Radio România Internațional

Tag: teachers

April 18, 2024 UPDATE

REPATRIATION A group made up of 20 children and two teachers who were blocked by the latest heavy rainfalls in Dubai are to be repatriated on Friday on board of the plane, which also carried Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to the region. We recall that a Romanian delegation headed by Ciolacu is presently visiting the region. Romania’s Foreign Minister, Luminita Odobescu, says that the Romanian Foreign Ministry is making efforts to repatriate all the Romanians affected by the storms and flooding affecting the Emirates. According to her, a group of compatriots have already been brought to Romania, whereas a second one is still in Dubai but is keeping in touch both with the ministry’s representatives and with the air carrier. Referring to the situation of the group of children, members of a traditional music ensemble, the head of the Romanian diplomacy says they have been brought to Adbu Dhabi with support from Romania’s General Consulate and will leave for Bucharest tomorrow.

SCHENGEN The European Commissioner for Home Affairs Yilva Johansson has voiced hope that a certain date will be set this year for Romania and Bulgaria’s fully-fledged accession to the Schengen zone as proposed by the European Commission. While in Bulgarian capital Sofia, the EU official held talks with both the Bulgarian Interior Minister, Kalin Stoyanov, and the Romanian one, Catalin Predoiu. In late March, Romania and Bulgaria joined Europe’s border-free area only with their air and maritime borders. Controls are still being carried out at the land borders.

ABU DHABI The Romanian Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is paying a working visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday and Friday. An important objective of this visit is the consolidation of the economic component, with an emphasis on attracting Emirati investments. The Prime Minister is to meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, with other senior Emirati officials, with representatives of relevant companies in the United Arab Emirates, as well as with members of the Romanian community there. The agenda of the visit also includes a plenary meeting of the delegations, during which there will be an exchange of bilateral documents in areas of common interest. The PM Ciolacu stated that he wanted to strengthen cooperation relations with the United Arab Emirates, from a political and economic perspective. ‘Romania continues to attract Emirati investors in the air infrastructure, the modernization and expansion of Otopeni Airport being a viable project of our collaboration’, said Marcel Ciolacu. He added that projects in the fields of digitization, energy and agriculture also correspond to Romania’s interests. In the first part of his tour in the Persian Gulf area, Marcel Ciolacu had discussions, on Wednesday, in Qatar, on economic topics. He stated that he wanted Romania to become the entry gate of this state’s investments in the European Union.

SUMMIT President Klaus Iohannis said that he wanted to solve as quickly as possible the problems that the Romanian citizens still have at the airports of some European countries, despite the fact that Romania entered Schengen with air borders. The statement was made before the European summit in Brussels, where a report requested by the Council mentions the need for the total integration of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen Area, as a measure that will boost the single market. The Council’s agenda includes the situation in Ukraine, a country that needs more military aid and is facing problems in the energy infrastructure, following the Russian bombings. The European leaders will also discuss the tense situation in the Middle East, generated by the crisis in Gaza and the tensions between Israel and Iran.

(bill)

18 April 2024
June 13, 2023 UPDATE

TALKS
Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday designated PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu
as candidate for the position of Prime Minister. On Monday, the PNL leader
Nicolae Ciuca stepped down under the political agreement with the PSD on the
planned rotation of the cabinets and on Tuesday he was elected president of the
Senate. The Prime Minister designate says that he wants the future government
focus on economy and reforms. Romania needs these reforms as well as the
National Programme of Recovery and Resilience. Romania’s place is in the
European Union and NATO. And no matter how much some people would like Romania
to take another direction, the country’s way is sure and with political
stability it becomes a certainty Marcel Ciolacu went on to say. The opposition
USR has criticized the government rotation as this isn’t going to solve the problems
of the citizens.

FRIGATE The Romanian flagship, frigate
‘King Ferdinand’ is to sail back to the Romanian Port of Constanta, on the
Black Sea, after having participated in a six-week operation in the
Mediterranean, the Romanian Navy Chief of Staff has announced. The mission of
the Romanian servicemen consisted of enforcing the UN arms embargo imposed on
Libya and in combating the illegal trafficking in oil, drugs and people through
the close monitoring of maritime traffic and vessels in the area. The ‘King
Ferdinand’ has also carried out various joint activities with partner vessels
from Italy, Germany and Greece, participating in the IRINI Operation.

WEATHER Romanian hydrologists have extended,
until Wednesday, the Code yellow and Code orange alerts for flooding, valid for
rivers in 17 counties in the center and west of the country. The torrential
rain on Monday night affected several localities in the south and south-west of
Romania. The red code alert instituted by meteorologists for this region was
lifted this morning, and dozens of intervention teams were sent to evacuate
water from people’s households, after several streams of water burst their
banks. At the same time, hectares of agricultural land were flooded. The most
affected counties are Caraş-Severin, Vâlcea, Hunedoara and Mehedinţi. Heavy
rainfalls also caused flooding in Timiş and Alba counties on Monday.

