President Iohannis: All problems in education cannot be solved "overnight"

President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that new approaches are needed in the selection and training of teachers, the transformation of school management, the reduction of inequity in schools, but he stressed that all the problems in education cannot be solved "overnight". "We need new approaches in the selection and training of teachers, but also in transforming school management from administrative work into leadership and initiative. Equally, it is essential to reduce inequity as early as the first years spent by children in kindergartens and schools in Romania. At the same time, we must accept that we do not have unlimited financial resources. We cannot solve all the problems in education overnight, no matter how much we want it," said the head of state at the conference "Educated Romania - public policies and coordination of funding sources", organized at the Cotroceni Palace. He pointed out that school management, the teaching career, equity and early education are crucial for "transforming for the better" the education in Romania, stressing that the lack of quality education becomes a threat to the development of our country in the long term. "The 'Educated Romania' project is advancing and is entering a new stage today. (...) The four fields covered in these documents, namely the teaching career, school management, equity and early education, are crucial for the transformation of education in Romania. The PISA results, published less than two months ago, represent one of the unquestionable arguments for the urgency of fast and sound solutions. The lack of quality education accessible to all children in our country becomes a threat to Romania's development in the long term," said Iohannis, referring to the release of four public policy documents prepared by the experts of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the financial support of the European Commission. About these documents, presented at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace event, President Iohannis stressed that they are valuable because they are based on the Romanian realities, but also on identifying examples of good practice from the international environment. At the same time, the head of state emphasized the need for a knowledge-based economy. "We cannot, in the age of artificial intelligence, have an endemic problem of functional illiteracy among our population. Nor can we, in the context of the population's ageing, marked as it is, leave hundreds of thousands of young people unprepared for a rigorous global economy and constantly changing, but also of a society which, if it does not develop sustainably, will simply cease to exist in its current form," added Iohannis. Presidential adviser Ligia Deca said that the four documents released address key-issues for the reform of the Romanian education system, such as teaching career, school management, equity in the education system and access to quality early education. "Each document includes both measures that can contribute to achieving the objectives set by the 'Educated Romania' project, as well as international examples of concrete ways in which other states have successfully solved similar problems," Deca said. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Mirela Bărbulescu; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Simona Iacob)