The 2025 degree exam starts soon, but it could be the last organized in this form, according to the recent statements of the Minister of Education, Daniel David. Although over 9,000 positions for an indefinite period are taken to the competition, many educational units do not offer real opportunities for young and well -trained teachers. At the same time, over 20,000 places remain available for supplemers, while whole chairs in essential disciplines – physical, mathematics, chemistry – do not attract enough candidates.
TITULARIZATION EXAM. Photo Archive Adevărul
In order to obtain a contract for an indefinite period, the teachers must take at least note 7 in the written test, and the average between this test and the inspection in the class must also be at least 7.
Why, then, so many non -accessible positions for the title remain? Because, often, they are intentionally blocked by the directors – a known phenomenon, but too little sanctioned or regulated. According to the Minister of Education, Daniel David, the situation is analyzed, and new measures would be announced in May.
Sorin Ion, is of schools, not the ministry
The real problem, says Secretary of State Sorin Ion, is of schools, not the ministry: “In fact, the main problem is the declaration of the positions titularized by the educational unit. It is done year after year and I want to understand well that there are countless petitions, complaints of all kinds, that the school is not incurred. (…) The employer, finally, is the school. We produce the frame, we do a hierarchy, we distribute to schools, but the one who signs the employment contract is the school. And you cannot mix, from the level of the ministry, as everyone imagines that we can do it, that that post is title, the other no. This is the big problem here”, According to the Secretary of State.
Posts held “in the drawer”: a conservative management choice
“This choice of some of the directors belongs to a type of managerial thinking very rooted in the system“, Say, for the truth, Professor Maria Manea, an expert in education and former Secretary of State in the Ministry of Education. The internal preservation of vacancies already offers teachers the opportunity to be paid by time – which faiths the existing staff.”It is a choice that provides a comfort space and predictability for school management. You don’t know who will come to your post – so you choose to stay with the known ones”, Completes this.
In addition to convenience, there is also a logic of prudence, says Manea: “In the situation of diminishing the number of students, therefore of the classes, of the legislative changes that can threaten the situation of the title teachers, those hours can become reserve hours for them.“
Under the conditions of the decrease of the school population and frequent legislative changes, the directors prefer to keep a safety margin for the classification of existing staff, the teacher considers.
Young people do not run away from title but the system disadvantage them
Maria Manea points out that, although young people who want to enter the system are not necessarily scared of the degree exam, the current context clearly disadvantage them. “We remain in the paradigm of system dinosaurs, carnivorous predators in front of young vegetarians“She says, with bitter humor.”We need to risk showing young people to wait for them with open arms, that we need to learn many of the healthy values and principles that guide these generations. And that we are with them in the process of continuous learning of the profession.”She says.
What should be changed?
According to Maria Manea, the real stake is the change of mentality. Schools should want young people in the chancellors, show them that they are welcome and supported in the process of continuous training: “We need to learn from them many of the healthy values and principles that guide these generations. ”
It is necessary, she says, and the acceptance of a new model of career stability: a flexible one, in which dynamics and change will not be regarded as risks, but as resources.
How do we attract valuable students to the teaching career?
It is one of the essential questions – and the hardest. Maria Manea openly acknowledges that there is no safe recipe: “If I had a clear answer, I would probably be neither the first nor the most entitled to formulate it.“
But one thing is certain: the recovery of respect for the teacher’s job is a societal work.
Beyond salaries, initial training or educational policies, she says, students must be attracted to school – not only as an institution, but as a space in which they can design a future: “They are not attracted today. The students, the needs of generations, parents and interference in the instructional-educational process scare them. I think she also removes the outdated spirit of the school, its purpose.“
The solution? A daily, collective reconstruction. “Do we want to enter our valuable young people in the system? Let us all fight, every day, to create their attraction to the job, the curiosity to know and support children, loyalty and profession.“
And the essentials, says Professor Maria Manea, cannot be transmitted through reforms or strategies: “The love for children can not cultivate them anything, apart from their own love, development and education.“
Educated Romania, a strategy as notable as questionable
In Romania there were national education strategies, some of them being initiated by the president of the country. A remarkable example is the project “Educated Romania”, launched in 2018, which aims at modernizing Romanian education by legislating a new model of governance in education.
However, recent assessments suggest that the implementation of this project has not made significant improvements in the quality of education. For example, the results of the ICILS 2023 international study showed that 44% of Romanian students registered scores below level 1 in digital skills, and 30% had level 1 results, the lowest level.
Regarding the results of the degree exams, they were varied. For example, in 2023, only 70% of the candidates obtained passing notes to the written test, and in some counties, the promotion rate was below 50%. This may indicate insufficient preparation of the candidates or an mismatch between the requirements of the exam and the realities of the Romanian schools.
Thus, we are in a paradigm in which, although there are strategies and initiatives to improve education, their implementation encounter significant obstacles. In order to overcome these blockages, a deep reform is required in the culture and mentality of the educational system, which emphasizes meritocracy, transparency and adaptability to the current needs of students and teachers.
