Romania can only make the best out of its economic potential and offer welfare to its citizens if it harnesses its human resources. The FIC’s ambition for Romania is to be the 10th economy of the EU by 2036 and education is one of the main drivers: when offered the right instruments and direction, people are more innovative and more efficient.
Romania cannot accomplish this without developing an educational system which is responsive to the needs of the economic environment, for the present and for the future. Standard education is no longer enough to foster the growth, diversification and flexibility which are required to keep pace with labour market developments, and to create new growth opportunities.
Source: World Economic Forum
Competitive labour costs continue to present an advantage to investors in Romania, but as salaries increase, competitiveness diminishes unless sectoral and educational upgrades occur. The idea that Romania’s competitive advantage lies with cheap and educated labour is no longer supported by current market realities. The Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017 published by the World Economic Forum confirms that Romania needs to improve the level of training of its employees and the quality of education to meet its economic needs. Local companies are increasingly faced with difficulties in accessing talent and technologically skilled people, while negative demographics are also adding more pressure to the labour supply.
While the pass rate for the Baccalaureate is still at an all-time low (68% in 2016), there are also huge discrepancies between the regions (83% in Cluj vs. 40% in Giurgiu). Moreover, less developed regions do not offer many viable alternatives to classical high-school. The dual education system has been adjusted, recently and tax incentives have been offered to encourage apprenticeships. However, fundamental steps required for sustainable reform of the system have not been taken.
Last year saw significant improvement compared to previous years for Romanian academic institutions included in the QS World Academic Ranking, but higher education is still one of the lowest in the European Union (25%) compared to the average of 40%. Other countries in the region, such as Poland or Austria are much closer to the average.
Despite lacking quality education infrastructure, Romania still has the potential to become a regional hub in information technology and the creative industries, and steps have been taken by the authorities to promote this in the last few years. To maintain pace with the development of the sector, the education system should adapt its curricula and infrastructure accordingly from earlier stages. Only by the development of a more flexible and responsive educational system in relation to digitalisation and the latest technological developments will Romania be able to improve its competitiveness.
A considerable amount of research has been carried out in recent years in many countries to determine the factors which enable young people to achieve success in life and in their careers. The unanimous conclusion is that preparing children only in academic terms is not enough to determine their success in life. It has been shown that the detailed technical knowledge children gain from their classes is only a part of what is necessary for them to land their dream job.
According to The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report (2016), by 2020, a wide range of technical professionals (like health-care practitioners) will require heightened interpersonal skills such as creativity and problem sensitivity to do their everyday work.
The industrial era is passing already and humankind is heading towards a more volatile environment in which technology will play an increasingly important role and where reading, writing, mathematical and theoretical knowledge are not sufficient for the next generation. In order to cope with the new future, young people need a new set of skills. Many studies have listed the most relevant soft skills needed for a successful life and the most important have been identified as critical thinking, communication and cooperation, planning skills, and inquisitiveness. The current Romanian education system is not effective in developing any of these skills. Instead it involves a hierarchical approach focused on absorption of facts, in which critical thinking is discouraged.
As a public service, the Romanian educational system should take a more entrepreneurial approach and consider citizens as its clients. As in any business, good performance results from understanding the client’s needs and always adapting the product (curricula, teaching body, infrastructure, tools) to meet these needs.
Educators need to start developing children’s soft skills, which they will need in their future career, starting from kindergarten, but especially in secondary schools. Although vocational counselling is offered in some schools, there is still a need for a more visible approach, involving children and parents. This could be achieved by the Education Ministry taking a structured approach and by using modern tools (such as proficiency tests, psychometric assessments and vocational planning).
Particular focus should be given to the 5th-8th grade, as it is still too common for young people to leave school earlier than they should. While the pass rate for the baccalaureate is only 68.1%, and the enrolment rate for tertiary education in Romania is 25.6%, compared to the EU average of 38.7%, the rate of admission to tertiary education is still low.
The Romanian education system is frequently presented by the authorities as using an individualized methodology, which takes into account personal abilities. In practice, however, many parents do not believe this to be the case, and only in the private sector do we see genuine application of these principles.
Moreover, school pupils in pre-university education as well as university students do not gain enough early exposure to the work environment and this means that some basic personal and social skills (like critical thinking, assertiveness, negotiation, and entrepreneurial thinking) are insufficiently developed.
There is no clear strategy for the development of soft skills through formal education. (For example, there is no teaching in industrial psychology, social education, adapted philosophy etc. in the current curriculum, which would prepare young people for life after school).
For 2017, we maintain our recommendation from previous years, that a performance appraisal system should be developed for the entire teaching profession, starting from the satisfaction of the client (parents and children) and continuing to cover theoretical and practical knowledge. Many Romanians have lost their trust in public sector services, including education, and the FIC believes this should be addressed by improving the status of teachers, as a prerequisite for attracting, maintaining and engaging the best people for the teaching profession.
The government must adopt the best practice set by the private sector and extend it at national level.
The current curriculum should be revised to adapt an outdated system to modern trends in the workplace, which is dominated more and more by the digitalisation of numerous sectors of activity.
Romanian educational legislation is well developed from a general perspective, with clear rules and regulations, allowing companies to become actively involved and develop strong cooperation with various actors in the field (universities, high schools, professional schools etc.).
However, the main difficulty over the legislation is its instability, resulting from different approaches being taken by different governments. Over the past 25 years the education law has been changed over 60 times by more than 20 ministries of education. This instability is extremely damaging to the education system and hence to the economy, as there is no stable strategy to equip young people with the skills they need.
