Radio România Internațional

Tag: high school

  • August 16, 2023 UPDATE

    August 16, 2023 UPDATE


    SECURITY Romanias security has been consolidated and the efforts to strengthen NATO structures on national territory, especially the NATO battle group established in 2022, will carry on, said President Klaus Iohannis, who attended the Navy Day ceremonies in Constanta on Tuesday. In turn, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu promised that the government would earmark the resources required for equipping and modernising the Romanian Naval Forces. Security at the Black Sea ensures the stability of the entire region and turns Romania into an important security provider, the speaker of the Senate, Nicolae Ciucă, also said.



    ECONOMY The EU economy grew 0.5% and the Eurozone economy went up 0.6% in Q2 2023, compared to the corresponding period in 2022, with Ireland and Romania reporting the most significant growth rates, according to preliminary data released on Wednesday by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat). Among the EU member countries for which data are available, the highest growth rates in April-June 2023 are reported in Ireland (2.8%), Romania (2.7%), Cyprus and Portugal (2.3%), while the most important negative rates were in Estonia (-3%), Sweden (-2.4%), Hungary (-2.3%) and Poland (-1.3%). Across the ocean, the US GDP went up 0.6% compared to the previous 3 months and 2.6% against the corresponding quarter last year.



    BACCALAUREATE Nearly 34,000 high school graduates in Romania, sitting the second session of this years Baccalaureate exam, Wednesday had the Romanian language and literature test, with papers graded digitally for the first time. The tests are scanned and uploaded on a platform, where they are assigned for grading to teachers in any part of the country except for the county where the student went to high school. The two tests in students major subjects are scheduled for August 17th and 18th. In order to pass the exam, candidates need an overall grade of at least 6 in their written tests. In the first Baccalaureate session, 75% of the candidates passed the exam.



    TRAFFIC Over 2.2 million Romanians and foreigners crossed Romanias borders during the Assumption of Mary holiday period, up 24% compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Romanian Border Police announced. The most crowded checkpoints were those on the Hungarian and Bulgarian borders, and those in airports. During the same period, border police issued fines totalling over EUR 60,000 and seized assets of over EUR 600,000. More than 100 Romanian nationals were denied exit and 90 foreign nationals were not allowed to enter the country for various reasons.



    UKRAINE The Romanian Defence Ministry strongly condemns the repeated strikes by Russian armed forces targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine and regions inhabited by civilians in that country. The statement comes after on Wednesday morning the Danube River ports in Izmail and Reni, near the border with Romania, were hit by drone strikes. The war of aggression started by Russia against Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, says the Defence Ministry, also adding that it has enhanced the monitoring of Romanias national territory and its maritime and airspace, jointly with NATO forces, to strengthen defence on the entire eastern flank and to deter possible aggressions against NATO member countries. (AMP)


  • The education law under review

    The education law under review

    During the 32 years since Romania’s
    anti-communist revolution, no other sector has been subject to so many, and
    often so confusing, changes as public education. The country’s chronic
    political instability brought at the top of the education ministry a long line
    of characters eager to introduce innovations that would make them famous. They
    were quickly replaced, so all they managed to do was to cancel the reforms
    promoted by their predecessors.


    Three decades of constant innovation
    later, the results are evident. Both students and parents complain about the
    sense of confusion caused by rules changing midgame. Romanians who can afford
    it send their children to school abroad, and in turn the country’s brightest
    graduates chose to leave the country.


    There is no vocational education to speak
    of, so it is increasingly difficult to find a good plumber or mechanic. Because
    of the stress and low pay, the teaching profession is no longer attractive, so
    the number of substitute teachers is growing, especially in the countryside and
    in smaller towns. And relevant surveys converge with respect to the high rate
    of functional illiteracy among Romanian school graduates.


    In this rather dismal context, the
    incumbent education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu, a Liberal Party member, announces
    notable changes in the field, which, he claims, are likely to improve the situation.


    National colleges, i.e. the best high
    schools in the country, will be able to select 90% of their students by
    organising their own admission exams. The remaining 10% of the students will be
    selected based on candidates’ results in the national evaluation, a test that
    middle school graduates must take at present.


    Moreover, starting in 2024, the middle school grade average will no longer be taken into account in the high school
    admission process, because, minister Cîmpeanu says, it has lost its relevance.


    Changes are planned for the baccalaureate
    exam as well, which will no longer be conditional on passing the optional
    written test in a candidate’s major specialisation.


    Access to a teaching career will also be
    different, the education minister announced. Under the new law, a one-year
    traineeship under a tutor’s guidance will be introduced, and tenure exams and
    organisation will be changed.


