Radio România Internațional

Tag: students

  • School and Students

    School and Students

    After decades of reform, Romanian education is still waiting for the right algorithm, and the line minister Mircea Dumitru is worried to see that most people in Romania believe that we are still far away from the education system we would all like to see in place, and the prospects of achieving that are quite dim. Minister Dumitru believes that Romanian education does not meet the needs of the labour market, therefore it cannot train students to acquire specific skills. What the Romanian school does is use just one template for all pupils and students and, when drawing up school curricula, it does not take into account the individuals, their skills and the jobs they are interested in pursuing.



    Mircea Dumitru believes that the education system should focus more on developing individual creativity: “It is hard to implement tailored education systems, but I believe this should be one of the top missions of those who work in science and education in particular. But we still have hope and we are optimistic that in the not so distant future we will be able to develop such a school system in Romania, one that should train and educate the future educators, so that they can better cater for the needs of each and every pupil and student in the system.”



    But are we, this year, closer to the model of school that we would all like to see implemented in the coming future? What kind of education and what kind of schools would we like to have in this country? Which are the prospects for those who graduate from high school? How clear is the model itself to us? Or maybe there should be several models, not just one. These are all questions asked by Education Minister Mircea Dumitru who thus expressed the perception shared by the general public. Pleading for natural pedagogy, which, according to him, “we should live and breathe naturally”, Mircea Dumitru has decided to change certain things.



    For instance, he has issued an order which reduces the number of hours children should spend doing homework. The decision was made following complaints coming from many parents unhappy with the large amount of time their children had to spend doing their homework. Each teacher should take into account the fact that children can only take on a certain amount of work, especially at tender ages, because they do not have the psychological or biological capacity to focus on difficult tasks after so many hours already spent in school, the minister also added.

  • Romanian education under review

    Romanian education under review

    Starting from the assumption that a sound education system ensures the progress of society, Education Ministers in Romania have been trying for the past two decades to find the right solution that would rid Romanian education of its problems. The results have been numerous and disappointing: curricula changing from one year to the next, introducing or scrapping subjects.



    These erratic changes have only produced more uncertainty, for students, parents and the teaching staff. The system’s flaws and inconsistencies become even more transparent ahead of important exams. The most recent results of a simulation test of 8th graders draw a much gloomier picture: only 44% of candidates grabbed a passing score, as compared to 50% in 2015. Some voices claim any reform of Romania’s education system is virtually impossible, pointing to the many flaws in the system: deficient textbooks focusing on useless and boring information, underskilled and underpaid teachers or obsolete teaching methods that don’t encourage creativity.



    On the other hand, students complain about their busy timetable and having to study for too many subjects. Parents are unhappy for having to pay private tutors for their children in order to offset the poor level of teaching in class. The situation is not entirely bad, given the excellent results Romanian students reported in international contests and Olympiads, as well as the number of students admitted in top-level universities abroad.



    Referring to the problems in the education system, Romanian Academy member Solomon Marcus has said that nothing could be more important than instilling a sense of respect for human beings in children, making them understand that human beings are the most valuable thing there is. In turn, president Klaus Iohannis has referred to the troubles facing the education system, also proposing a new line of reform.



    The president said the Government had the necessary leverage to draw up a plan to modernize the education system by the end of 2018, when Romania will celebrate 100 years of existence.


  • The beginning of a new academic year

    The beginning of a new academic year

    The new academic year has begun with the usual expectations, plans for the future and misgivings. Hard-working generations that are in the early days of their intellectual life and career must cope with new changes, the introduction of new demands and the need to customizing their training to the labor market.



    So the students’ main concern is related to what is needed on the labor market, and their choice of the field of academic study greatly depends on the very labor market. And it is not only the younger generations that take the market into account, but also the universities, but their adaptation to the market is a little bit slower.



    Gabriela Jitaru is the coordinator of projects run by the Executive Unit for the Financing of Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation. We asked her to explain what the connection is between the academic system and the labor market.



