Minister: Bad education causes communist nostalgia

The Minister of Education, Daniel David, has brought up a worrying phenomenon: an increasing number of young people believe that the communist period was a beneficial one. According to him, this wrong perception is the result of a deficient education, which failed to transform information about totalitarian regimes into real skills for students.

• Deficiencies in the educational system

In an intervention on public television, Daniel David stressed that, although there were numerous history classes dedicated to communism and dictatorships, they were not presented in a credible and convincing way: "We had countless classes and lessons about communism, about dictatorships, in vain, because they were not credible." The minister believes that the educational system must be reformed to provide students not only with information, but also with critical skills to understand historical reality. Another aspect Daniel David pointed out is that, although Romanian students enter high school with similar skills to their colleagues in other countries, at the end of the high school cycle, they remain well below the international average. This decline shows a systemic problem in education, which requires profound changes.

• Vulnerability to pseudoscience

The Minister of Education also warned of another worrying trend: young people are increasingly vulnerable to pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. "Our children are overwhelmed by astrology-type approaches, healers of all kinds," said Daniel David. This phenomenon is amplified by the fact that religious education is not taught in a clear and structured way, which makes young people slide towards forms of pseudo-religion.

• Need for reform

The minister's statements highlight an urgent need for change in the Romanian education system. If current models fail to provide students with the necessary skills to understand the past and critically analyze information, then it is essential to replace them with modern and effective methods. The erroneous perception of young people about communism is not only the result of the nostalgia of older generations, but also of an educational system that has failed to provide them with a coherent framework for interpreting historical reality. Educational reform thus becomes not only a necessity, but an urgency for the future of Romanian society.