The financial autonomy of Moldovan state universities will be implemented

The financial autonomy of the state universities will be implemented gradually. Over the next two years, there will be stimulated the formula of financing per student, according to education form coefficients, degrees and areas. The approved formula is to cover the real professional training costs per student, which differ from area to area, Info-Prim Neo reports.

Deputy Minister of Education Loretta Handrabura told a news conference that the implementation of university financial autonomy will bring major benefits. The first step will be taken on January 1, 2013. The financing will be done through the bank accounts of universities, not through the financing plans and treasury accounts, as until now. At the same time, money from the state budget will be allocated not for separate expenses, but for a total expenditure for educational services for training staff.

Starting with the 2013- 2014 academic year, there will be allocated an extra 60 million lei for paying bonuses to student awards. The total sum will be 320 million lei. Three areas of study – teacher training, agronomy and medicine - will get awards with bonuses of 20% during the first years and with bonuses of another 20% during the last year of study.

Loretta Handrabura stated that the financial autonomy of universities will not lead to the diminution of teachers’ salaries. They will be calculated depending on the training level of the teachers and their degrees, plus bonuses and increments. The minimum salary offered by the state will be 2,700 lei.

The deputy minister also said that the investments in training a student in an institution of the Education Ministry, made from the state budget, are much higher than the tuition fees. In 2011, the state allocated 15,800 lei for the training of a student, while the tuition fees vary between 3,000 lei and 9,000 lei.

In two years of the implementation of financial autonomy, there will be created two mandatory inspection bodies: the Ethics Commission and the Council for Monitoring the Management of State Budget Allocations. The Ethics Commission will propose relegating the rectors if there are identified unjustified expenses.

Adapted from Moldpres