New Successes for Romania at International Olympiads in Informatics and Astronomy

Romanian students registered new successes at the International Olympiads of Informatics and Astronomy. These achievements come after Romanian students got gold, silver and bronze medals at the Mathematical, Physics and Chemistry Olympiads.

30th Central European Olympiad in Informatics – CEOI 2023. Magdeburg, Germany

First, the Romanian team won the 30th Central-European Olympiad in Informatics – CEOI 2023. The competition occurred in Magdeburg, Germany, between August 3-19.

Romania is the leader in the ranking, with the following results:

Absolute 1st place and gold medal – Luca Perju Verzotti, from the National College of Informatics Tudor Vianu Bucharest
Third place and gold medal – Alexandru Raul Todoran, from Aurel Vlaicu Orăștie Theoretical High School
Silver medal – Andrei Robert Ion, from the International Theoretical High School of Informatics, Bucharest
Bronze medal – Alexandru Luchianov, from the International Theoretical High School of Informatics Bucharest
The team leader coordinated the team – Prof. Petru Simion Oprița, Regina Maria High School, Dorohoi, seconded by the deputy leader – Bicsi Lucian, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics.

16th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2023. Chorzow, Poland

Remarkable results for the Romanian team at the 16th edition of the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad, held between August 10-20, 2023, in Chorzow, Poland, with the participation of 53 countries!

The Romanian team, consisting of 5 students and two coordinating teachers, returns home with the following results:

Gold medal and the highest score in the competition in the theoretical test – Dragomir Andrei, Bucharest International Informatics High School
Silver medals:
• Teofil Voicu, Emil Racoviță National College, Cluj-Napoca
• Mendel Mendelsohn, Bucharest International Informatics High School
• Bogdan Ciocarlan, Bucharest International Informatics High School
Bronze medal – Necula George – Vladimir, Bucharest International Informatics High School
Coordinating teachers: Lect. Dr. Cristian Pirghie, Ștefan cel Mare Suceava University and Prof. Dr. Petru Craciun, Suceava County School Inspectorate.

Romania proves it has plenty of bright and beautiful minds. On the other hand, in general, the education system in Romania is a failure. This is the paradox of the Romanian educational system.

To clarify, while there are some elites in education, as we can see from the Olympiads’ results, most Romanian students fail PISA tests every two years. It means they know how to read but don’t understand the meaning of what they are reading.

This has quite an impact on the social and economic environment in Romania. When hiring youngsters, one entrepreneur must ensure that the employee has the required skills to fulfil the job. In other words, one has to recruit exceptional students. Otherwise, the business might suffer from hiring all those failures we got used to during recent years.