Awards for outstanding performances in education

The Romanian students who won medals at this year's international Olympiads were rewarded in a gala

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Mihai Pelin, 13.12.2023, 14:00

Proficiency in the
education system is vital for the development of Romania, the PM Marcel Ciolacu
said at the annual award gala for international Olympiad winners. In his
opinion, a truly educated Romania cannot be achieved instantly, particularly
since every education minister in the past 30 years tried to introduce their
own outlook and sought to restructure the system fundamentally.

The PM said that many of
the changes made in the past were not preceded by thorough assessments, which
contributed to declines in the quality of education. He told the participants
in the event that next year, public education will have a 61% higher budget
than at present.

On the other hand, the PM
also believes the performance of the teaching staff must be encouraged:

Marcel Ciolacu: Apart from school
buildings and equipment, more attention needs to be paid to evaluating and
incentivising the teaching staff. Reality shows that we need performance
criteria in the education system. an involved, responsible teacher must be paid
more for their work. I have already spoken to Minister Ligia Deca about having
talks with the professionals in the ministry and identifying solutions in this
respect.

I hope the unprecedented
50% average pay raise in the public education sector within a year will attract
growing numbers of young professionals towards a teaching career, the education
minister Ligia
Deca said in her turn.

At the annual gala, as
many as 138 students were awarded, who won 164 prizes, medals and honourable
mentions at international and regional competitions in various academic
subjects. Also awarded were their teachers and their schools. Romanian students won the
maximum achievable score in 6 such competitions, as well as 51 gold medals, 55 silver medals, 30 bronze
medals, and 22 honourable mentions in international academic events.

The total award funds earmarked this year
by the education ministry was around EUR 785,000. The awards amounted
to EUR 4,000 for a maximum achievable score, EUR 3,000 for a gold medal, some EUR
2,500 for a silver medal and around EUR 2,000 for a bronze medal. Honourable
mentions were also awarded around EUR 700.

A
teacher received an incentive amounting to the highest award paid to any of
their students, while the school attended by the student in question received an amount equal to the
one granted to each winning student. In this case, the money must be spent primarily
on school equipment relevant for the subjects in which the prizes have been
received. (AMP)