EduMin: School year, new beginning for education system, desired change, starting to happen
Minister of Education Ligia Deca said on Monday that this school year represents a new beginning for the entire education system, mentioning that the law on pre-university education has come into force, gradually putting into effect the "Educated Romania" project, initiated by President Klaus Iohannis, and the desired change is starting to happen, told Agerpres.
"Both the President of Romania and the Romanian Government have constantly reiterated that education is a national priority. I have dedicated a good part of my career to improving the education system in Romania and that is why I am happy to say that the change we all wanted is finally starting to happen. (...) But we need to do more and provide more. We have proposed that in every school in Romania there should be adequate educational infrastructure. This is already being put into practice through the provision of furniture, teaching materials and digital equipment to educational units, through the largest investment in the last three decades. More than one billion euros from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan are being contracted and the first results will be visible in the coming months. More than 2,000 contracts have already been signed, and by the end of this month all of them will be ready to be launched in order to have the material basis that our children deserve," Ligia Deca added.
The Education minister also said that solving some of the system's "recurring challenges" is a priority of her mandate.
"Since the beginning of my mandate, the Ministry of Education has launched calls for projects funded by the PNRR worth almost 3 billion euros. This includes the implementation of a pilot network of green schools, programmes to reduce school dropout, the purchase of green minibuses for students and the equipping of high schools in Romania with intelligent laboratories. Solving recurrent challenges of the system is a priority of my mandate," added Deca, highlighting in this regard the hot meals for a million pupils programme, increasing access to nurseries and kindergartens, financing educational units that still have non-compliant sanitary facilities.
The minister also said that the package of legislation is meant to meet teachers' needs and it represents a proof that teachers need to be valued, mentioning last year's salary increases, which "were the highest in three decades."
"The Government has committed that salaries will increase gradually in the coming years, in relation to the average gross salary on the economy as a salary of the newcomer. The average salary increase for teaching staff this year was more than 25% and for auxiliary teaching staff more than 30%. The Romanian Government has committed that from January 1, 2024, teachers and education staff will benefit from a further increase, as agreed with the representatives of the education staff," the minister added.
She referred to school principals, mentioning the salary inequalities and the discussions that the Ministry of Education has held with the Ministry of Labour and inside the Government to remedy them.
"Distinguished teachers, I appreciate the efforts you make every day and congratulate you for your work and invite you to continue to be true role models for your students. Dear pupils, enjoy every moment, together with your teachers and colleagues, always stay in competition with yourselves first and foremost and be open to knowledge. Dear parents, I have always supported honest communication between school and family. The efforts made here in school have better results if they are matched by the efforts made at home, I invite you to continue to be reliable partners of the school," the minister also said.
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