The Failure of the Romanian Education System: Only 77% Registered for Baccalaureate Exam

The Romanian education system is not the best in the world, that’s a fact. It used to be way better, but the new generations proved not to be interested in learning the way the previous generations did.

This year only 77% of the pupils in the 12th grade registered for the baccalaureate exam. It’s the lowest percentage that Romanian teachers have ever seen. Last year, in the plain pandemic, 83% of the pupils registered for the exam. The drop is more than visible.

So, it’s not a surprise for anyone that Romania’s scores are so low at PISA tests year after year. In 2018, PISA Tests for Romania showed a high degree of illiteracy among the Romanian pupils.

In reading literacy, which is the main topic of PISA tests, 15-year-olds in Romania scored 428 points in 2018 compared to an average of 487 points in OECD countries. This means that the Romanian pupils don’t read that well or they don’t comprehend what they read.

Also, Romanian15-year-olds scored 430 points in mathematics in 2018, at PISA tests, compared to an average of 489 points in OECD countries.

Where are Romania’s geniuses at mathematics? Where are those international Olympics champions?

The truth is they still exist and the Romanian school still offers the elite students a proper environment to develop their skills. But, the average Romanian pupil lacks motivation for learning. Or is the average Romanian teacher who lost his motivation for teaching?

The debate is ongoing, but the results spell disaster any way you write them. And the Romanian political class fail their own exams, let alone the exam of getting more pupils to register for the Baccalaureate.

Recently, Romanian “experts” from the Ministry of European Investments and Projects failed in drafting the country’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. It was their exam, as adults, as public servants, in offering the country the chance to recover after the pandemic. And, while other European countries have their plans approved, the Romanian version keeps on being rejected by the Commission.

Who is to be blamed for the situation of the Romanian education system?

Without a doubt, the culprit is the political class from 1990 until the present. There were dozens of ministers during these years and no one, without any exception, succeeded in doing something good for the pupils.

The professional schools were abolished then partially set up once again. An additional grade was introduced before the first grade, Grade Zero, as it was called, and that had ZERO effects on the kids. Reforms were only written on paper. The teaching manuals are now written by private companies and have lots of spelling and consistency mistakes.

The Romanian Minister of Education considers the pupils need…sex education

Among all these problems, the madness is yet to come up: the biggest problem at the moment for the minister of Education and the Governing coalition is not how to make the education system to be efficient once again, but the…sex education. The biggest debate in nowadays Romania during this week was if the kids should be sexually educated from their first grades or not.

Indeed, this is what was missing from the Romanian education system: sexual education. Along with receiving sex education, the kids will definitely read better and learn harder. Don’t you think so?