The Ministry of Education Aims to Evaluate Every School

Ligia Deca, the Minister of Education, stated that it is not possible to give a single grade to the entire pre-university education system in Romania, but each school can be evaluated and its preparation improved. She added that through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), 100,000 teachers are being trained to enhance digital competency. "I don't believe we can give a grade to the entire system but rather an evaluation for each school. Through the PNRR, we have 100,000 teachers being trained to improve their digital competency," replied the Minister of Education during a press conference.

Ligia Deca was asked about the solutions to the issues raised by many students who still complain about carrying backpacks filled with textbooks and notebooks, and by many university professors who claim that the level of preparation of young students is very low: "I think there is often confusion between what is found in the school curriculum and what is reflected in textbooks. Often, teachers go through the textbook rather than the school curriculum. Also, in the school curriculum, where curricular reforms have been made, such as in primary or secondary education, there is flexibility for the teacher to adapt to the group of students they have in front of them. Regarding the weight of the backpack, there are solutions: through PNRR, all classrooms have been equipped with digital equipment, we have science laboratories, and we have a website where all school textbooks are available in electronic format, some of them in an interactive system. So, there is the possibility for students, using the digital equipment they already have in the classroom, to follow lessons without having to carry all the textbooks for all subjects on that particular day. I believe that in schools where equipment has been or will be provided in this school year, because we have over 5,000 schools that will have such equipment through PNRR, there are lockers where students can leave their textbooks or workbooks, so they don't have to take them home every day. I think these issues can be resolved."

On another note, the Minister of Education explained that in the future, there will no longer be vocational and technical education, and to eliminate confusion, it will be exclusively dual education.