Education and society

I’ll begin with a disclaimer. I am currently studying at a University in the UK. Why I left Romania to do that? I’ll explain later within the article.

Much has been written or said about the Romanian educational system recently, most of it not good. I am not here to say there are no massive flaws in our system, quite the contrary. But I will point out how what is not flawed makes the Romanian system better than other countries’.

By design, the educational system in Romania has the following 2 goals: find and train the best of the best, for them to fulfill their potential in a given subject, and give everyone else enough knowledge and experience in various subjects so they can make the best career choice they can when it comes to that. Seems like a good DESIGN, no?

But, as a result, there is a lot of material to be taught. Chemistry, Physics, Literature, Economics, Psychology, Maths, 1 or 2 foreign languages and many other things. In a single year. At a waaaay higher level than most other parts of the world. As a comparison, what British people find hard at A Levels, Romanians are supposed to study when they’re 14-15 years old. That needs a lot of trained teachers, with interest and desire to do their job. Their salaries don’t help motivate them. So the second design aim of the system has its problems. Also, this explains why I went to a British uni. It is a lot easier than Romanian ones.

But what about training the best of the best? Year after year, Romania is in the world top at pre-university competitions. Programming? Romania has among the best. Maths? Same. Astro-physics? I personally know one of the world’s best. Spoiler: he’s Romanian. Until right before university, these talents are trained. They become elites in their field, thanks to the Romanian system and its tools. Of course, it is their merit. But the fact that they are offered MANY competitions, both local and national, gives them the competitive training they need. There are no such competitions in the UK. Everyone is supposed to be equal in the UK. Nobody is given the chance to shine above his or her peers. Sound familiar?

But back to flaws. The immense amount of material to learn, coupled with the fact that the majority are NOT elites in a particular domain, slows the educational system down. The lack of interest from many teachers, due to them not having a potential honour student AND (the biggest cause) extremely low salary, means that a really important cog is brittle. It means teachers have to resort to offering extra, paid classes to meet their ends. It’s not an easy life. Corruption here and there and sketchy ethics also come into play, but I’m not the best to write about that.

All in all, Romania’s educational system has a LOT to improve upon. But the basic design is great. Heaps and bounds better than, for example, the British system. Those that WANT to be better, WILL improve themselves. Those that want to be the best in their area are offered the means to get there. Because without work, you’re not supposed to get things. Entitlement needs roots in worthiness, not worthlesness.

And that was my rant on the educational system in Romania. If you feel you have something to add / something to disagree upon, feel free to post in the comment section below!