Education remains one of the weakest areas with regard to quality of life in Romania,\u00a0according to the latest \u201cWell-Being Barometer,\u201d conducted by MIR Research at the\u00a0request of UNSAR (the National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in\u00a0Romania) for the ABS platform\u2014the Alliance for Well-Being. Romania scores 6.85 out\u00a0of 10 in the education category: above Bulgaria (6.74), but below all other countries\u00a0analysed in the region\u2014Poland (8.3), the Czech Republic (7.97), Hungary (7.38), and\u00a0Slovakia (6.87). Beyond the numbers, the report shows that problems persist in\u00a0educational inclusion, basic skills, and preparation for the labour market. One of the\u00a0most concerning figures relates to early school dropout. According to the latest Eurostat\u00a0statistics, Romania has the highest rate in the European Union: 16.8% of young people<\/p>\n
aged 18 to 24 leave education early and do not pursue any training program, while the\u00a0European average is 9.3%. This means that nearly one in six young Romanians enters\u00a0adulthood without sufficient qualifications, which directly affects their employment\u00a0prospects and long-term economic stability.\u00a0Psychologist Oana Puican analyses the study\u2019s findings from the perspective of the\u00a0development of new generations of adults.<\/p>\n
Oana Puican<\/strong>: \u201cFrom a psychological perspective, the data from the \u2018Well-Being Barometer\u2019\u00a0study, which highlights the fragility of education in Romania, do not merely reflect\u00a0academic performance or statistical indicators. The results tell us about how a child\u2019s\u00a0relationship with themselves, with others in the community, and, ultimately, with the\u00a0world they live in is formed. Education is the first social space where a child learns trust,\u00a0belonging, cooperation, and the sense that they have a place in a community. When\u00a0access to education is fragmented, unequal, or unstable, the effects extend far beyond\u00a0the academic realm. For the child or young person, confidence in their own abilities\u00a0diminishes, a sense of helplessness emerges, and the ability to adapt to new situations\u00a0develops more slowly. A child who repeatedly experiences this gap\u2014whether due to a\u00a0lack of resources, learning difficulties, or a lack of educational support\u2014may internalize\u00a0the idea that they are not capable enough or that opportunities are not meant for them.\u201d\u00a0The disparities highlighted by the \u201cWell-Being Barometer\u201d are also evident in terms of<\/p>\n digital skills. In Romania, only 27.7% of citizens possess basic digital skills\u2014less than\u00a0half the European average, which exceeds 55%. In an economy where more and more\u00a0activities depend on technology, this gap is becoming a major problem, especially for\u00a0young people and those in rural areas. At the same time, only 12% of Romanians have\u00a0above-average financial literacy, which means they struggle to understand decisions\u00a0related to saving, borrowing, or financial protection.\u00a0\u00a0Here is again Oana Puican with details from a psychological perspective towards informational discrepancies versus educational ones among the young people:<\/p>\n Oana Puican<\/strong>:\u201d We are seeing nowadays an increasing number of young people, who have the information they need, but do not trust themselves when it comes to making decisions or the right choice. They quickly adjust to technological progress but have difficulties when it comes to real every-day relations. We see young people have issues when they must assume responsibility or they may have a low frustration tolerance. And this may also have a major relational impact. The lack of educational and emotional competences is often reflected in the difficulty of building a dialogue, negotiating differences or having stable relationships.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n The report is drawing attention to the differences between rural and urban in Romania, where nearly 42% of the students are attending schools in the rural area, where access to educational resources, technology and specialized teachers remains very limited. Furthermore, international tests have shown higher performance gaps between the two categories of students. These differences are further reflected in their access to a high-school, college or the labour market. Here is again psychologist Oana Puican:<\/p>\n Oana Puican<\/strong>:\u201d If we are to look at these things in a long term, these dysfunctionalities in education are influencing not only the professional career of these young people, but also their way of building relations, their ability to communicate, their way of making major decisions, or the way of developing their autonomy.\u00a0 At a social level the psychological effects become visible in the way in which the young generations are tackling future challenges. When education does not offer enough predictability, there comes the need for withdrawal, anticipatory anxiety or the difficulty of investing in long-term projects.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Oana Puican has also shared with us a conclusion:<\/p>\n Oana Puican<\/strong>:\u201d Education doesn\u2019t produce only competences, but also an emotional structure. Education doesn\u2019t mean only getting knowledge, but it\u2019s also about living in society: we are learning to listen, to wait and be patient, to bring arguments, to cooperate. When various links in the education chain are weakened, the whole society is going to feel the consequences, and those are polarization, the lack of trust, and frail social connections. In a long term, investment in education is actually an investment in the psychological health of a society\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n So, education can no longer be seen as an administrative field but as an essential infrastructure for social welfare. The way in which a child joins and stays in school is influencing the economic health of a family, the capability of a society to adjust and in a long term the resilience of an entire country.<\/p>\n (MI&bill)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Education remains one of the weakest areas with regard to quality of life in Romania,\u00a0according to the latest \u201cWell-Being Barometer,\u201d conducted by MIR Research at the\u00a0request of UNSAR (the National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in\u00a0Romania) for the ABS platform\u2014the Alliance for Well-Being. Romania scores 6.85 out\u00a0of 10 in the education category: above Bulgaria […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":1005866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[],"coauthors":[115857],"class_list":["post-1008821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n