The Minister of Education, Daniel David, stated, on Tuesday, in the Adevărul interviews, that functional illiteracy represents “a wound” which threatens not only the education system, but also national security, and has announced a series of reforms aimed at reducing the phenomenon in the coming years.
Minister of Education, Daniel David PHOTO Shutterstock
“Functional illiteracy is a scourge for our system, it puts the country at risk, it puts our security at risk and, according to international analyses, it is not only with us, but functional illiteracy is seen as a potential virus for democracy and civilization, because in this area conspiracy theories catch on very well. It is a major risk”said the Minister of Education for the Truth.
Daniel David explained that the reduction of functional illiteracy cannot be done through isolated measures, but through a fundamental change in the way the Romanian school works. “There are many things that we have started that are not seen. Two things must be done. You cannot enter into a logic of correcting, let’s make sure that the educational act works well”said the minister.
He claimed that, during his ten months in office, he initiated the reform of the national framework plan and introduced modern technologies and new pedagogical methods. “As you develop the educational process, you come and attack functional illiteracy as well. There are things that, if we see well, we will see effects in 4-5 years”Daniel David said.
Regarding the teachers who might be dissatisfied with the additional remedial hours, the minister emphasized that the change is a systemic one. “Teachers have an ethic of duty, by all means, we still started school on time, of course, with the visible dissatisfaction”he specified.
“At the high school and middle school level, we have that regulation that 25% of the time allocated for each subject is also allocated for that remedial learning. In the evaluations in the 2nd, 4th and 6th grade we will also introduce items in the logic of PISA. We are not preparing our children to obtain skills that they will use in real life”the Minister of Education also declared.
