Representative voices from the education system highlight seven of the most serious problems facing Romanian education and which the future president of the country should solve as a matter of priority.
Education in Romania, the Cinderella of government programs. Photo source: archive
On November 24, Romanians are called to vote. We have a choice between 14 candidates who entered the race for Cotroceni and from whom we have high expectations. We give them confidence, what will they give us in return? What could the future president of Romania do for us, for our young people and children? “The Romanians need, first of all, education. Without a solid foundation, Romanian society will become just a colossus with feet of clay that, at any moment, could collapse under its own ignorance”. the voices in the system we consulted said in unison: teachers, principals of schools and high schools, parents, pupils, students, education specialists.
Education expert: “We need the exit from mediocrity”
“The president will have to exert colossal, positively destructive pressure to cut the Gordian knot. They must exert pressure that will lead to a paradigm shift in education, to the emergence of the mediocrity of the public education system. With one exception, all presidential candidates have a similarity and a difference. The similarity is that they are all cruelly mediocre, and the difference is that some are more mediocre than others”commented for “Adevărul” Marian Staș, expert in education.
The specialist believes that Romania needs a president who will fight for the change of the education paradigm in Romania. “This entails removing the educational model from its communist functioning, characterized by a fierce centralization, and moving to a European subsidiary model, characterized by over 80% authority and responsibility to the schools”, consider the specialist.
The transition from the framework plan to the curriculum offered by the school is essential, according to the expert. This, if we want a healthy education system with real benefits for students: “It is the most important thing that the future president of Romania must do, namely blowing up the system and building another one from the foundations. The head of state that I want would break the curse of mediocrity in which education is now bathed”.
2024 Director: “President, lobby for rebranding of technology education”
Daniela Claudia Orășanu, Director of 2024, has been leading the Unirea Railway Technical College from Pașcani for 10 years. The teacher told “Adevărul” that we don’t have high schools in the dual system, but only professional education in the dual system: “Professional education graduates cannot continue their training in the dual system. Even technological high school graduates cannot continue their studies in a university in a dual system, only after passing a theoretical baccalaureate. The president can be exactly that influencer that the education system in Romania needs, to promote technological education in a dual system, as a strategic educational necessity”.
The children, the teacher also says, need a national curriculum that is relevant and more connected to the needs of today’s society: “They also need the creation of centers of technological excellence to act as hubs for innovation and advanced training. Collaborating with industries on the President’s Technology Education Rebranding Project can develop a national mentoring program where technology industry professionals provide guidance and support to technology high school students and teachers,” also stated prof. Claudia Orasanu.
Director of IL Caragiale College: “The decision-makers should come from the area of education”
Andreia Bodea, director of the “ILCaragiale” National College in Bucharest, wishes that in the future “all the decisions that will be made in the area of education should be made by some people who are really good at education. This country has a lot of specialists and very, very well trained. Unfortunately, however, no one listens to them. There are tremendously dedicated people whose energy is consumed and dissolved by the system,” the teacher stated.
The director of ILCaragiale College expects the future president of Romania to bring education back to the fore and place it where it belongs, on the pedestal: “The boredom of these children, the disinterest in school, the fact that they can’t find landmarks, they can’t find models, they can’t find anything under the roof of the school, is extremely serious. It is increasingly difficult for us teachers to answer the question “Why should I come to school?”.
Romania has remained anchored, the teacher says, in a teaching and evaluation system that is no longer reliable: “On the other hand, in parallel, teachers entered the education system who have nothing to look for in the department, they cannot adapt, they cannot keep up.”
Director from the rural area: “I would like greater school autonomy”
I also asked for an opinion from a school director from the rural area of the country, Ilfov county to be exact. Mariana Banu, the director of Secondary School No. 1 in Ciolpani, believes that the future president of Romania should consider the debureaucratization of the education system: “But, apart from that, they should also consider a greater autonomy of the schools. Certain procedures should be standard, the rest could be decided at unit level. To be able to take certain decisions in our garden, to have a say. For example, the principal of a school cannot hire or fire a teacher. We only conclude an employment contract. Only inspectorates have this power. Therefore, a school principal cannot take any action, for example, in the case of poorly trained teachers. He must accept them in the chair, although some do not deserve to be there”.
Sergiu Covaci, student representative: “We want better trained teachers”
“One thing I would like from the future president of Romania would be an involvement in the training of teachers”, continues the idea Sergiu Covaci, president of the National Alliance of Student Organizations from Romania. “I am referring here to teachers who are better professionally trained, but also more empathetic, more anchored in the present, in today’s reality“. The young person believes that the way teachers relate to information is sometimes completely different from what young people really need: “Traditional teaching methods are outdated and no longer work. I think something should be changed here. In how teachers are taught to be teachers. I wish we had teachers who would influence our future, who would open up new horizons for us, who would make us love coming to school, I would like role models in life. But that requires the system to produce them. Unfortunately, the job of a teacher is no longer attractive, and this can be seen and felt”, consider the student.
Bianca Ivan, National Student Council: “We want to be educated for life”
Bianca Ivan, president of the National Council of Students, wants the future head of state to consider changing the curriculum and framework plans: “We are getting information all over the place, but we lack the skills. We want subjects that anchor us in reality: financial education, legal education, sexual or health education. We ask the Romanian school to prepare us for the moment when we will leave the system and face life. Reality is harsh, we need to learn to face it brilliantly. We want subjects and disciplines that teach us how to think, how to judge things, that train us in critical thinking, logic, healthy and correct judgment”.
The students’ representation asks the future decision-makers for the mandatory introduction of Sexual Education in schools: “One hour a week in 8th and 9th grades. It is the period when teenagers are curious, they have questions, and unfortunately, they look for the answers on the Internet”.
Darius Cornean, parent following the Homeschoolig system: “A change of mentality is needed”
Darius Cornean is one of the parents who decided to enroll their children in an alternative education system known as Homeschooling. The father told “Adevărul” that the education system in Romania has big hiccups.
“The curriculum is outdated, students are overloaded with outdated, irrelevant information at the expense of practical skills, critical thinking and creativity. Curriculum reform is essential to create a modern and relevant education. Then, there are still big discrepancies between urban and rural environments, where access to quality education is limited”, us–the parent explained. He stated that the emphasis is still on memorization and conformity, rather than the development of independent thinking and practical skills: “There is a need for a change in mentality that values the student as an individual, encouraging initiative and adaptability.” All this can be achieved if among the goals of the new president will be the financing of the education system, the reform of the curriculum, the support of educational alternatives, but also the improvement and increase of the quality of the educational act, believes Darius Cornean.
