Currently, the number of foreign students studying in Moldova has reached 5,154 people. The number increased by 12% compared to the previous year. Foreign students already represent 8.6% of the total number of students, compared to 1% 10 years ago. About these facts wrote the economist Veaceslav Ioniță in a post on his blog.
According to him, Moldova for 13 years registered a continuous decrease in the number of students in universities and only 2 years ago it registered a slight increase. In the first year, the increase was driven by COVID-19 and the difficulties experienced by young people to go abroad. Now, however, the increase or stop of the decrease in the number of university students is almost exclusively due to the increase in the number of foreign students in Moldova.
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“The impressive increase in the number of foreign students who decided to study in Moldova is mostly due to students from Romania. In the last 10 years, the number of students from Romania increased 75 times. From 36 students in 2010/11 to 2,661 students today. Thus, every second foreign student who studies in Moldova is from Romania”, Ioniță pointed out.
This year the share of students from Romania reached 52%, compared to the share of 3% 10 years ago. Otherwordly, the students from Romania are currently more than the rest of the foreign students taken together. In fact, students from 3 countries, Romania, Israel and India constitute 85% of all foreign students. In recent years, we have been losing a lot of students from Israel, a regrettable fact, but which can be easily remedied, if there was a clear policy to promote Moldovan higher education among students from other countries.
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“If anyone thinks that politics does not influence the economy, you are sorely mistaken. In the period 2001-2010, the number of students from Romania studying in Moldova decreased 13 times, from 478 in 2000/01 to only 36 in 2010. In fact, during that period, not only students from Romania hesitated to come to us in studies, but also from other countries we have registered a continuous decrease in students. As a result, in the 2008/09 academic year, the number of foreign students in Moldova dropped to a minimum of 1.2 thousand people. Currently, Moldova registers a stable increase in the number of foreign students who study here, and this trend can be a lifesaver for higher education in Moldova”, the economist opines.