(bill)

13 June 2023
June 8, 2023 UPDATE

STRIKE Trade unions in Romania’s education system have
planned another protest rally on Friday amid dissatisfaction with the
government’s response to their claims. In the meantime, the Executive on
Thursday endorsed a memorandum regarding the pay rises granted to the personnel
in the country’s education system under the new pay law. In this way the
Executive is guaranteeing this domain will be a top priority. Romania’s Liberal
Prime Minister, Nicolae Ciuca has given assurances the salary of a beginner
teacher will be based on the average medium salary, as the protesters requested.
The memorandum also refers to a holiday bonus according to the teachers’ salaries,
as well as to other bonuses. In another development, field minister Ligia Deca
has announced that applications for the Baccalaureate and the national
assessment exams for 8th graders will be extended until June 13 and
the competency tests from the Baccalaureate exam will take place over 14 – 23 June.

FUND The EU Modernization Fund made
available 2.4 billion Euros for 31 projects in seven beneficiary countries,
including Romania, in order to help them streamline their energy systems, cut
greenhouse gas emissions in energy, industry and transport as well as to
improve energy efficiency, the European Commission announced on Thursday. This has
been the highest sum made available so far and will give an impetus to Europe’s
ecological transition According to the European Commission, these investments
are helping the member states to reduce their dependency on fossil fuel from
Russia, meet their climate and energy objectives for 2030 and contribute to the
EU’s long-term commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Additional
investment has been made in Romania, 1.1 billion euros, the Czech Republic 1
billion euros as well as in countries like Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia, Latvia
and Lithuania. The sums made available on Thursday, have brought the total
payment from the aforementioned fund to roughly 7.5 billion euros, benefitting
10 eligible member countries.

GROWTH Romania reported an economic growth
rate of 2.3% in the first quarter of this year, compared to the similar period
of 2022, according to provisional data published today by the National
Institute of Statistics. Thus, the estimated Gross Domestic Product was over
312 billion lei (about 62 billion Euros). Among others, wholesale and retail
trade, motor vehicle and motorcycle repair, transport and storage, as well as
constructions contributed to the increase in the GDP. The World Bank estimates
that Romania’s Gross Domestic Product will register, this year, a growth of
2.6%. The IMF has revised significantly downward the estimates regarding the
growth of the Romanian economy in 2023, from 3.1 to 2.4%.

DEFENCE The Commander of the U.S. European
Command, General Christopher G. Cavoli, and the Romanian Chief of Defense
Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, are the hosts of the Central European Chiefs of
Defense Conference, on Thursday and Friday, in Bucharest. The chiefs of defense
from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and
Hungary are participating in the meeting. Nine military leaders of the US
National Guard are also present, the Romanian Defense Ministry reports. The
event includes topics on security challenges and aims to intensify military
cooperation relations to ensure stability in the region.

(bill&LS)

8 June 2023
May 26, 2023 UPDATE

STRIKE Teachers in Romania are carrying on the all-out strike they kicked off
three days ago as the talks between the authorities and trade unions have ended
in a deadlock. They took to the streets in several major cities around Romania,
like Sibiu, Craiova, Galati, Buzau and Botosani. Trade unions in Education are
asking for a 25% pay rise for all employees and the equivalent of 600 Euros for
beginners. The Executive has pledged to give only bonuses, an offer which has
been turned down by the trade unions, which threaten to continue their
protests.

CONTRACT The government in Romania on
Friday endorsed a new frame contract for social securities which is supposed to
come into effect on July 1st and has prevention as its main
component. It also offers bonuses to family physicians willing to treat
patients in rural areas and is for the first time regulating pay for
performance. Family physicians will also have at their disposal new instruments
for the preventive examination of patients in various age brackets. The legal
framework for increasing the access of the insured to outpatient services of
physical medicine and rehabilitation has also been created.

GOVERNMENT
The power sharing arrangement of the parties in the ruling coalition in
Bucharest has been postponed until the resolution of the teachers’ all-out
strike, the liberal Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă has announced. Ciuca was
supposed to resign his mandate on Friday, to be taken over by the Social
Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu. In fact, Nicolae Ciucă made the announcement
alongside Marcel Ciolacu, and Kelemen Hunor, from the Democratic Union of
Ethnic Hungarians in Romania – UDMR, the third party in ruling coalition in Romania.
The Prime Minister Ciucă appealed to the reason of all teaching
staff, telling them that the Government cannot assume to unbalance the
State budget by granting them the salary increases requested, and that the
discussions with the unions will continue. In turn, the head of the PSD, Marcel
Ciolacu, said that the decision is correct, and that the teachers and employees
in the healthcare system are a priority. Predictability and responsibility are
needed, the leader of the UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, also said. The agreement between
the Liberal Party – PNL and PSD stipulated that each of them would hold the
position of prime minister for a year and a half. In the last few days, there
have been discussions between PSD and PNL regarding the distribution of ministries
in the future government. A retired general, Nicolae Ciucă was sworn in as
prime minister in December 2021.

