Although the plan was that by the end of this month we would have a proposal for Minister of Education, the calculation did not fit and Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan still remains interim. President Nicușor Dan admits that it is an act of courage for someone to assume this position. In the absence of an appointment, we asked people in Education what they want from the next minister and what they would put on his priority list.
Key word: empathy
Education is a vast field and an essential pillar. Even if directly, pupils and students are the main beneficiaries, in fact the whole society benefits (or not) from this system. And the teachers and directors of educational units are an important part of the quality they offer. So we wanted to know the perspective of all these important actors about the future minister.
Mihnea Haiduc, president of the National Student Council (CNE) says she wants a minister who is responsible, coherent and connected to the reality in schools.
“The new Minister of Education has the obligation to raise the standard, both in relation to the educational community and in the development and implementation of public policies. From the students’ perspective, it should be defined by several essential qualities: real dialogue, not formal consultation; respect and empathy in public discourse; policy coherence and predictability; ownership and transparency in decisions; and a clear orientation towards the real needs of students, not towards political interests of the moment”details the president of the CNE.
Empathy is one of the qualities also mentioned by the student representative:
,,Integrate, empathetic, vertical, open and with an ability to strengthen his position through the legitimacy he can (and must) obtain from the education community. A Minister of Education can inspire a good part of the citizens of this country, because many categories of people are interested in what is happening in education, and the statements of the person in office are highly publicized, something that obviously emphasizes the importance of addressing in public speeches some qualitative themes and ideas, transmitted honestly, but also some problems communicated with empathy”. says Sergiu Covaci, president of the National Alliance of Student Organizations from Romania (ANOSR).
For her part, Octavia Popescu Gavrilă, German language teacher, believes:
“To produce a real change, the next minister should have a “crisis manager” profile, but with pedagogical empathy. I would mention: the ability to fight for the budget, communication and negotiation skills, to be able to talk honestly with unions and parent/student associations, to have a long-term vision, not to change the rules of exams during the school year. In a system plagued by suspicions of plagiarism or political appointments, a minister should have impeccable moral conduct, which would, I hope, restore the dignity of the office.”
Viforel Dorobanțu, director of Secondary School No. 1 from Curcani, Călăraşi county, and physics and computer science teacher, comes with the perspective of the school director and with seven points that the next minister should meet:
- To understand the real school, not the school in the reports – “A principal needs a minister who knows what a Monday at 8:00 in a school looks like; understands the difference between urban and rural, between “top school” and “survival school”; don’t start reforms without asking: can it be applied? with what people? with what time?”.
- To see the director as a leader, not as an executor.
- To reduce red tape that does not produce education – “From the director’s perspective, every unnecessary table means less time for the students; multiple reports on the same topic are tiresome and unnecessary; “Control” without support improves nothing.”
- To protect the teachers (because the principal is responsible for them) – ,,Without motivated teachers, the principal cannot do miracles.”
- To evaluate schools properly, not just formally – “The director needs: evaluation that takes into account the context, not just raw results; progress indicators, not just absolute performance; support after assessment, not just grades. Evaluation should be a mirror, not a club.”
- To understand the student from the vulnerable environment – “The hungry child does not learn; the child without support at home drops out; the tagged child is lost. The minister must put the well-being of the child before the statistics to support real social programs, not symbolic ones; to support real, not symbolic, social programs; to accept that sometimes progress is small but vital.”
- To communicate clearly and predictably – “We need rules announced ahead of time, changes explained, dialogue, not just communicated”.
Pre-university or university minister?
“The fact that the current ministry includes education and research, I am tempted to think that a nomination that has information from both fields would be appropriate, but as I am from pre-university, I do not see a problem if a person from pre-university will be proposed, there is the possibility that in the area of research he will be advised by the secretary of state for university”. is the opinion of Viforel Dorobanțu.
Sergiu Covaci, the student representative, says that the discussion is nuanced:
“The variants are obviously those that we see in the public space and that have been experimented before: (1) minister responsible for both areas, (2) minister from one area with minister-delegate for the other area. What I think is really important is being open to stakeholder views, because I don’t think there’s a perfect solution, and we don’t have any data to support a position on that. Be that as it may, the minister who will come now has a very difficult challenge, because there were problems generated in both areas”.
