MOLDOVA

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INSTITUTIONAL SETTING

As mentioned previously, the academic field of public administration is a new area of concern in Moldova. The need to set up and develop such programs was not defined prior to mid-1993, when the Academy of Public Administration was created. Thus, there are currently no other institutions to provide academic degree programs in public administration in the country. One can find a variety of training activities related to governance and professional practice in public administration, but they are short-term, tailor-made courses provided to central, regional and local authorities within different projects financed by international organisations (e.g., Tasics, USAID, EURASIA, the Soros Foundation). In addition, there are courses included in the curricula of law, history and other departments of state and private universities in Moldova. The only provider of academic degree programs in the field, however, is the Academy of Public Administration, largely due to the fact that higher education institutions have been slow in changing the Soviet-era style of organising their training activities and curricula. Only several years ago, even political science in the Western sense of the notion was given too little attention, let alone public administration.

1. Overview of the Type of Institution

Over six years, the Academy of Public Administration has accumulated expertise and experience in the field of training and upgrading public servants, and in areas of central and local public administration theory, practice and research. The academy has taken concrete measures to develop and strengthen the didactic-methodical basis of the institution and has built a faculty responding to contemporary requirements and needs. The training process within the academy currently includes four levels:

• university graduate level training (five years);
• post-graduate full-time (two years) and part-time (three years) training;
• doctoral full-time (three years) and part-time (four years) programs;
• short-term vocational training courses (one to four weeks).

Graduate and post-graduate programs involve seven departments:

• Public Administration;
• Management;
• International Relations;
• Juridical Sciences;
• Modern Languages;
• Social-Classical Sciences;
• Information Systems.

Graduate and post-graduate curricula were designed by the academy’s faculty in consultation with experts from Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and the USA, among others, and are directed towards preparing managers versed in new public administration principles and considering the major interests of governed communities. Training programs and courses are in accordance with the current desiderata of Moldova and are based on the experience of public administration bodies from advanced countries and conceptual principles of prestigious training institutions in the field (e.g., EIAP from Maastricht, CNFPT from France, INA from Portugal, CSC from Great Britain, PMI of the University of Brussels, etc.)

Applied and conceptual training are based on subjects such as history, public administration theory and practice, jurisprudence, economics, social-classical sciences, international relations theory and practice, and public and private management. After studying information systems and modern languages, graduates are able to perform their work utilising publications and electronic resources from other countries.

To date, five hundred and seventeen persons have graduated from the academy, of whom 47.1% participated in the full-time program, and 52.9% of who participated in the part-time program. Specialisations were as follows:

• Public Administration: 298 persons;
• Management: 77 persons;
• International Relations: 142 persons.

The academy has provided urgently needed civil servants to public service bodies. Thus, one hundred and ninety-two graduates from the academy are current employed in the central administration and three hundred and twenty-five in local public authorities. In academic year 1997/1998, a graduate program in public administration was opened at the academy. At the moment the academy enrolls one hundred and sixty-four university students.

For a list of programs in Public Administration, Please, see Annex 1.

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