FAIR
Romania participates in the Madrid Book Fair under the slogan Creating
good chemistry with Romanian literature (Creando buena quimica con
las letras rumanas). Until June 11, Romania’s stand will display numerous
volumes signed by Romanian authors, including those translated, in recent
years, into Spanish, with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute. The
public has a wide range of activities to choose from: literary activities, book
presentations, recitals, debates, round tables, scientific workshops for
children and autograph sessions. There will also be events promoting Romanian
culture, especially contemporary culture. The Madrid Fair has reached the 82nd edition, in 2023
marking nine decades of existence, and it is one of the most important literary
events of its kind in Europe.

(bill&LS)

26 May 2023
May 25, 2023

DAY The Ministry of National Defence is
today staging a series of military and religious services devoted to the Heroes
Day celebrated every year on the Ascension Day in Romania. Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis together with the country’s Minister of Defence, Angel Tîvăr are going to attend a series
of ceremonies at the Heroes’ Monument near Sibiu, in central Romania, and the
president of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, is expected to give a
speech during the ceremony at the Heroes Graveyard in Buzau, southern Romania.
The Heroes Day will also be celebrated by Romania’s Prime Minister Nicolae
Ciuca at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in the Carol 1st Park
in Bucharest. The Heroes Day was first observed on May 4th 1920 and
was taken over by the Romanian Parliament in 1995. It became a national day of
the Romanian people in 2003.

STRIKE Romanian teachers are carrying
on their all-out strike, after trade unions in education have turned down the
latest government offer, which they deem as insulting. Several thousand
teachers are protesting in front of the government building in Bucharest. Representatives
of the government and trade union leaders last night attended a new round of
talks which ended in a deadlock. The authorities ruled out any pay rises and bonuses
claimed by the trade unions. However, teachers were supposed to get 25 hundred
lei in two installments this year and the non-teaching staffers 1000 lei.
Marian Neacsu, the government’s Secretary General, explained the money would be
given on a special card for professional career and gave assurances that the
field of education would be a top priority in the future process of drafting
the payment law. Disgruntled with the pay and their working conditions, employees
of Romania’s education system kicked off an all-out strike on May 22. Trade
union leaders have announced their intention not to give up the protest unless
their claims are met.

EU The European Commission
Executive Vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis on Wednesday called on the member
states to apply more effectively their plans of recovery and resilience, to
make investment and cut on spending. The European Commission has again drawn
attention to the economic situation in Romania, the only EU country for which
the procedure for excessive deficit has been activated. According to Brussels,
Romania spends more money than it has and must cut its deficit under 3% by the
next year. According to the government in Bucharest, the budget deficit is
expected to go down under 4.4% of the GDP this year and 2.9% next year. We have
more on the issue after the news.

CUP Sepsi OSK Sfantu Gheorghe won
Romania’s football cup after a 5-4 win against Universitatea Cluj in the
shootouts on Wednesday. 120 minutes into the game, the score was nil-all. The
hero of Sepsi was its goalkeeper, Roland Niczuly, a former player of the
Universitatea Cluj’s. Niczuly managed to save three shots, after Universitatea had got
the upper hand but wasted two chances. Sepsi has won the trophy for the second
time in a row. We recall that this ambitious football side from central Romania,
lost the finals of the aforementioned competition in 2020. Universitatea has
lost a Romanian Cup finals for the fifth time.

VISIT ‘A genuine war is going on in Europe at present’ the
president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Franz Walter Steinmeier said on
Thursday during the visit he is paying to Romania. The German official has
reiterated his appeal to unity in this context. During the second day of his
state visit jointly with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis he met
representatives of the German community in Romania. The two officials are going
to visit the National College ‘Samuel von Brukenthal’ in Sibiu with tuition in
German, a school first documented 650 years ago. The two presidents will be
attending a formal lunch offered by the incumbent mayor of Sibiu, Astrid Fodor.
The last stage of the German president’s visit in the region is going to be the
Saxon fortified church in the village of Cristian, a monument dating back to
the 13th century. Steinmeier will next visit the city of Timisoara,
in western Romania to lay a wreath of flowers at the monument dedicated to the
anti-communist revolution of 1989 in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral.