Examinations at national level have been changed so many times in a short period that students are unable to follow a clear path towards their graduation (whether from elementary school, high school or university). This has led to a general mistrust in the education system as a whole, with many concerned parents choosing to send their children to foreign schools, thus depriving Romania of highly talented future professionals.
The FIC recommends stability and responsibility in legislation in the education sector. Each government should adopt and develop the education strategy set in place by its predecessors and not constantly try to innovate, especially when a specific policy has proved to be successful.
Changing the paradigm and investing in education will pave the way for sustainable economic growth.
The business environment has the resources and expertise to connect stakeholders and develop relevant skills through direct input in adapting curricula to fit the current needs of the labour market. It can also encourage initiative and practical training of students by investing in projects that support start-ups and entrepreneurship.
Companies in Romania have already started developing programs engaging several stakeholders to reach this goal. For example, in the last few years, IT companies have invested massively in the technical faculties of the main Romanian universities, improving the educational process, for the benefit of students, many of whom later join their companies, hence generating a clear return on investment.
Corporate Social Responsibility programmes in education can tackle systemic problems and improve cooperation with the business sector. Strategic partnerships with the main universities are vital.
Investment in research is critical, and efforts should be made to achieve this by use of external funds. Use of relevant consultancy could be beneficial (for example the Horizon 2020 mechanism).
Better engagement should take place between universities and the business community during the entire academic cycle. Universities should create workgroups internally for students, in which to facilitate and encourage interdisciplinary simulations. Facilitating and guiding discussions within these workgroups should involve participation by representatives of the business community. Students should be offered career guidance, supported by the business sector, focusing on the soft and hard skills they need to develop to be attractive to employers.
Companies should increase the number of internships and create mechanisms to enable the transfer of knowledge (e.g. by creating a mentoring platform or/and an integrated job platform, as well as developing shadowing programs).
Besides hard skills, there should also be a focus on interdisciplinary, digital and project management skills, which will prepare students to enter the labour market or become entrepreneurs.
After the fall of the communist regime, the general reputation of vocational schools fell significantly. This was a direct consequence of the destabilisation of the economy (with tens of thousands of workers losing their jobs) on the one hand, and the emergence of numerous private universities (which gave the illusion of a successful white-collar career, but had low academic standards), on the other.
Over time, the professional schools became something of a “scarecrow” for potential students, an icon of a failed educational system, with a low reputation. Moreover, they generally failed to attract the best teachers.
In recent years, however, following the direct involvement of multinational companies in the education system through various long term projects (e.g. Scoala Petrolistilor, Kronstadt, the auto school in Pitesti etc.) combined with the strengthening of standards in national examinations, the professional schools have experienced slow but steady progress. This trend is obviously a good sign but the combined efforts of the private and public actors must continue.
The FIC understands the crucial importance of vocational education in developing the next generation of professionals and also acknowledges the urgent need of the Romanian educational system for involvement by the private sector. Consequently, the FIC is willing to cooperate with the Government and other social actors (employers’ and employees’ confederations, NGOs etc.) to help develop a sustainable, long term, national strategy and policies for the professional education system based on KPIs.
Furthermore, the FIC, through its members, is ready to get involved in marketing activities, to raise awareness in Romanian society of the importance of professional education.
The appeal of vocational schools could also be raised by official school visits by highly successful professionals in industry, who could present their success stories to children and teachers and the path they have followed.
The sessions should concentrate on the new technologies and work procedures used in heavy industry to eliminate misconceptions about the blue-collar work environment and increase its appeal as an employment choice.
In recent years, some progress has been made in vocational education, in the sense that the professional system is seen again as a medium and long-term option for the development of crafts, and an opportunity to ensure a close link between education and the labour market. However, the vocational system still tends to focus more on the needs and interests of teachers rather than those of students.
The FIC acknowledges the importance of reorganising the vocational education system and suggests that this should be based on the following principles:
Creating a system centred on the needs of students and employers, which aims to provide the practical skills and technical knowledge needed for successful incorporation into the labour market.
Establishing a flexible system which allows the setting-up of dual system schools only where favourable conditions exist, taking into account the requirements of the business environment. Where it is not possible to implement this system, schools should remain under the current one.
Developing a stable and predictable system, linked to the labour market’s needs. This would require inter-ministerial committees to ensure good coordination between the three main actors involved in public policy development and the modernisation of VET (vocational education and training) in Romania (MENCS, MMFPSPV, MECRMA), as well as the development of accurate analysis and forecasting mechanisms for the medium and long term.
Developing a participatory system, which includes an assessment of social actors, studies (including prognosis) of the main economic actors by area, high schools and available data on teachers, as well as analysis of population demographics in those areas, in order to identify future labour market needs.
In conclusion, many employers and non-governmental associations have proposed setting up school campuses based on regional specialisms and the level of development of the regions, (for example to encourage the relocation of vocational schools and bring them into close proximity to large industrialised areas) or supporting companies which already have a concrete plan for the development of local VET (ex. Kronstadt, Continental Timisoara, etc). These regional campuses would facilitate the learning mobility of pupils according to their abilities, and areas of interest of employers.
The FIC recommends that public authorities should initiate a reorganisation strategic plan for the vocational education system (with support from interested companies) based on current geographical needs.
The FIC is aware of the complexity of this process and is willing to get involved in helping the Romanian Government to update its strategy for vocational education.