    The new education bill will be subject to public
    review for a month, until August 17. And according to commentators, just like
    many draft legislative acts put together by the Cabinet, this too will very
    likely be amended substantially. (AMP)

  • July 1, 2022 UPDATE

    July 1, 2022 UPDATE

    SECURITY
    NATO’s deputy secretary general Mircea Geoană said on Friday in Constanţa,
    south-eastern Romania, that the Alliance would continue to support Ukraine and
    that the Black Sea region remains a strategic one in the current military
    context. He took part in the ‘Black Sea Security Summit’, co-chaired by the
    Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu and the US Senator Roger Wicker.
    Geoana also mentioned that Russia is the greatest threat at present, and that
    China’s expansion is a challenge for NATO’s interests, values and security.
    In turn, Bogdan Aurescu highlighted that trans-Atlantic coordination in the
    face of the Russian aggression was flawless, and that it must remain so. If
    president Putin sought to divide us, he failed, the Romanian diplomat pointed
    out. Secretary of state Simona Cojocaru said Romania hailed Russian forces’
    pull-out from the Serpent Island. Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Oleksandr
    Polishchuk said Russia is willing to make compromises when it sees the free
    world not only having the means to defeat an aggressor, but also ready to take
    action and fight. The event in Constanta was held in Romania for the first
    time, and is the first multi-lateral dialogue in this format between regional
    allies and partners on the topic of security at the Black Sea.


    BACCALAUREATE 75.2% of the
    students sitting the Baccalaureate have passed the exam, the education minister
    Sorin Cîmpeanu announced in Bucharest, after the appeals stage. This year over
    49,000 appeals were submitted, fewer than last year, the education ministry
    said. Prior to this stage, the pass rate in this summer’s exam was 73.3%, the
    highest in the last 10 years, as minister
    Cîmpeanu explained. Eighth-graders have already found out their results
    in the national evaluation. The grades in this exam are the main criterion for
    high school admission. Over 80% of the participants have passed, again a record for the past 10 years.


    FUEL The authorities
    in Bucharest Friday hailed the decision of the main oil companies operating in
    Romania to lower the price for fuel in their stations by approximately EUR
    0.10, in line with the Government’s emergency order. Energy minister Virgil
    Popescu thanked the companies that volunteered to lower fuel prices. PM Nicolae
    Ciucă also welcomed the decision, calling on fiscal and consumer protection
    agencies to monitor fuel prices. Haulers will benefit from a partial subsidy for
    fuel. The PM says the measure was designed to avoid the shortage and rationing
    of fuel, as reported in other countries. Romania now has one of the lowest fuel
    prices in Europe, with stations across the country selling standard diesel for
    approximately EUR 1.7 and petrol for approximately EUR 1.6.


    EMPLOYMENT Hiring new personnel
    in public institutions and authorities in Romania is suspended until the end
    of the year, under an emergency order issued recently by the government. However,
    employment procedures started before 1 July will be completed. Other exceptions are
    also possible, in cases that are thoroughly justified and in compliance with
    personnel budgets. The government suspended hiring in the public sector in
    order to reduce expenditure and meet the budget deficit target.


    TENNIS Romania is left with only one player in the 3rd round of
    the Wimbledon tournament: Simona Halep
    (30 WTA). Halep will play on Saturday against Magdalena Frech (92 WTA) of
    Poland. On Friday, Irina Begu left the competition after being defeated by
    Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, in 3 sets. (AMP)

  • Mugur Călinescu

    Mugur Călinescu

    Mugur Călinescu’s name will forever remain in
    the history of heroism as a man’s struggle with a cruel, much stronger enemy
    but which did not frighten him. He is not only a Romanian hero, but also a
    universal example for all the people who fight for the right cause of freedom
    and dignity. Eventually, MugurCălinescu paid with his life for the
    courage to think and act for justice and truth.




    Mugur Călinescu was born on May 28, 1965 in
    Botoșani, northeastern Romania. In 1981, at 16 years old, when he was an 11th grader
    at the August Treboniu Laurian high school in his hometown, he
    decided that his existence and that of those around him, in a country ruled by
    a vicious communist regime, could not go on like that. So he decided to
    protest. Călinescu’s moving story was told publicly in the early 1990s, in the
    early years of freedom regained in December 1989, by the journalist, writer and
    historian Constantin Iftime. Here he is at the microphone with details:




    Constantin Iftime: He was a high school junior, going to Laurian
    high school, but previously he had studied at Eminescu high school. He took the
    math and physics exam, he was in a good class. His parents were separated, his
    father was wealthy, he worked in a clothing manufacturing factory, he was the
    chief tailor who made the patterns. He had a lot of money, he was a top tailor.
    He bought his boy a Japanese radio recorder with which he tuned in to radio
    Free Europe, and his mother did not know anything about that. He
    was a clever boy, he listened to music, he read books, he had a curious nature.




