Chisinau, 19 September /MOLDPRES/ - No contract-based students will be matriculated at the Moldovan state universities or colleges. The contract- based education will be allowed only in private institutions. This is a long-term compulsory programme that will last about 2-3 years. Statements to this effect were made today by Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin within the official launching of the education code.

Vladimir Voronin pointed out that the priority specialties that the Moldovan economy needs are going to be determined. According to the Moldovan president, this approach will allow us to considerably diminish the problem of equivocal contractual relations between students and universities, and to increase the number of students in universities, to increase the scholarships, and to offer students good accommodation conditions, and the most important to be more exigent when it comes to their professional training.

The president said that social investment concept is a very important element of the education code. He added that spending in the education sector should be focused on long-term priorities, which would guarantee the society's professional competence, would establish high education standards and a high-level technical and material assistance of the educational process.

Moldovan Education and Youth Minister Larisa Savga said that the Education Code is a very important document for the whole Moldovan educational and research system, and targets the regulation of all educational stages - starting with the pre-school one till the post-university one. The Code implies the adoption of a new structure in the sector and its objective is the integration of the Moldovan education system in the European zone. Another component resides in the modification and improvement of the system of financing the education, as well as other specific sectors, Savga added.

The Education Code, elaborated at the initiative of the Moldovan president, will be published and proposed for public debates for about a month, the proposals and the suggestions will be included by the Moldovan Education and Youth Ministry's final variant of the draft. The document is to be adopted by the Moldovan parliament by late 2008.

The launching of the Education Code took place today within the International Conference "Science and Education Policies". The event is attended by the education and science ministers and presidents of Academies of Studies from South-Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Balkans, the CIS and the Baltic countries. The conference is taking place on 19-21 September, in Chisinau. 
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