(bill)

25 May 2023
An all out strike is freezing Romania’s undergraduate education system

After the COVID-19
pandemic had moved the activity of teaching online and had significantly
impacted an entire generation of students, another event is shaking Romania’s
education system. Students are having a day off after teachers disgruntled with
the government’s pay and social policies have gone on an all out strike. Over
150 thousand teachers in Romania’s undergraduate system as well as 60-70
thousand non-teaching staffers have joined a strike they pledge to carry on
until a credible solution to their claims from the Executive. Against a rising inflation, which last year went
over 15% with a heavy impact on the employees’ standard of living, the most
difficult issue is that of the teachers’ low salaries. According to trade union
leaders wages in this line of work should be around 4,000 lei, the equivalent
of 800 Euros for a beginner teacher and around 7,000 lei, over 14 hundred
Euros, for a senior teacher. The new education laws promoted by the incumbent
field minister, Ligia Deca, have also triggered a fresh wave of discontent. As
regards the end of the school year, which is due in June, trade unionists say
that it is the government who must have the last say in this respect. During
the talks with the government representatives, the president of the Spiru Haret
Trade Union Confederation, Marius Nistor said the following.

Marius Nistor: I wished, this also being the desire of all the education employees, this
all-out strike had not taken place, you know. We didn’t wish for it, we were actually forced to have it. A lot of our claims have been ignored so far and the
end of this strike mainly depends on the answer we get from the Government and
of course on the desire of our colleagues.

In response, the
country’s Prime Minister, Nicolae Ciucă, says that:

Nicolae Ciuca: Education is our top priority together with the healthcare. We can find
solutions and we cannot allow that the students may not take their final exams
and complete their studies.

The strike is
also leading to political deadlocks. Under the protocols of the incumbent
ruling coalition, PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu is going to take over the Prime
Minister seat from the Liberal Nicolae Ciuca shortly. However, Ciolacu has
called for the suspension of the talks over the new cabinet until a solution is
found to the crisis in the country’s education system.

According to
various publications in Bucharest though, none of the political sides seems very
delighted to take over the leadership of the Executive at a time when trade
unionists in Romania’s medical system could also stop activity and the police
have also expressed their right to a strike. No matter the political colour of
the ruling parties, experts believe, they will have to shortly deal with acute
social disgruntlement, as Romania next year is in for a new series of
elections, for the European Parliament, as well as local, legislative and
presidential elections.

(bill)

22 May 2023
Of drugs and violence in the Romanian schools

The consumption of psychoactive substances in schools is on the rise among the Romanian teenagers with bad consequences both for them and their families.

Anti-drug policemen have recently annihilated a major network of consumers and traffickers of banned substances. Most of these consumers were minors and communicating via the message network Telegram.

Early this week numerous search operations were carried out in Bucharest and other localities like Mures, in central Romania, Braila and Galati in the south-east and Dambovita in the south. Significant quantities of drugs and money have been seized on this occasion. Here is Catalin Tone, the head of the Antidrug service with the Brigade of Combating Organized Crime in Bucharest.

Catalin Tone: “This is an atypical case, which shows us again the serious dimension of the phenomenon of drug abuse and trafficking in Romania. 11,000 people have been active on a chat group suggestively entitled Sweet Grass, where 30-40 thousand daily messages have been reported. Talks here have mainly been about drugs, distribution, consumption, cocktails and blends. Also very serious is the fact there were 15-20 hundred minors in the aforementioned group, very young and not very responsible at their age.”

The Romanian society is in great need of initiatives for the education and information of the young people, the anti-drug expert says. Catalin Tone also believes Romania needs more clinics for the treatment of drug addiction. Another dangerous phenomenon which is gaining momentum in schools across Romania is violence and its negative impact on all those involved in the educational process.

The Ministry of Education estimates that within two weeks it will come up with a procedure for the management of violent cases in schools, which will enable teachers and any other employee in the countrys education system to promptly and properly deal with school violence. Education Minister Ligia Deca said that together with the ministries of Justice and the Interior, they are identifying the necessary law amendments, including in the areas of fines and obligations for parents. In turn, the trade unions representatives in education have announced their intention to table a legislative initiative in Parliament aimed at discouraging violence acts in schools. The decision was made after a series of events in several Romanian schools, which involved the physical aggression and humiliation of some teachers. An initiative aimed at discouraging school violence was voted by the Chamber of Deputies in 2018 but failed to get the Senate approval.

