Less than half of Romanian students are able to properly understand basic scientific concepts, according to a UNICEF report based on the discussion with Daniel David when he was Minister of Education. The current rector of UBB claims that things can change in 4-5 years.
“Nearly half of students (43%) achieve a functional level of science literacy, with 24% having transitional skills that can be strengthened quickly with appropriate support. Around 32% of students are at risk of not being able to understand and use basic science concepts properly in practical contexts” – this is one of the conclusions of one of the reports developed by UNICEF and published on February 4, regarding the level of scientific and digital literacy of students in Romania.
“In digital literacy, more than half of students (about 55%) are in the transition zone, with partial skills that can be strengthened through appropriate programs. 8% of students reach the level of “good functionality”, while the segment of those who reach the highest level of competence is only 0.2%. Almost 37% of students are at risk in terms of developing functional digital skills”the quoted report also shows.
Anna Riatti, the UNICEF representative in Romania, observed that “The report’s findings point to systemic challenges and provide a solid basis for change, and the Ministry of Education and Research’s curriculum and assessment reforms are an important step forward“, writes the former Minister of Education and Research, Daniel David, who specifies that the two reports presented by UNICEF were made based on an opportunity discussion he had as Minister of Education and Research in 2025.
The former minister claims that he found out from the PISA tests that functional illiteracy in the area of mathematics, reading and science is high in the country and proposed that functional illiteracy be considered a national security risk in the National Defense Strategy (realized).
“Given that the PISA tests are aimed at children around 15 years old, it was necessary to extend this analysis to the other levels of study, namely all grades 1-12 (the TIMSS tests, although they analyze mathematics and science at the primary and secondary levels, are more focused on the curriculum/contents, not on their more transversal and functional use in everyday life). Also, taking into account that we are in the midst of an industrial revolution, it was important to evaluate at this detailed level, complementary to “scientific skills”, and “digital skills“, claimed the current rector of UBB.
“Too many children do not adequately acquire the skills they and society need in school”
“For me, these new results confirm and extend conclusions I knew from international studies (PISA), heightening my concern! In this way, too many children do not adequately acquire the skills they and society need in school and, moreover, become vulnerable to manipulation through pseudoscience (eg conspiracies), with a negative impact on a modern and democratic knowledge-based society. In short and more pointedly said, we are on a path that may lead us to the status of a scientific colony and/or failed society in obscurantism”, claims David.
The former minister claims that the reforms in the ProViziunea-CaleaQX ministerial approach, based on the QX Report, targeted exactly these deficiencies:
(1) We considered functional illiteracy as a national security risk, thus being included in the National Defense Strategy of the Country, thereby making it easier to start strategic and programmed actions, widely supported, to counter it;
(2) We started the curricular reform at the high school level, adding remedial programs at all levels of study (2 hours/week at the primary level and 25% of the time of each subject at the middle school and high school level), programs that aim at the formation of missing skills, the consolidation of the formed/transient ones, their development for performance and the use of skills in everyday life;
(3) To reduce the discrepancy in performance between school units (e.g. especially rural-urban, including coverage with qualified teachers), we introduced the possibility of mentoring relationships between school units;
(4) We rethought national assessments in grades II, IV, and VI to include both the assessment of skills in relation to the curriculum and their use in everyday life, and advanced the process of establishing national assessment standards.
“After at most 4-5 years, after the implementation of these reforms/measures already adopted in a study cycle, we will have an increase in the quality of education and research”
Finally, David repeats what he said in the ProViziunea-CaleaQX report:
“…I expect that after no more than 4-5 years, namely after the implementation of these reforms/measures already adopted in a study cycle, we will have an increase in the quality of education and research, reflected in national and international results, and a major reduction in functional illiteracy, with the proper use of our intelligence and creativity potential! There are probably other ways to achieve these results, alternative or complementary to those proposed by me, and certainly the new ministers can and will have such contributions. I’m just saying that this “Ministerial ProVision-PathQX Program” (derived from the QX Report), which I identify with, if properly implemented, becomes one of the clear solutions for what we expect from education-research, for which I can take responsibility before the people of education and the country.”
