More and more Romanians from the country want to continue their studies in adults to achieve qualification, but also to become an example for children. There are grandparents who go to literacy to help their grandchildren.
Several villagers from the basket ask for a second chance at the Education PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache
Hundreds of rural adults want to return to school. They demand that the program “Second chance”, a government project that debated in 2019, will be resumed as quickly as possible in 2025. It is mainly about the villagers from the poor communities, who dropped out of school at the 4th grade. They say they will necessarily return to banks to make at least eight classes. It is the minimum educational level to be able to enroll in a qualifying course. In addition, they want to be an example for their children, who begin to drop out of school.
“It’s an additional chance for these people”
In 2024, in Romania, there were 135,000 illiterates. To these are added an important percentage of functional illiterates, that is, people who, although they went through school, fail to understand what they have learned. Many adults, especially from the poor villages and the disadvantaged communities, gave up school after the primary cycle. “I am 64 years old and only four classes. That’s right. At the time of Ceausescu we were children and our parents took us and we were working on farms around the country ””confesses a local from Șupitca village, Coșula commune, Botoșani county. That this villagers are also hundreds of thousands of Romanians, especially from the rural area. The situation is difficult because a person who does not have eight classes, in Romania, does not find a job. Just black, day.
According to the County Employment Agency, to take a level I, the lowest qualification course, is needed at least eight classes. “The level of qualification is a big problem of the people who exist currently in the AJOFM records. We try to orient them to complete the primary or secondary basic education, the second chance. And those who have completed the minimum mandatory education to orient them to go through the vocational training courses ”says Anca Apăvăloaie, director of AJOFM Botosani.
Villagers at school in Șupitca in previous series PHOTO COSMIN ZAMFIRACHE
For qualifying in a better paid job it takes at least 10 classes. For all these Romanians there is the “Second Chance” program, which debuted in 2019, with different stages approved annually. This program is addressed to young people, adults, who could not complete primary and secondary education. Basically, they return to school to complete the missing studies. However, the program is concentrated and adapted to adult life. School mediator Virgil Cobzariu, from Coșula commune, Botoșani county, a poor area with disadvantaged population, says that for these communities the “Second Chance” program is a heavenly hand and the only chance to a better future. “This program is very important. It is an additional chance for these people who have left school early and an opportunity to train professionally, to find a job. For the older ones it is a chance to learn to write and read ”says Virgil Cobzariu.
“Let us also have a qualification for our glove”
Many villagers from Șupitca, one of the poorest villages in the area, with a large share of adults without eight classes, have already enrolled in school. There are almost 200 villagers eager to participate in the “second chance” in 2025. Most have four classes and hope to achieve the necessary studies for a qualification.
“When we were younger I didn’t have the opportunity to keep us from school. I was from poorer families and leaving for farms around the country with my parents. We now want to cost school. When you go to hire, they do not hire you any eight classes, nor on the street, on the street. I have four classes and I want to learn to have a qualification for our glove ”says one of the villagers gathered at the town hall to be interested in the “Second Chance” program.
In addition, they say, they hope it is a good example for young people in the community who are giving up on school more and more. “Give up the book that they have nothing to eat, they have nothing to do. And they will immediately go out like Salahori. This is how we can convince them that school is a chance for them. If he sees me with gray hair in my head at school he can think better ”says the villager.
“I look in that book like the calendar”
Another villager has enrolled in school even though he is 64 years old. He wants to learn the book to help their grandchildren in lessons, but also to push young people in the community to do the same. “I want to help my grandchildren to learn at school. And so I tell them about those who are 35-40 years old to get their hands on the book. Their children have what they learned from them. If they don’t know the book, what to teach children? If he gives him lessons at home and I look in that book like the calendar, what did I solve? If I know the book, my children will also know ”says Botosănean from Șupitca. And at the moment, in the poor villages, more and more children drop out of school before eight classes or immediately after finishing the gymnasium. “They are the same causes: a living condition, either the low salaries of the parents, or the lack of service to the parents”adds Virgil Cobzariu.