Professor Octavia Popescu Gavrilă comes with a different perspective:
“From my point of view, although the debate between university and pre-university is intense, I believe that success does not necessarily depend on the segment of origin, but on the connection with reality. However, probably only a teacher who has actually been in the classroom in middle school or high school understands what the commute, the lack of didactic materials and the administrative pressure (bureaucracy) means. And these are just a few examples. On the other hand, university professors may have a broader vision of strategic management and research, but they risk being cut off from the reality of schools.“.
Party member or technocrat?
“It’s complicated, and in the spirit of impartiality and without giving the impression that we are tilting the balance of legitimacy towards one side or another, I would prefer not to answer. However, it is certain that we have had both technocrats and political persons who had good ideas, and vice versa, or in fact what I consider relevant is to have ministers with integrity, vertical, empathetic and who can show a deep understanding of the problems facing education, maybe even brave enough to undertake a proper scan of the entire system. It is very important for a minister to inspire confidence and to be able to motivate the community he represents as the person in charge of the education portfolio, whether we are talking about teachers, researchers, students, pupils, this can help him in operating some substantial changes in education”says Sergiu Covaci, president of ANOSR.
Director Viforel Dorobanțu has a clear opinion:“I think that he must be a politician with support in the area of the governing parties.”
The problems put on the agenda by students
We asked the president of the National Student Council what are the three main problems he faces and which he would prioritize on the minister’s agenda.
“The first problem is the actual completion of the curriculum reform. Currently, the curriculum for Romanian Language and Literature in the 9th grade has not been approved following the changes made by the working group at the end of December 2025, and for the other subjects, the updated programs for the rest of the study years are completely missing. This situation generates confusion and lack of coherence in the educational process and requires the responsible completion of the started reform.
The second problem is the diminishing of the effects of austerity measures in education. Budget cuts and the reduction of some forms of support directly affect equitable access to education and school performance, especially for students from vulnerable backgrounds. Education cannot be treated as a simple budget adjustment variable.
The third problem is the completion of the reform started by the new law on pre-university education. Fragmented enforcement and the lack of clear rules risk turning a necessary reform into an incoherent process. What is needed is consistency, predictability and responsible implementation, not abandonment or constant rewriting of the legislative framework,” answered Mihnea Haiduc.
The problems put on the agenda by students
From the perspective of student representatives, Sergiu Covaci, the three main issues that require prioritization are the following:
“The first: the scholarship and social protection fund – 44,000 scholarships were cut, the value of the fund decreased by 52%, scholarships are no longer granted for 12 months – all measures representing a regression, we will return before 2017 soon with these measures.
Second: student transport – the application of the discount is no longer carried out on all routes, an unprecedented measure, never seen before. Both the first and the second are measures related to the equity of the higher education system, otherwise we have big problems with the risk of poverty and social exclusion, and the decrease in the degree of accessibility in the university environment will accentuate them.
And third, obviously, the education and research budget is a topic that still needs to be addressed, especially in these periods when the state budget law is being discussed, but the reduction of tuition and higher education funding is also being considered.”
Issues that teachers and principals will address first
From the perspective of the teachers, Octavia Popescu Gavrilă, believes that the most important themes are:
– application of the promised salary scale;
– real digitization, elimination of unnecessary files “for the commission” and safety”.
– The latter, says the teacher, in the context of high stress due to the lack of leverage in managing conflicts with students/parents.
“We are in the school year in which the director mandates obtained through the competition expire. From my point of view, the publication of the methodology for organizing the competition for the position of headmaster is essential for placing the schools on a normal path. I would also like to say the debate on the methodology proposal, but this was missing and I don’t think it will happen either.
If the organization of the competition will dispel the anathema placed on this position as if it is occupied only if that candidate is politically connected to the mayor or the inspector general, I think it will be a success!”, concludes Viforel Dorobanțu.