    Gabriela Jitaru: ”There is no direct connection, I’d say, since the education system must prepare students who, after graduation, can be integrated on the labor market. Another key role of the education system is to prepare the graduates for facing the challenges of society and to help them in their personal development. Which means that there needs to be a close connection in relation to the academic curriculum. However the curriculum should be flexible, since today’s labor market itself is very flexible and is developing and changing very fast. The education market, if we may call it like that, at higher education level, is not developing that fast. At the level of the Executive Unit for the Financing of Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation several analyses and studies have been made nationwide that monitored the insertion of the graduates on the labor market for several generations. Perception is different. Those who graduated 5 years ago have a more flexible perception, in the sense that they have a much clearer perception of the competences they needed to integrate on the labor market. Results showed that people who graduated 5 years before the survey was conducted believe there is a 78% connection between what they studied and their job requirements while those who graduated 1 year before the survey say the connection is of 70%. “



    There has been talk about a social model of job, with a view to adapting education to market demands. Here is Gabriela Jitaru again, with details on such a model: ”If we were to define a social model of a job, that would be a job without borders both in terms of the location where the job is performed and of the flexibility of competences. In a way, today’s model of job gives the opportunity to many graduates to get hired, although they did not train for that job specifically, but they did acquire the needed competences. A possible answer to this question might be a survey showing that the labour market doesn’t offer jobs in accordance with the graduates’ degree of training. Graduates who took part in the survey pointed out that 30% of them are overqualified for their jobs.”



    Is the labour market becoming more conservative? Here is Gabriela Jitaru: “Apparently the labour market is not necessarily very rigid, it is actually pretty dynamic. Sometimes it has very specific demands, which education experts believe the demands shouldn’t be covered by the education curriculum because general competences are very important just like practical training. The survey has revealed that, due to the present crisis, those who graduated in 2009 and 2010 need a longer period to find the right jobs, almost double the time needed by the graduates of 2005 and 2006. But we cannot say that employment has been significantly altered or influenced by the crisis. “



    The European Commission is trying to provide assistance to the young people who are trying to find a decent job. ‘The Youth Guarantee’ programme is part of this assistance, which sometimes happens not to keep pace with the labour market dynamics.



    Gabriela Jitaru is back at the microphone: “I don’t think the programme will be very much adjusted. This is a European Commission programme and it is up to them to decide whether to adjust it or not. If we refer to the ‘Youth Guarantee’, it will benefit young people with ages between 16 and 25. Other programmes must be directed to employers, and the probability of such a project to have an impact and effective results is higher, because the employer is encouraged to hire young people within the 16-25 age bracket, who are no longer involved in a training programme.”



    Novelty and change are always ahead of institutions, and universities are no exception to the rule, being subject to institutional inertia. And those who start building a career by university studies have to face new challenges.

  • The New Academic Year Opens

    The New Academic Year Opens

    The new academic year opens with little change in the problems that students complain about. Accommodation is dwindling year by year, while the prices skyrocket. State run dormitories are still the least costly, up to four times cheaper than private ones, where fees are often about 110 Euro a month.



    Monthly academic stipends are a pittance, students and their parents complain, the National Alliance of Student Unions in Romania indicate, also pointing out that corruption and lack of state financing are overwhelming. The organization published a complaint about corruption in universities. They also called for state stipends to cover monthly expenses for accommodation and meals, as well as accommodation in dorms, in addition to state subsidized transportation fees.



    The highest level of competition in entrance exams was at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, with its 11 schools. The academy had 3,000 budgeted seats, with an additional 2,600 students paying their own way through the system. For this academic year, the 19 schools in the University of Bucharest provided 4,450 state budget seats, and 4,000 privately paid. The Bucharest Polytechnic expects 5,000 students in its 15 schools.



    As a first this year, students in the main university centers may study for a semester or a year as exchange students. This program is free of charge. At the same time, the government in Bucharest issued an emergency executive order to allow university instructors without a PhD to cover the sore lack of personnel.

  • News in Education

    News in Education

    After a week’s break, Romanian students are back to class on Monday. The second semester brings a novelty, the new school code. Under the new set of regulations, parents have the right to contest grades for their children’s tests, and are entitled to a written justification from the instructor within five days.



    If the arguments are not to the parent’s satisfaction, they can apply to the headmaster of the school for a reevaluation of the test. In order to address the request, the headmaster has to appoint two teachers of the relevant specialty from that school who do not teach in the student’s class. If the difference between the initial grade and the new grade is below one point, the grade stays the same. If the difference is above one point, the challenge to the grade is considered accepted.



    Another novelty is that schools cannot make public a student’s personal data and school results. They and their parents have the right to be consulted in terms of what the school teaches, in line with their interests and needs, and in line with the interests and needs of the community, taking into consideration the school’s specialization. Parents who do not send their children to school are liable to be fined.



    The new code also provides for students to get a 75% discount when going to museums, concerts, the theater, opera, films, and other culture and athletic events organized by public institutions. They also get half off on all local public means of transportation.



    The Ministry of Education, through the schools, pays for transportation to and from school, in the form of a pass, for students who don’t go to school locally, for a distance of up to 50 km. This payment also applies to students who live in a dorm or rent accommodation for school; they get the equivalent of eight return trips per semester. Last but not least, students also have access to loans for furthering their education.