    On the night of September 12, 1981, Mugur left
    the house determined to voice his discontent. He walked towards a metal fence
    surrounding a building yard and wrote a slogan calling on people to oppose the
    increasingly harsh living conditions. Today we find it unbelievable that
    writing words on a wall is seen as an act of great courage. But it was an act
    of courage during communism, when most people were terrorized and preferred to
    keep silent. Constantin Iftime is back at the microphone with more:




    Constantin Iftime: You may wonder where he got the idea from? It
    was his own idea. He had some chalk at home, the type of chalk used by
    foresters, which did not come off easily. And he started writing slogans, he
    wrote the first slogans on some metal boards surrounding building yards. These
    slogans referred to the people’s precarious material situation. His mother was
    a saleswoman at the central store and had a small salary. It seems that there
    was a lot of talk about money in his family. His mother was constantly under
    pressure, they had cut about 30% of her salary, it was the period when the
    authorities started cutting people’s salaries.




    Another 31 nights followed, in which
    Mugur Călinescu continued to write his discontent on the walls of the town’s
    buildings. One of them was the headquarters of the county branch of the Romanian
    Communist Party. He wrote on walls, on billboards, on road kerbs. The local branch
    of the Securitate, the communist political police, went on maximum alert. Messages
    would keep appearing, in places where the members of the political repression
    structures least expected them, and they would be promptly erased. Where they
    couldn’t be removed, the place would be painted over.




    All the informants in all the
    factories in the town were mobilised. In their desperate effort to capture the
    author, the Securitate checked the records of all the apartment buildings, and
    all the letters people would send to the party. More than 47,000 handwriting
    samples were analysed, with the experts claiming that the author was a scholar or
    a misfit. Night patrols and watches were organised. Until finally, on the night
    of 18th October 1981, a patrol noticed a young man with a piece of
    chalk in his hand, writing something on a wall. Constantin Iftime told us what
    happened next.




    Constantin Iftime: He had no
    reaction. He was arrested, and he admitted to everything from the very
    beginning. His mother knew nothing about him, she panicked and started calling
    everywhere. She was only announced about the arrest the next day. He spent that
    night being interrogated. He was taken straight to the Securitate offices,
    because they were interested in who was behind this. They didn’t beat him up,
    ironically it was his own father who threatened him, not the Securitate. The ones
    who interrogated him were people who knew what was going on among students, and
    they wanted to make him talk without resorting to violence. But they did put a
    blinding light in his face and the Securitate guy was sitting behind that light.
    Those hours spent with a light in his face must have made him hot, he already
    had a fever, he had early-stage leukaemia. I think it was a period of hormonal imbalance
    caused by severe stress. But my opinion is that he was killed by the
    Securitate. He was a sensitive person, thrown into this extremely vicious
    circle. He was a hardworking boy, a nice teenager, but everyone treated him
    like an object.




    His teachers reprimanded him, his father
    attacked him for jeopardising his career, his mother suffered a trauma. Abandoned
    by his family, isolated from his friends and colleagues, marginalised together
    with his mother, Mugur Călinescu died of leukaemia on 14th February 1985,
    at the age of 19.




    He was awarded the title of fighter
    against the totalitarian regime, post-mortem. A theatre play and a film, both
    titled Uppercase Print, as well as a novel, are now keeping his memory alive. (tr. L. Simion, A.M. Popescu)

  • Mugur Călinescu

    Mugur Călinescu

    Mugur Călinescu’s name will forever remain in
    the history of heroism as a man’s struggle with a cruel, much stronger enemy
    but which did not frighten him. He is not only a Romanian hero, but also a
    universal example for all the people who fight for the right cause of freedom
    and dignity. Eventually, MugurCălinescu paid with his life for the
    courage to think and act for justice and truth.




