World Bank's Capannelli: Romania should invest in education

Romania should invest in education, because 15 to 20 percent of its people lacks elementary education, although excellence areas exist, World Bank Country Manager for Romania Elisabetta Capannelli said on Thursday at the Aspen Institute Romania conference 'Unleashing the Potential of Eurasia. Strategic Choices on the New Silk Road' in Bucharest.

There are excellence areas in Romania's education, for instance foreign language skills appreciated by investors, but there are also weak areas, she said. Looking at PISA tests for math or sciences, for instance, results reveal weaknesses of the education system. (...) 15 to 20 percent of Romania's population lacks basic level, elementary school education, the World Bank representative pointed out.

Capannelli mentioned that Romania has allocated more than 3 percent of its GDP to education, while Sweden's level is 6.7 percent.

One might say Sweden is Sweden, but even in Bulgaria the percentage is higher, she stressed.

She also pointed out that Romania is ranked 74th in the world in terms of easiness of doing business, which she found hard to accept, given the opportunities offered by the country. Poland is 45th, but it started from a different level. Romania should advance, in her opinion.

As regards this matter, she reminded the stimulation of private business to take initiatives and the authorities' commitment to follow up reforms, allowing citizens to be the final beneficiaries of such efforts.AGERPRES