(bill)

12 April 2023
The virtual learning lab and other stories

Over the past two years, life switched to
the online mode. So it comes as no surprise that even dance had to learn to
exist online, although it seems counter-intuitive. Today we look at a
one-of-a-kind project, a strategic partnership in the area of professional
training and vocational education, co-financed under the EU’s Erasmus+ programme:
Teachers for SwanZ. A project initiated by the Floria Capsali Choreography
High School in Bucharest, jointly with the Prof. Vesselin Stoyanov National
Art School in Ruse, Bulgaria, the Attitude Company in Vienna, Austria and the
Greek Union in Romania.

The project was launched on December 1, 2020, and
it targeted the so-called Generation Z. Alina Munteanu, a psychologist with the
Choreography High School and the Dinu Lipatti Music High School, gave us more
details:

Alina Munteanu: Generation Z comprises
children born between 1996 and 2010. They are a little special, in that they
were born across a millennium and as such they share some of the features of
Gen X, they adjust easily to working on devices, and are very good at
multi-tasking. For instance, our students do their homework and at the same
time they listen to music, send messages on tiktok, like and share online
stories. It is fascinating to see these kids speak English so well, express the
Romanian culture through dancing, their willingness to get to know the Greek,
Bulgarian and Austrian cultures and to promote the Romanian culture around the
world. It has been a fascinating experience, and I believe it is a new
beginning for a choreography high school.

Denitsa Krastanova, deputy head of the Prof.
Vesselin Stoyanov National Art School in Ruse, also spoke about her school’s
participation in the project:

Denitsa Krastanova: To start with a brief presentation of our school-we provide
general primary and secondary education as well as vocational art education in areas
like musical instruments, classical singing, traditional folk singing, pop and
jazz singing, classical dance, Bulgarian folk dance, fine arts, advertising
design and drama. As a vocational school, we were delighted to accept the Floria
Capsali Choreography High School’s invitation to join the project Teachers for
SwanZ under Erasmus+, for a number of reasons. After we looked at the goals and
the essence of the project, we assessed its long-term benefits and its positive
impact. Teachers for SwanZ was an alternative way to improve professional
skills, a know-how exchange and a means to encourage creativity in teaching
dancing and social skills.

Laura Cristinoiu, a ballet teacher and the head
of the Attitude Ballet Studios in Vienna, looked back on the project after its
completion:

Laura Cristinoiu: I am very glad to look back
at these two years of work, one of them online, which is rather odd for a dance
project. We are talking about dance, about ballet teachers, about teaching
classical, folk and modern dance. I am very happy with the 3 outputs of the
project, namely a ballet guideline for teachers of other subjects in public
high schools, a dance handbook for teachers of classical dance in private and
public dance schools, and, our greatest achievement, the online platform teachersforswanz.eu,
where one can access all our workshops and everything we did during these two
years. More importantly, this platform is a means of certification from this
project for future dance teachers.

Diana Zăvălaș, a piano teacher with the Floria
Capsali Choreography High School and the project coordinator, told us why this
project was necessary:

Diana Zăvălaș: Teachers only have access to
obsolete methods, there are no life-long education programmes for dance
teachers, and we set out to help them in this respect and also to provide some
communication, networking, intercultural dialogue and coaching workshops, so
that they may improve their relations with their students, their co-workers,
and the parents. We applied for funding under Erasmus Plus and we found 3 other
partners who wanted the same things, namely to improve teaching methodologies
and help develop teachers’ skills. Becoming familiar with other cultures and
other types of methods is important, and such an international experience is
quite enriching.

Apart from the specialised beneficiaries, Teachers
for SwanZ and the Virtual learning lab also address dance lovers in general,
and those who would like to learn and specialise in various types of dance,
from classical ballet to folk dance and to contemporary dance. (AMP)

29 November 2022
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)

15 July 2022
Priority vaccination of teachers begins

The campaign to vaccinate teachers began in Romania on
Wednesday. New centres were set up in Bucharest and around the country offering
priority vaccination for teachers. According to official figures, almost 4,000
teachers received the AstraZeneca and Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines on the first
day of this campaign. Appointments for teachers are made differently, with
schools making lists with the staff who wish to get the vaccine and then send
the list to the school inspectorates and then to the health directorates. More than
60,000 teachers will receive the vaccine by 10th March, adding to the
42,000 who have already got it via the official electronic platform and the 128,000
who have already made appointments on this platform.

Meanwhile, the number of pupils and teachers testing
positive for coronavirus has continued to rise. In the first two weeks of the
reopening of schools, 730 classes switched to remote learning because of positive
cases among pupils and staff. More than 800 pupils and almost 640 staff tested
positive for Covid since 8th February, when schools reopened for
in-person learning for most children.

The National Public Health Institute said it noted a countrywide
increase in the incidence rate of new infections over the past two weeks. The data
indicate a cumulated incidence rate of more than 100 cases per 100,000
inhabitants in most counties and the capital Bucharest, with most cases being
reported in urban areas. The institute also noted an increase in the number of
Covid infections in the last six days, to an average of 2,640 cases per day, to
the levels recorded on 20th January. Weekly incidence rates are also
on the rise among the 0-19 and 20-39 age groups.