    Mugur Călinescu was born on May 28, 1965 in
    Botoșani, northeastern Romania. In 1981, at 16 years old, when he was an 11th grader
    at the August Treboniu Laurian high school in his hometown, he
    decided that his existence and that of those around him, in a country ruled by
    a vicious communist regime, could not go on like that. So he decided to
    protest. Călinescu’s moving story was told publicly in the early 1990s, in the
    early years of freedom regained in December 1989, by the journalist, writer and
    historian Constantin Iftime. Here he is at the microphone with details:




    Constantin Iftime: He was a high school junior, going to Laurian
    high school, but previously he had studied at Eminescu high school. He took the
    math and physics exam, he was in a good class. His parents were separated, his
    father was wealthy, he worked in a clothing manufacturing factory, he was the
    chief tailor who made the patterns. He had a lot of money, he was a top tailor.
    He bought his boy a Japanese radio recorder with which he tuned in to radio
    Free Europe, and his mother did not know anything about that. He
    was a clever boy, he listened to music, he read books, he had a curious nature.




    On the night of September 12, 1981, Mugur left
    the house determined to voice his discontent. He walked towards a metal fence
    surrounding a building yard and wrote a slogan calling on people to oppose the
    increasingly harsh living conditions. Today we find it unbelievable that
    writing words on a wall is seen as an act of great courage. But it was an act
    of courage during communism, when most people were terrorized and preferred to
    keep silent. Constantin Iftime is back at the microphone with more:




    Constantin Iftime: You may wonder where he got the idea from? It
    was his own idea. He had some chalk at home, the type of chalk used by
    foresters, which did not come off easily. And he started writing slogans, he
    wrote the first slogans on some metal boards surrounding building yards. These
    slogans referred to the people’s precarious material situation. His mother was
    a saleswoman at the central store and had a small salary. It seems that there
    was a lot of talk about money in his family. His mother was constantly under
    pressure, they had cut about 30% of her salary, it was the period when the
    authorities started cutting people’s salaries.




    Another 31 nights followed, in which
    Mugur Călinescu continued to write his discontent on the walls of the town’s
    buildings. One of them was the headquarters of the county branch of the Romanian
    Communist Party. He wrote on walls, on billboards, on road kerbs. The local branch
    of the Securitate, the communist political police, went on maximum alert. Messages
    would keep appearing, in places where the members of the political repression
    structures least expected them, and they would be promptly erased. Where they
    couldn’t be removed, the place would be painted over.




    All the informants in all the
    factories in the town were mobilised. In their desperate effort to capture the
    author, the Securitate checked the records of all the apartment buildings, and
    all the letters people would send to the party. More than 47,000 handwriting
    samples were analysed, with the experts claiming that the author was a scholar or
    a misfit. Night patrols and watches were organised. Until finally, on the night
    of 18th October 1981, a patrol noticed a young man with a piece of
    chalk in his hand, writing something on a wall. Constantin Iftime told us what
    happened next.




    Constantin Iftime: He had no
    reaction. He was arrested, and he admitted to everything from the very
    beginning. His mother knew nothing about him, she panicked and started calling
    everywhere. She was only announced about the arrest the next day. He spent that
    night being interrogated. He was taken straight to the Securitate offices,
    because they were interested in who was behind this. They didn’t beat him up,
    ironically it was his own father who threatened him, not the Securitate. The ones
    who interrogated him were people who knew what was going on among students, and
    they wanted to make him talk without resorting to violence. But they did put a
    blinding light in his face and the Securitate guy was sitting behind that light.
    Those hours spent with a light in his face must have made him hot, he already
    had a fever, he had early-stage leukaemia. I think it was a period of hormonal imbalance
    caused by severe stress. But my opinion is that he was killed by the
    Securitate. He was a sensitive person, thrown into this extremely vicious
    circle. He was a hardworking boy, a nice teenager, but everyone treated him
    like an object.




    His teachers reprimanded him, his father
    attacked him for jeopardising his career, his mother suffered a trauma. Abandoned
    by his family, isolated from his friends and colleagues, marginalised together
    with his mother, Mugur Călinescu died of leukaemia on 14th February 1985,
    at the age of 19.




    He was awarded the title of fighter
    against the totalitarian regime, post-mortem. A theatre play and a film, both
    titled Uppercase Print, as well as a novel, are now keeping his memory alive. (tr. L. Simion, A.M. Popescu)

  • June 15, 2020

    June 15, 2020

    COVID-19 In Romania, the latest data released by the Strategic Communication Group point to a total of nearly 22,100 COVID 19 cases. The largest numbers of infections have so far been reported in Suceava County (north-east) and in Bucharest. A total of over 15,800 patients have so far recovered, and 175 are currently in intensive care. So far 1,427 people died because of the novel coronavirus. Around 3,400 Romanian nationals living abroad have so far tested positive for the coronavirus, most of them in Italy, Germany and Spain, and 114 of them died. Bucharest is further lifting some of the COVID-19 containment measures today.



