Radio România Internațional

Tag: universities

  • September 30, 2024 UPDATE

    September 30, 2024 UPDATE

    VISIT Romanian president Klaus Iohannis received in Bucharest on Monday the Prime Minister of the German state Baden-Wurttemberg, Winfried Kretschmann. The head of the Romanian state described the visit as an excellent opportunity to strengthen the Romanian-German cooperation and dialogue emphasizing the tight political, economic and cultural relations between Romania and Baden Wurttemberg. The social and human relations were high on the talks agenda with emphasis on the essential role played by the German minority in Romania and the Romanians who settled in Germany, in the consolidation of the relations and cooperation including at social and economic levels. The German official was also received on Monday by the country’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. Two joint statements were signed on this occasion on strengthening cooperation between the Romanian government and the government of the Baden Wurttemberg state and on bilateral cooperation in the field of civil protection. The trade exchange volume reached 8.32 billion Euros last year.

     

    EDUCATION Most state universities in Romania kicked off courses on Monday, while private universities set their own date for the start of the academic year. 52 state universities offer over 2,200 different degrees and study programmes, and 34 private universities offer 338 degrees and specialisations.

     

    PARLIAMENT Romanian senators and deputies are meeting in a joint parliamentary session on Tuesday to appoint the members of the National Bank’s board of directors. Political sources say the current governor Mugur Isărescu, who has held this post since 1990, has the backing to secure yet a new term. Also on Tuesday, Parliament will discuss two requests from president Klaus Iohannis, one regarding the participation of the Romanian Army in the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine command and another referring to the creation on national territory of a maritime training facility for Ukrainian personnel. The two chambers of Parliament will also be briefed on Romania’s allowing the transition of equipment and material assets donated by Sweden to Ukraine and on its hosting a US naval forces special operations contingent for a period of two years.

     

    COAL The UK ends coal power as it shut down its last coal-fired power plant on Monday. Reuters news agency notes that the UK thus becomes the first G7 country to give up coal power. London announced in 2015 that it intended to phase out its coal-fired power plants, which at the time accounted for 30% of the country’s energy. Phasing out coal power has led to a drop in greenhouses gas emissions in the UK, which intends to completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector by 2030 and become greenhouse neutral by 2050. The other 6 most industrialised states in the world are also set to close their coal-fired power plants by 2035 at the latest, under an agreement signed in April.

     

    TENNIS Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian lost to Karolina Muchova in straight sets on Monday, 6-1, 6-3, in the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing, worth almost 9 million dollars in prize money. Last Saturday, Jaqueline Cristian defeated world no. 10 Barbora Krejcikova in three sets, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

     

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  • Online learning, in the spotlight

    Online learning, in the spotlight

    The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in online education in Romania, as face-to-face learning is suspended in some schools. Unlike in the past, when schools would be closed depending on the infection rate in the respective town or village, currently the decision depends on the number of cases in each particular school.



    The authorities have introduced non-invasive, saliva testing for students, teaching and non-teaching staff in the education sector, in order to monitor epidemiological risks. The outgoing PM Florin Cîţu explained that the students whose parents do not agree with their kids being tested on the 8th day of isolation following a COVID case in their class will continue to learn online.



    Some parents and students want classes to be held online in places with infection rates above 6 per thousand. The Students Council emphasised that within a month since the start of the new school year, over 13,000 students and nearly 4,000 teachers in Romania caught the disease. Without regular testing, with scarce additional protection for students with chronic diseases and with elevated thresholds for suspending face-to-face teaching, many lives would be further jeopardised, students argue.



    Moreover, they say that keeping schools open requires using public transport means and interacting with a large number of people in the community, thus contributing to further spreading the virus. Parents also believe that the danger is now too severe, and blame the incompetence of the authorities.



    Things are no better in universities either. Rectors want the digital COVID certificate, attesting that the holder has been either vaccinated, or recovered from the disease, or has tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, to be mandatory in universities. The National Council of Rectors wants the relevant legislation amended to the effect that access to campuses and universities be conditional on anti-COVID vaccination, except for medical exemptions.



    The interim education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu explained that at present the government is unable to initiate bills, and only Parliament can do this. He added that Council members discussed the option of requesting each parliamentary party to state their position on such a bill. Sorin Cîmpeanu added that the new legislation would apply both for students and for university staff.



