Education: 40,000 domestic students benefit from study programs in the EU

Bringing students studying abroad back to the country is a challenge for the authorities. The Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Janina Sitaru, pleaded for the return to the country, after completing their studies, of young Romanians who chose educational institutions abroad. The Secretary of State mentioned that 40,000 students from our country benefit from study programs in the European Union, while last year 50,000 students from all over the world wanted to study in Romania: "Many of you choose to go to study abroad starting in high school and college and we're going to complete an outreach program because we want to encourage you to come and know that we're going to be a partner throughout your career, no matter what you want to do later in life life, stay in the country where you study, move on or return to Romania. And yes, we will start an information campaign about what it means to be a student or student (abroad). We will first start with the European side, with the European Union, because (...) the number of Romanian students studying in the European Union through Erasmus has doubled. We have reached approximately 40,000 Romanian students who benefit from these programs". Janina Sitaru highlighted, at the same time, that the Romanian educational market is "very offering" and "sought after", the Romanian state reaching 500 scholarships annually that it grants to non-EU citizens who want to study in Romania: "The Romanian educational market is very offerer and very sought after. I don't know if you know, the Romanian state grants some scholarships annually. We started with a small number, now we have reached 500 scholarships annually that the Romanian state grants to non-EU citizens who want to study in Romania. ( ...) We decided to digitize the application process. Last year, we had 50,000 applicants, 50,000 students from all over the world who want to come to Romania. Unfortunately, we don't have that many scholarships and part of we send them directly to universities, where appropriate. Some of them will stay in Romania and become good Romanian citizens with time, and others return to their countries. And they are Romanians where they return too. They study in Romania and remember fondly".

At the "Future of Education in Romania" debate, held at the House of Culture of the Students in Bucharest, in which students participated, together with representatives of some ministries, the university and business environment, sociologists, financial analysts, issues related to the principles were addressed which must govern the field of education in Romania, from formal education to non-formal, informal education, as well as issues related to the challenges of the future in the field, to the types of education, to the curriculum, to the financing of education and to unrestricted access to a form of education. Sorin Niţă, university assistant at ASE, and Andrei Voichiţa, administrator at Dueverde SRL, spoke about financial education, while Teodor Vergu, expert in accessing funds, implementing and managing cyber security projects from the National Cyber Security Directorate, presented the challenges users may face in the online environment, which is not exactly free of dangers. Alexandru Ozunu, co-founder of Young Professionals, Global Shaper, highlighted the main problems faced by Romanian students.

According to the organizers, the latest data show that, in Romania, for every 1,000 people between the ages of 20 and 29, there are 46.2 higher education graduates (ISCED 5-8), compared to 61.9 on average at EU level. At the same time, the school dropout rate in our country is 16%, the highest in the entire European Union, and 41.5% of children are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.