    PANDEMIC The worldwide death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic so far is over 435,000, out of almost 8 million cases. More than half of the patients have recovered. The US remains the worst hit country, with over 2.1 million cases and nearly 118,000 deaths, followed by Brazil, Russia, India, the UK, Spain and Italy. Europe, which was the second region hit by the pandemic, takes advantage of the more stable situation and continues to ease restrictions and to open internal borders. Italy, once the worst hit country in Europe and in the world, is today moving to a 3rd stange in lifting restrictions. Also today, Slovenia, Germany and Austria open their borders with Italy, with the first flights to Italian airports. Bulgaria is also lifting some of the COVID-19 related restrictions, although it faces an increase in the number of new cases, which raises fears of a second wave of the pandemic.



    EXAMS Over 172,000 Romanian students graduating secondary schools this year are taking their National Assessment exams as of today, as a prerequisite for high school enrolment. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, this year the exam is held in special circumstances. Healthcare personnel are taking childrens temperature and every school is equipped with decontamination mats, protective face masks and biocide substances to use on floors, doorknobs, desks and chairs. Children are not allowed to bring any bags or backpacks into the examination rooms and are seated 2m from each other during the exam. The students who are self-isolating, quarantined, hospitalized, and those who had a temperature above 37.3 degrees Celsius on the exam day and those suffering from conditions that may be worsened by the novel coronavirus will take the exams in a special session between June 22 and July 4.



    DIPLOMACY The Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu is taking part today in an informal conference call with the EU diplomacy chiefs. The agenda focuses on transatlantic relations. The participants will discuss with the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the importance of the partnership between the EU and the US, with an emphasis on the international consequences of the Coronavirus crisis. Another topic discussed with the American official is the relationship with China, with a view to strengthen the American-European dialogue and coordination in this respect. The Romanian foreign minister will emphasise the importance of unity and pragmatism, and the need to strengthen transatlantic ties. He will also highlight the need to maintain a strong American presence in areas affected by protracted conflicts, particularly in the Eastern neighbourhood.



    MEASURES The Romanian airline TAROM announced resuming flights to and from several EU countries. As of today, flights to Athens are resumed in normal conditions, while flights to Vienna, Frankfurt and Munich are also scheduled this week. Quarantine or self-isolation is also no longer required for the Romanian citizens arriving from 17 European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Croatia, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary).



    BREXIT The British PM Boris Johnson and the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen are holding post-Brexit trade negotiations today, after no major progress has been made towards a deal after four rounds of talks this year. London wants to end the transition period this year, whether or not a deal is reached. Experts say a failure of trade talks between Britain, which left the EU on January 31, and the 27 EU member states, may have devastating economic consequences, further deepened by the coronavirus pandemic.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • New rules for the baccalaureate exam

    New rules for the baccalaureate exam

    For the first time in post-communist Romania, this years baccalaureate exams have begun as early as February with the oral language and computer tests. Until the 22nd of February, around 177,000 young people in their final year at high school or who have already finished high school will be taking an oral language test in the Romanian language or the language of ethnic minorities, a foreign language test and a computer test. These are pass/fail tests, with no marks being awarded.



    The second part of the baccalaureate examination will be held between the 25th and 28th of June and will consist in written tests for which marks will be awarded. This timetable was established, together with parents and students representatives, by the former Social Democrat education minister Liviu Pop, who has in the meantime left the Cabinet. Pop argued that the period before the written tests is a very busy time for pupils and that splitting the examination in two parts would give children a respite until summer.



    Trade unions in the education system warn, however, that changing the exam timetable may lead to strange situations that the law does not cover. For example, some of the students who pass the February exams may be unable to take their summer exams because of poor grades in class. We will have a better picture of the new system after the exams in summer, by comparing things with last years baccalaureate, when the best results in the last 8 years were reported. Almost 73% of the pupils who took the tests passed, which accounts for a 5% increase compared with 2016. Of the 135,000 pupils, only 97 obtained the maximum score. The best results were obtained in Sibiu, in the centre, Bacau and Iasi, in the east, and Cluj, in the west, while the worst came from Ilfov and Giurgiu, in the south.



    Minister Pop said at the time that the good scores were not the result of easier exams than in previous years, but of the fact that pupils worked harder. There were also high schools, especially technical ones, where no pupil passed the baccalaureate exam. The National Liberal Party in opposition said the authorities needed to take urgent measures to support the education system. Having themselves held the education ministry in the past, the Liberals said the baccalaureate exam had in recent years become a mere bureaucratic formality sending young people into unemployment, with no qualifications, no practical skills and no chance of integrating into the labour market.


    (translated by: Cristina Mateescu)