The National Public Health Institute says it is
considering three possible scenarios: first, a constant daily rise of 1%,
leading to a daily average of 3,300 cases by 20th March; second, a
constant daily rise 2%, leading to a daily average of 4,600 cases by 20th
March; and third, a constant daily rise of 4%, leading to a daily average of
8,900 cases by 20th March. Based on the trend seen in the last seven
days, experts are expecting the second scenario to be the most likely. (CM)

25 February 2021
Education for life, in school and at home

Recently, 154 teachers who are teaching at least 4,200 students from 8 counties of Romania and from Bucharest have benefited from training provided under a project called “For girls and boys run by the Association “Youth for Youth. The purpose of the project is to approach issues specific to puberty with secondary school pupils, especially with 6th and 7th graders.

They have chosen this age group because they have identified a major lack of information among high school students, although adolescents should have had better knowledge of their body, emotions and dangers specific to their age. The same lack of information is also considered to be partly responsible for certain worrying statistics: annually 10% of women in Romania who give birth are under age, and 6 out of 10 teen mothers have never had access to information about reproductive health. Although public education has provided an optional course on ‘Education for health starting in 2004, which can be taught from the 1st grade to the 12th grade, only 6%-7% of the students in the pre-university system took this course in the 2017-2018 school year.

This is the context in which the precisely in order to help teachers tackle these sensitive issues with the students. They are sensitive issues both from a psychological and physiological point of view, says Adina Manea, the project coordinator:

Adina Manea: “The programme addresses form masters, whether or not they teach the optional course ‘Education for health. What we have produced, namely the teaching materials for the teachers and the workbook for pupils, can be used both during the educational class and during the ‘Education for health class, where such classes are held. During puberty, apart from the occurrence of natural hormonal changes which teenagers may or may not understand, which may or may not be explained to them, there emerges a new range of emotions. It is important for them to learn how to deal with these issues. Moreover, at this age, children are very interested in communicating with and relating to the others, including in a romantic way. How we communicate with one another, what persuasive communication means, how we protect ourselves and what virtual communication means, what ones self-image is in the real and virtual environments, are also issues of interest to children. Children are meaner to one another, but they are also vulnerable to ill-intentioned people they may meet online. Young people need to learn how to discriminate between different attitudes.

Teachers and students have learnt how to better communicate with one another in relation to issues such as the human body and its development during puberty, self-esteem and relationships, ways to prevent violence, values, family and plans for the future. But while pupils are poorly informed on these issues, the question is how prepared teachers are to approach them.

Adina Manea: “The most important thing as far as teachers are concerned is that they intend and are willing to contribute to the childrens good. Teachers also admit that they lack in-depth understanding of certain issues of the younger generations, and that they need support by means of training. From the very start, we have intended to include parents in this discussion. After a period of training, teachers went back to their classes, where they used what they learned during our courses. Furthermore, the teaching staff, the pupils involved in the project, and the volunteers of the Association ‘Youth for youth are organizing activities in which they also invite parents to talk about these issues. Thus, parents are invited to recollect their puberty and the difficulties they had in coping with the issues typical of this age, to realize the importance of supporting their children through this natural process, from puberty to adolescence.

Of the schools that participated in the project ‘For girls and boys, 29 were from urban areas and 16 from rural communities. It is common knowledge that the rural areas in Romania are quite disadvantaged from many points of view. Here is Adina Manea with more:

Adina Manea: “We wanted to see the response of the parents and students from rural areas, which, according to statistics, are faced with poverty, lack of opportunities and reduced education level. Plenty of data clearly shows that, at present, rural areas are at a disadvantage against urban areas. We wanted to see if the reaction of people in those areas is as grim as the statistics suggested, but they had a very good response. Everybody was happy with the impact of these courses on children and the way in which the meetings with parents unfolded.

It remains to be seen to what extent the model of communication between teachers and children implemented by the Association ‘Youth for Youth will be applied so as to boost the level of information and self-awareness among teenagers.

(translated by: Lacramioara Simion)

13 March 2019
Teachers and the values of democracy

‘The percentage of teachers who have a low attachment to having a democratic regime in the country is worrying. Social tolerance among teachers is low, even lower as regards certain categories of people than in the rest of society. These are just two of the conclusions of a recent sociological survey on the democratic values fostered by Romanian teaching staff. These disquieting findings have caused heated debates in the public space, and many voices rushed into putting more blame on an already highly-criticized education system.

