Authors: Patricia Nicolae, Raluca Marcu
Is education in Romania really precarious?
You have probably already given an answer to this question and this is due to your personal vision and experience regarding education and school. If you have never been put in the situation of going hungry in class, or with shoes so worn in the field, you will say that school has been a major element in personal and professional development.
And if the time spent at school was not “a wasted time”, if you haven’t worked the field, helping parents with household chores or taking care of younger siblings, then it could be said you really have had the opportunity to access the right to education.
Unfortunately, many children in the village do not enjoy this fundamental right. Some statistics show the worrying situation of 46.15% of the Romanian population, i.e those who live in rural areas.
The illiteracy rate amounted to 2.15% in 2018 (compared to 0.7% in urban areas in the same year). Almost 5% of the rural population has no education, and 36.5% only finish elementary school.
The question is: Why are there these big differences between the two sides of Romania?
Financial difficulties
Almost half of the rural population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Portrayed by society as “helpless”, “poor”, “unlucky”, these groups fight every day for survival. And they do the best they can. They work a lot, they go to the fields, day and night … But, many times, their efforts are not enough. No matter how hard they try to get “in line with the world”, the vicious circle of poverty does not break. So, they take their children with them and work side by side to put some food on the table.
In such conditions, children are not ready to go to class. They will help the family, they will contribute to the daily income and thus, the school loses its usefulness, evaporating from the charm of their childhood. Unfortunately, many do not know how to read or write, let alone calculations, creativity or experiments and natural sciences.
Alcohol/ Violence
In other situations, parents are addicted to alcohol and neglect their children. Children who are physically or emotionally abused have low self-esteem, have a constant sense of guilt, suffer from anxiety, and have difficulty trusting. Often, abused children run away from home or, on the contrary, feel compelled to stay where they were raised because of the fear of separation and the feelings of guilt that surround them. Maybe they take on the role of protectors of the younger siblings, or maybe they become the “pillar of the family”, bringing home the income of their hard work. What is certain is that, in most cases, children who do not have a quiet family climate will not concentrate properly in class and thus will end up giving up permanently (if they do not find moral and material support elsewhere ).
School infrastructure and commuting
38% of rural schools do not have a toilet within the building and do not have systems to provide running water. Some schools do not have heating, they are only guarded by dogs and the interior furniture is old.
When it comes to accessibility, on average, in rural areas there is an elementary school for every 257 students, but this does not mean that young people do not have to walk kilometers or use public transport which also has its problems. The FocuSAT Transport project, organized by the Association for Active Development, reproduces the problems faced by commuters in the country. You can read them on their Facebook page, in the link above (in Romanian).
Most rural schools are not equipped with digital equipment and we have all seen how the pandemic has aggravated the situation of education in rural areas in the absence of computers, video projectors or wi-fi infrastructure, etc. Neither teachers nor students were able to connect online to classes in rural areas, further emphasizing the differences between schools in the city and schools in the village.
Low professional motivation of rural teachers
Prof21 project, organized by World Vision Foundation, reveals the low motivation of teachers in rural areas (of course, this is not the case for every teacher in rural areas, we have many examples of cool professionals, appreciated by students). Usually, they commute, are at the beginning of their career, or are less prepared compared to those who work in urban schools. The consequences of their low motivation are also reflected in the educational methods applied to children. If teachers fail to attract their students to education by arousing curiosity and using interactive digital software, or fail to explain the subject according to the age of the students, the latter will really stop attending classes.
Is, then, education in rural Romania a lost cause?
Certainly not, as long as non-governmental organizations, civic groups, people in public office and “influencers” continue to put this issue on the public agenda. And, not only that, they will also implement activities and programs that will ensure a quality education in the urban environment as well in the rural one.
What has Casa Naturii done to protect the interests of children in Laslea in terms of their access to education?
We are active in Laslea, near Sighișoara, in Transylvania. Of the 4,000 inhabitants, 800 are children and young people aged between 0 and 25, and 430 of them are enrolled in the local school.
In 2019, out of 28 8th grade students, 14 graduated, 6 participated in national exams and 0 passed.
In 2020 and 2021, 2 of the 8th grade students passed the national exams.
The experiences of the last 3 years have helped us propose a new improved program: Laslea Children’s Club. A children’s club focused on recovery and progress in literacy. Our proposal found a reliable partner in TELUS International Romania Foundation, which joined the cause of quality education in the village.
A synthesized recipe of the whole process looks like this:
We understand the written text,
We express our thoughts on given topics,
We use browsers and digital applications for research,
We access educational games,
We learn to use office tools,
We make presentations in front of colleagues,
We collaborate and work in small teams,
We learn to express our emotions and opinions in a constructive way.
The goal was to work with a small group and benefit from a long term project. Experience has shown us that long-term and in-depth investments will bring qualitative results when it comes to literacy.
We meet, therefore, once a week at the association’s headquarters. We provide transport for children who come to the club from other villages, and thus, constantly, we work with 15 children aged 6-14 years. Divided into 3 groups, depending on age and needs, they use all the resources available to them to learn in a calm, creative and innovative environment, with 2 trainers.
The project will be completed in December 2021, and, as the results are not long in coming, we are convinced that through such programs we can break the vicious circle of vulnerability and empower young people through education.
How did we create such a concept?
Since the establishment of the Association, we have set out to guide our educational programs on 4 strategic axes, according to the needs of the children we work with.
Ecological education
Entrepreneurial education
Civic education
Digitization
The worrying situation and the high illiteracy rate have made us aware of the need for a reading club adapted to children, so that they want to be present and assimilate new information. The first club was organized in Laslea, before the pandemic, and received children from 5 nearby villages.
Organized in the form of theater or play lessons, the children read verses, sketches and stories that made them forget that “they were actually studying”. Accompanied by two local trainers, the children felt free, not like at school, which guaranteed the success of our program.
Later, the math teacher, one of the cool professionals loved by children and a founding member of the Association, began to introduce 3D software to classes.
The lack of school (in the spring of 2020) and the online school (autumn – winter 2020-2021) marked a decline. Without technical equipment, without motivation, without a club and with increasingly difficult financial situations, the children we worked with began to devolve more and more. So we adapted to the conditions.
We brokered 30 computers for the school in the village and thus, the children managed to have access to the online school. We brought more digital tools in natural science classes,
We started the online club, and, after the lockdown, we managed to finance a book club for 5 months. 80% of the children we worked with constantly have improved their language and social skills. This is how we realized that if we focus on simple but fundamental things, such as reading, children make good and very good progress in a short time. Children who come to the club today will become the responsible adults of tomorrow. They will have well-established goals, measurable results and will be able to prove that, yes, rural Romania can be educated.
Drawings: Raluca Marcu
Images: association’s archive
Laslea Children’s Club is funded by TELUS International Romania.
