In a country with alarming rates of functional illiteracy and
\ndisquieting school drop-out figures, politicians agree that something needs to
\nbe changed. The Social Democrats and the Liberals have made the education laws
\na top priority, but heated debates are expected on the topic within the ruling
\ncoalition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The National Liberal Party and president Klaus Iohannis, a former
\nteacher himself, have put a lot of energy into these bills, which, they say,
\nwill create the framework for making education more efficient, more accessible,
\nmore flexible, more inclusive and better adjusted to market requirements. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Liberals insist that certain provisions in the bills must remain as
\nworded in the draft tabled by the current education minister,
\nLigia Deca. These include tripling the budget for scholarships and increasing
\nthe number of beneficiaries, as well as turning the Hot Meal Programme into a
\nHealthy Meal Programme. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Other stipulations the Liberals feel strongly
\nabout include certifications recognised or accepted in the labour market for
\nall specialities, including theoretical ones, a tax-free signing bonus,
\namounting to 5 gross minimum national wages, paid to teachers at the start of a
\nminimum 5-year period of teaching in underprivileged areas, and expansion of work-based
\nlearning to the higher education segment. Under the new bills, the Education
\nMinistry may also organise, jointly with the Foreign Ministry, Romanian schools
\nabroad. Finally, priority education zones are introduced, in order to narrow
\naccess, participation and performance gaps for students facing social exclusion
\nrisks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Liberals’ strong attachment to the education
\nbills has gone so far as to affect their political partnership with the Social
\nDemocrats. The state secretary with the Education Ministry, Florin Lixandru, a
\nSocial Democrat, said his powers were withdrawn under a minister order for what
\nhe called a thought crime. He argues that the Education Laws are much too
\nimportant and they require thorough discussion, and that there is enough time
\nfor analysis, given that the deadline for the education laws in the National
\nRecovery and Resilience Plan is in the 3rd quarter of this year. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to Lixandru, the Social Democrats’
<\/p>\n
As for the baccalaureate, the Social Democratic
The education bills are troubling the waters in Romania’s ruling coalition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":94428,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[37163,28904,32437],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-94427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-bills","tag-education","tag-laws"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nanalysis on the bills submitted by the Education Ministry indicates that a
\nnumber of key elements, critical to the children’s future, need correcting.
\nLixandru says that, with respect to high school admission, the Social
\nDemocratic Party will not accept a procedure that drastically reduces
\nchildren’s access to high-quality education. In his opinion, the right of high schools to
\norganise their own admission exams is questionable at best, because it
\nincreases the risk of unfair practices like corruption and private tutoring.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nParty is reluctant to increasing the number of exams, as the bill stipulates. And
\nnot least, an education law must include provisions concerning the Romanian
\nchildren in the diaspora, the Social Democrats argue. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"