According to the authors of the study, a group of reputed sociologists and psychologists working under the aegis of the Friedrich Stiftung Romania Foundation, have admitted that ‘schooling is important for acquiring a political culture adequate for democracy. Therefore, the values embraced by teachers are very important, especially at a time when part of Europe seems attracted to authoritarian trends that question the very concept of democracy. Here is next Gabriel Bădescu, the chair of the political sciences department of the Babes Bolyai University in Cluj, with details about what the study authors have discovered:

Gabriel Bădescu: “We set out to find out to what extent teachers believe society should be governed according to democratic rules. All in all, around 90% said they like democratic systems, which may sound as a relief. But the problem is that when we moved on to more detailed questions, a rather high percentage of the teaching staff, that is around 40%, said that even in a democracy there should be a strong leader who should not bother with free elections and parliament.

Moreover, 14% of the teaching staff believe that Romania exiting the EU would be a good thing. A similar proportion would approve of a military regime, and 11% would favor a system governed by religious law (which means no political parties and no electoral mechanisms). Despite what this study reveals, namely that the values of teachers are less democratic than expected, sociologist Claudiu Tufis believes the data should be read in the broader context of the current trends within society. From this perspective, teachers emerge in a more favourable light than society as a whole.

Claudiu Tufis: “The data in the report were only analysed in relation to data regarding teaching staff in the undergraduate education system. The findings have not been contrasted to figures regarding the society as a whole or higher education graduates. I have read similar data gathered in early 2018 in Romania as part of international research. And weve reached the following conclusion: although they are relatively intolerant and less democratic than most higher education graduates, teachers in Romania are actually more open and more democratic than the general population. The problem is not that teachers are undemocratic, but that the entire population is. It seems that since the fall of communism 30 years ago, weve failed to internalise the values associated to democracy.

But the problem should be viewed in an even wider context, says Claudiu Tufiș:

Claudiu Tufis: “The problem in Romania is that the overall decreasing support for democracy is compounded by the fact that people are not well aware of what democracy means and what its values are. In contrast, in other countries, where democratic tradition spans over 50 years, the democratic system runs properly, even though peoples confidence in democracy is decreasing.

As far as social tolerance goes, Romanians are not far from the European trend. The groups that teachers rejected most frequently are drug addicts (58.7%) and alcohol addicts (53.6%). The third most unwanted group is the ethnic Rroma (42.5%), followed by other categories, such as homosexuals (38.3%), people with a different native language (33.7%) and unmarried couples (33.1%). As regards Rroma pupils, some Romanian teachers go too far, according to the survey titled “Education for democracy in Romanian schools.

Gabriel Bădescu: “One of the questions concerned teachers opinion on the education of Rroma children. Is it appropriate to educate them together with the others, or would it be preferable to have them study in separate classes? The answers to this triggered many debates, as well as concern, because one in eight respondents said Rroma children should go to school in separate, segregated classes. This is a problem. Education science experts have long reached consensus that pupils should learn together, irrespective of their ethnic membership, gender, differences or physical disabilities. Schools should be inclusive.

But perhaps the most worrying issue is the outlook of young teachers, under 35 years. As many as 54.5% of them say it would be good for Romania to have a strong leader and 17.9% say it would be a positive thing for Romania to no longer be an EU member state. Sociologist Claudiu Tufiș concludes:

Claudiu Tufiș: “These are people younger than 35, who were 5-6 years old when the communist regime collapsed and who do not remember anything about life in communism. They grew up during the difficult post-communist transition. They lived unpleasant economic experiences, they were affected by inequality, but they have no first-hand experience whatsoever of what the lack of political liberties and violation of fundamental rights actually is. This, together with a sense of disappointment with how democracy is functioning in Romania today, might be an explanation for their views.

(translated by: Lacramioara Simion, Diana Vijeu)

21 November 2018
Demands of Education Unions

Salary negotiations between the Government and trade unions in the education sector will continue, after the Government previously proposed a 10% increase in the wages of teaching staff starting August next year.

For years, Romanian teachers have been demanding higher salaries, but policymakers have rarely seen their demands a priority. As such, few teachers are motivated to carry on teaching or pursue higher goals. Many of the young teachers, disappointed with the low salaries in the system, resign and switch to other lines of work. High performance is hard to achieve when many of them, pressed to take up additional work in order to earn their living, lack any motivation.

After a new round of negotiations, trade unions in the education sector have rejected the Governments proposals regarding the funds allotted to education. Unionists speak of at least 500 million lei worth of funds that the Government must spend in order to adjust the salary grid in the field of education. The president of the Federation of Trade Unions in Education, Marius Nistor, says he cannot agree with introducing this adjustment starting next year.

