Students in these Senates are elected from the General Assembly of group chiefs at the Faculty Level. Students Senates don’t have any formal powers towards the administration but do function as an important reference for the students in the University Council. At the moment 2 of these Senates have been established at 2 of the biggest Higher Education Institutions in Moldova, namely Moldova State University and the Academy of Economics.
Some of the pitfalls of the Student Senates are that they have to be approved by the Rector and the University Senate and that an employee from the University has to be present at their meetings and that there are some problems with the level of democracy in electing the students to the Senate. SAM underscores these concerns and is motivated to make the Senates open to all students, more independent from the administration and they also want to introduce true democratic procedures. The aim of SAM is to establish Student Senates at all universities, although they foresee problems with the Rectors’ willingness at some universities. The Ministry has no influence in these dealings whatsoever, because it falls within the scope of the university’s autonomy.
Apart from the more formal student senate structure, SAM also involves department heads from the former NASYM. The heads of the socio-cultural and political department both want to work under the NSOM-umbrella in order to organize projects for students and youth in the field of general societal issues, like: discrimination, drugs, environmental pollution, and Transdniestrian student exchange.