More than 100 students challenged the experts to the debate on the future of education in Romania. The latest data show that in Romania, for every 1,000 people aged between 20 and 29, there are 46.2 higher education graduates, compared to 61.9 on average at EU level.
The “Agenda Romania 4.0” debate, with over 100 students
At the same time, the school dropout rate in our country is 16%, the highest in the entire European Union, and 41.5% of children are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
In this context, the Digitalio platform and the Association of Political Science Students from the University of Bucharest, in partnership with the Union of Romanian Students, PressCluster | The cluster of media and content creators from Romania and Global Shapers Bucharest Hub, with the media support of the National Press Agency AGERPRES, organized the first conference in the series of rotating events “Agenda Romania 4.0”.
The theme of this first event, held on Tuesday, February 27, at the Student Culture House in Bucharest, was Education and was debated by over 100 student participants, representatives of institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the National Directorate for Security Cybernetics, of the academic environment, civil society and business environment in Romania.
DNSC: PNRR project to train 5000 teachers in cyber security
The National Cyber Security Directorate (DNSC) is running a project aimed at training 5,000 pre-university and university teachers in the field of cyber security, said Teodor Vergu, an expert in cyber security projects in the institution, in the debate dedicated to education in within the Agenda Romania 4.0 project organized by Digitalio.ro.
“There are at least three terminals in this room that are open and can be cyberattacked. I airdrop scanned and discovered three open terminals that, if I were an attacker, I could target. We must be cautious of the dangers that graze us and make sure that we do everything in our power to protect ourselves. Cyber security is a shared responsibility! Unfortunately, technology is currently far ahead of educational processes and teaching methods. It's hard to keep up, but we aim to do so. We are currently implementing a PNRR project through which we aim to train 5,000 university and pre-university teachers in what cyber security means, so that they, in turn, can disseminate it to other teachers, pupils and students. I want to make the project public including to the representatives of the Ministry of Education, who I hope will help us in our endeavor to reach as many teachers as possible in the country who must have the desire to learn and teach others”
supported Teodor Vergu, expert of the National Cyber Security Directorate.
Teodor Vergu, expert of the National Cyber Security Directorate
Vergu added that the most important aspect of cyber security is education, primarily that provided at home by parents to children, especially in the context where many children have access to the Internet from a very young age and are not aware of the dangers in the online environment .
Janina Sitaru (MAE): 50,000 foreign students, interested in studying in Romania
Janina Sitaru, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed her support for the return to the country of young Romanians who complete their studies abroad, emphasizing that 40,000 students from Romania follow education programs in the European Union. In addition, in the previous year, 50,000 students from various countries expressed their interest in studying in Romania.
“The Romanian educational market is very offering and very sought after (…) We decided to digitize the application process and in 2023 we had over 50,000 applicants from all over the world who want to study in Romania. Unfortunately we don't have that many scholarships available. Some of them will stay here and others will return to their states. There are many dignitaries from around the world who studied in Romania”
supported Janina Sitaru, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Janina Sitaru, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
AGERPRES director: Generation Z consumes more traditional media than social media
Young people from Generation Z consume more traditional media than social media because they have a greater capacity for fact-checking, said Claudia Nicolae, general director of Agerpres, in the Agenda Romania 4.0 conference organized by Digitalio.ro.
“Studies at European level show that young people and Generation Z consume more traditional media than social media because they have a much greater capacity for fact-checking“, said Claudia Nicolae, general director of Agerpres.
She added that Generation Z is the “generation of challenges” and without education the reality of tomorrow cannot be built.
“There is a wide concern about cultural and artistic education. It is said to be the basis of educational segments. Information is a basis of the future reality that cannot be constituted without an educational foundation. Disinformation can be combated with information. There is no such thing as fake news, because if it's fake, it's not news.”
concluded the director of Agerpres.
Claudia Nicolae, general director of Agerpres
The main topics addressed in the first debate in the Agenda Romania 4.0 series of events concerned the principles that should govern the field of education in Romania, how the challenges of the future can be met, what types of education should be introduced in the curriculum, what are the pillars and funding directions of education, to increase the productivity of the educational system in Romania or how to ensure unrestricted access to education.
The event was also attended by prof. Dr. Adina-Bogdana Crețu, CNFIS, Ion Ciucă, Director, Higher Education Financing Directorate of the Ministry of Education, Gelu Duminică – Prof. Univ. Faculty of Sociology and Social Assistance, Ana-Maria Grădinariu – Training Manager, Teach for Romania, Andrada Mazilu, founder of SuperTeach, Cătălina Uță, coordinator of Precision2, Andreea Baidac, Vice-President of the Union of Romanian Students, Sorin Niță, Asst. Univ, FABIZ – ASE, – Andrei Voichița, DUEVERDE administrator, Silviu Istrate “Faiăr”, influencer and activist for education and Ștefan Lupu, director of the educational department within the Association of Political Science Students, University of Bucharest
Image 1/8:
Education debate Agenda 4 0 (2) JPG