Marius Nistor: “This adjustment must be implemented much sooner. We cannot wait until 2017. In order to implement an increase of salaries able to reform the education system, we have to discuss the single salary law, with very clear prospects of salary increases in the field of education. So we are talking about two separate things, a Government order that should solve irregularities, and the single salary law that will regulate the increase in salaries.

Marius Nistor has also said that unless a solution is reached in the next round of negotiations, on June 1 trade unions would stage a rally in Bucharest. In turn, Labour Minister Dragos Pislaru says the adjustment of salaries in the field of education starting January 1, 2017 would entail a financial effort of 800 million lei. The stake is not to increase salaries, Dragos Pislaru argues, but to do away with discrepancies by means of adjusting salaries from the bottom up.

Dragos Pislaru: “I would like to remind you that we are talking here about a government order that targets a fair adjustment and correction of the salary grid, not necessarily a salary increase. The 10% salary hike, which is in fact 9.4%, represents an average increase in the payroll, but the main goal of the order is to operate adjustments and relocations in the salary grid.

Once the issue of salaries in the field of healthcare is solved, the Government will next address salaries in education, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos has promised.

25 May 2016
The World of School Textbooks

Sociology scientists looked at textbooks used in the Communication in the Romanian Language and at Civic Education textbooks for the earliest four years of school, first to fourth grade. What they found were plenty of stereotypes, mostly of the gender and age type. Here to talk about them as they transpire from textbooks is Cosima Rughinis, university lecturer.

Cosima Rughinis: “Textbooks are still full of stereotypes in these two respects. The occupation of mothers and women is mostly that of teacher. In early reading textbooks, two thirds of women appear as teachers. In real life, things obviously are not like that. Stereotypes are mostly occupational. Women also appear very often in the position of homemakers, or, as they say in Romanian, ‘cooking pot wives’. This appears quite literally, they are depicted with a cooking pot in their hand, or they are described as cooking desserts. At the same time, we don’t find out other things about them, things that happen in real life. Which is valid for men too. Textbooks ignore the family life of men, or their involvement in the family. At the same time, they are presented exclusively as aviators, lumberjacks or carpenters.”

The pictures in the books are also anachronistic for today’s Romanian society, just as the texts they illustrate. Children read fragments from literary works of the 19th and 20th centuries. Even the texts written by the textbook designers reflect these stereotypes of women as mothers and teachers, occasionally pediatrician. Considering that in Romanian society nowadays women have the most diverse of occupations, while fathers raise children and do household chores, we asked Cosima Ruginis why we have these stereotypes in the textbooks.

Cosima Rughinis: “They can be found in the collective imagination and discourse, when referring to feminine and masculine roles. I don’t think that in contemporary Romanian society there is any expectation for a woman not to work. Which is why the textbooks are discrepant. This discrepancy does not necessarily stem from the literary universe of the 19th century, they also stem from an inertia of representation. Without a doubt, these textbooks are also are designed under pressure, for time or financial reasons. And I don’t think that anyone has even raised the issue of having these textbooks match the children’s life as it is nowadays.”

In addition to gender stereotypes, primary school textbooks also contain age stereotypes, which sociologists believe to be even more dangerous.

Cosima Rughinis: “In Romania, age stereotypes are even stronger and less talked about, they are invisible, and it seems to me they stir the same emotions as the gender ones. We as women, and some men we work with, have bouts of indignation when we see these absolutely ridiculous gender stereotypes. Unfortunately, one may find adorable the image of an old man with a walking stick or of an old woman with a traditional scarf. This happens as Romania is facing a demographic crisis. In this context, the elderly are excluded from social activities both in real life and in the collective imagination. Unfortunately, textbooks contribute to this crisis the elderly are facing. They are not portrayed as active people. In all of the textbooks we reviewed — and we looked at all the reading textbooks, all the civic education textbooks and in all the 4th grade Romanian textbooks except one — we only found one representation in which grandparents were depicted as active people, vacationing in the mountains. Otherwise grandparents sit in armchairs, wear glasses, are hard of hearing, etc.”

In spite of the stereotypes that children are faced with from the very first day of school, sociologists don’t believe that they influence in any way their future choice of profession. Their impact is much more subtle:

Cosima Rughinis: “The danger is that girls will have homemakers as role models. And it’s not even the role models that are the problem. Boys and girls look at society, at movies, at people around them… The danger lies in the credibility inspired by various people. For instance, businesswomen. Sometimes we may feel that a businesswoman is less credible than a businessman. In some civic education textbooks, we found chapters about leaders and occupations where we found only men. These are exceptions, I don’t think they are representative, but their presence in textbooks seems to reflect a certain set image, and for this reason I believe women face a diminution of credibility when they become politicians, managers, businesswomen.”

After this detailed look into the world of primary school textbooks, this group of sociologists will continue with junior high school and high school textbooks.

30 September 2015