PM discusses with rectors from Universitaria Consortium on extension of financing opportunities under PNRR

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and rectors of several universities from the Universitaria Consortium discussed on Tuesday the extension of the scope of the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) reform, and the creation of a complete professional route for upper technical education, with a budget of 338 million euros, based on which ten regional consortia will be developed and ten integrated professional campuses will be developed and equipped, Agerpres reports.

According to a press release of the Government, the consultations focused on the funding opportunities offered by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and other European sources designed to support upper technical education and the creation of digital hubs.

"Education needs adequate support and funding, solutions that are one step ahead of society's needs. We need to focus on correlating education with the labour market, improving the quality of the education process and professional training, promoting digital competencies are all elements that will contribute to the increase in the competitiveness of employees and economic performance. I am confident that through our constant dialogue we will be able to steer things in the right direction. You have a good knowledge of the field, the Government has the determination, and together we can find the right solutions," PM Nicolae Ciuca said in a press release.

The consultations were aimed at expanding the scope of the PNRR reform - creating a comprehensive vocational pathway for upper technical education, with a budget of 338 million euros so that both funds and technical upper schools benefit from these funds.

"Specifically, the goal is for the 338 million euro budget to develop ten regional consortia, to develop and equip ten integrated professional campuses and to invest in ten mixed integrated professional campuses (high schools and technical universities)," the same press release reads.

Another topic of discussion was the extension of the "support for the private sector, research, development and innovation" component of the PNRR to the major universities so that such major universities with computer science and cyber securities programmes to be able to apply for funds from the 500 million euro budget as well, instead of only the technical universities.

The Universitaria Consortium is made up of universities that bring together more than a third of the teaching staff nationwide, 42pct of the students, and more than 50pct of the Romanian research.