SCHOLARSHIPS FOR IT TRAINING PROGRAMS IN THE BALTI AND CAHUL REGIONS VIA THE “OPTIM” PROJECT

Human resources are the most important capital of the Republic of Moldova and the only one that can propel the country among the prosperous states with a high quality of life index. In this sense, the information technology (IT) industry offers all the possibilities and conditions for talent, potential, and knowledge to be maximized by its citizens to their fullest potential, for their own interest and for the benefit of the community by creating high value-added products and services.

Moldova’s economic development remains focused on Chisinau with almost all successful IT companies being located in the capital. Currently, only a small number of relatively small companies operate in the regions of the country, including Balti, Cahul and Comrat. According to the results of the findings of the Feasibility Study conducted within the Tekwill project, in the Balti region, there are 26 IT companies (188 employees), in Cahul there are six companies (16 employees) and in Comrat there are eight companies (12 employees). These local companies face an acute shortage of human resources, this constraint significantly limits their growth and the possibility to strengthen their competitiveness.

In order to extend the development opportunities in these regions and to create the premises for connecting the talent and potential of human capital with the possibilities offered by the local IT companies, the “Tekwill” project in partnership with the “Optim” project launches a Scholarship Program in IT.

This initiative is carried out in the Balti and Cahul regions with the support of the Swiss Cooperation Office within the project “Optim – Opportunities through Technologies and Innovation in Moldova” and implemented by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova as well as with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Sweden in the “Tekwill” project.

The program offers training in the field of web development and will run from April to July 2020. The courses will last four months for the Cahul region and three months for the Balti region. The web development training will involve building, creating and maintaining websites. In a broad sense, it includes the design, content publishing, programming, and data management aspects. The term web developer usually refers to the non-design, writing of the markups and the code required to operate a site. Web developers can specialize in front-end, back-end, and full-stack development.

The courses will be delivered by experienced mentors, according to training programs specially designed and adjusted to current industry standards. In order to ensure the participation within the scholarship program and to confirm the participants’ commitment, the scholarships will cover 70% of the training cost while the beneficiaries will come with a contribution in the amount of 1,500 lei. The eligible candidates for the training programs are at least 17 years old or above, who have graduated high school or completed special secondary education, and have an intention to work within the IT field.