The Minister of Education, Daniel David, is currently visiting the US, where he is discussing with the university graduates there and the Romanian diaspora.

He aims to better understand their educational needs and create a „bidirectional” relationship, with a view to creating a mutual support relationship in education and research, the Ministry of Education informed on Sunday on Facebook.

The meetings are with Romanian communities in areas close to Chicago, North Carolina and Washington, and in May of this year, also the New York area.

„On the same occasion, the minister has also planned other activities in North Carolina and Washington that are related to education (such as visits to American schools/universities) and research (visits to American universities), including meetings with American and international institutions/organizations related to education/research policies,” the same source reports.

Daniel David stated that he started many of these collaborations as rector of the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (UBB).

„This visit was initiated last year, before I became minister, in relation to one of the oldest and most successful American public universities, namely the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). In this complicated international context, and this time as a minister, I am now expanding these relations to a more general level, from which both the Romanian diaspora (not only the UBB alumni) and the educational and research system in our country can benefit, including through strengthening our relations with the USA,” the minister said.

Saturday’s discussions, in the North Carolina area, focused on the educational needs of the graduates, mentioning the availability of the Ministry of Education and Research to support them, including through online access to educational resources created by the ministry, as well as through the programmes of the Department for Romanians Everywhere.

„Finally, we discussed how we can strengthen the connection between the country and the Romanian diaspora in the USA, in order to help each other, in these complicated international times. During this event, we were also joined by graduates of the ‘Executive Education – Innovation’ programme, organized by the University of North Carolina and UBB, the discussions generating new opportunities for collaboration between Romania and the USA,” the minister of education stated.

AGERPRES