    Students on the other hand are not happy with the idea of compulsory vaccination in order to be able to take part in classes. In Romanian universities, the vaccination rate is 50-55%, below the EU average. The only higher education institution in the country with a vaccination rate above 90% is the Târgu Mureș Medical School. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • May 27, 2019 UPDATE

    May 27, 2019 UPDATE

    SENTENCE The former head of the ruling coalition in Bucharest, Liviu Dragnea, was imprisoned on Monday night, after having been sentenced by the supreme court to prison for corruption offences. Dragnea will be quarantined for 21 days, during which he will undergo physical and psychological check-ups, and his prison activities will be decided. The head of the Social Democratic Party in power and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Dragnea was sentenced on Monday to 3 and a half years behind bars for inciting abuse of office. The prosecution proved that while he was the president of the Teleorman County Council, Dragnea had 2 social assistance workers illegally employed with the Teleorman Child Protection Service, although in fact they were working for the local branch of the Social Democratic Party. Liviu Dragnea had also received a suspended sentence for election fraud, involving the 2012 referendum for the impeachment of ex president Traian Basescu. The Social Democrats executive president, PM Viorica Dancila, announced she will be the interim party president until a special congress is held. The Chamber of Deputies will also elect a new speaker.



    ELECTION Sundays election in Romania sends to the European Parliament representatives from 6 political parties, according to the results announced by the Central Electoral Bureau after most votes have been counted. The National Liberal Party, the largest in the right-of-centre opposition, got the most votes, 26.35%, followed by the Social Democrats in power with 23.16%, and the Alliance 2020 USR – PLUS with 21.24%. Three other Romanian parties will be represented in the EP: PRO România – 6.7%, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Peoples Movement Party with around 5.5% each. Seven other parties that took part in the election were below the 5% threshold. In the diaspora, many Romanians queued for hours to be able to cast their ballots. According to Radio Romanias correspondents in Rome, Madrid and London, people complained about the poor organisation of the vote. The Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu issued a news release apologizing for the problems and saying he ordered an investigation in the countries in question. He also ordered the Foreign Ministry to run an immediate analysis to identify solutions and legislative measures for the development of a voting system adapted to the needs of the Romanian communities abroad. The turnout at the EP election was a record-breaking 49%. On the same day as the EP election, Romanians also voted in a referendum on the judiciary, initiated by President Klaus Iohannis. Over 80% of those who voted in the referendum answered “yes. The referendum turnover was over 41%, above the 30% minimum threashold for the vote to be validated. President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday that Romanians had cast a pro-Europe vote, in a country where thieves and criminals belong in prison, and once again criticised the organisation of the ballot in the diaspora.



    COUNCIL President of Romania Klaus Iohannis takes part on Tuesday in an informal meeting of the European Council in Brussels. The main topic will be an analysis of the results of the elections for the European Parliament, held between May 23rd and 26th. The EU leaders will also have a preliminary discussion on the candidates for the top posts in EU institutions.



    UNIVERSITIES Until May 31st, 24 Romanian universities are presenting their educational offer in Washington, at the annual NAFSA conference and exhibition, the most prestigious in the world in this field, the Romanian Council of Rectors has announced. The conference brings together more than 10,000 participants and 3,500 universities from over 100 countries. “Romania offers a high-quality, adequate and safe learning environment as well as European-standard campus facilities, for more competitive costs than other European countries, reads a news release issued by the Romanian Council of Rectors.



    POPE Online registration for attendance of the religious services held by Pope Francis in Romania continue until Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people have already registered. Besides Romanians, Christians from neighboring countries such as Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine but also from far away countries like Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Australia and Israel will come to Romania for the Popes visit. Pope Francis makes a three-day apostolic visit to Romania from the 31st of May to the 2nd of June following an invitation from President Klaus Iohannis and the Catholic Church in Romania. The motto of the visit is “Lets walk together. The pontiff will travel to the capital Bucharest, to Iasi, the biggest city in the east of the country and home to a sizeable Roman-Catholic community, to Blaj, in the centre, the spiritual capital of the Romanian Greek-Catholics and to the Marian shrine in Sumuleu Ciuc, in the centre, in an area with a majority ethnic Hungarian population.



    EU The Council of the European Union Monday adopted a negotiating mandate allowing the Commission to take part in multilateral negotiations on electronic commerce. “The digitalisation of our economy has fundamentally changed the way businesses and consumers do trade. It was high time for international rules to reflect this transformation. The EU is committed to working with its WTO partners to put in place an ambitious and pragmatic framework that will guarantee a safe and predictable environment for online trade, said the Romanian Minister for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship Ştefan-Radu Oprea, who chaired the formal meeting of the Foreign Affairs (Trade) Council, as part of Romanias presidency of the Council of the EU.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)