2023

The National implementation plan for initial and in-service vocational education and training (PNI – VET) defines measures for fulfilling the objectives set at European level and it ensures a correlation between the EU’s objectives for VET and the objectives of national policies. The measures provided for in PNI-VET will be implemented in the period 2021-2027. The general objective of PNI-VET is to improve the relevance, accessibility, flexibility, attractiveness and quality of initial and in-service VET programmes, which should sustain economic and social cohesion; support competitiveness, growth and smart, inclusive and sustainable development; and facilitate individuals’ professional and personal development. 

Dual education

Complete vocational route for technical higher education

The establishment of a complete vocational route for technical higher education – with the entry into force of the legislation concerning the methodology for the organisation of the complete dual route and of the new qualifications resulting from this route – will facilitate the development of dual education with a focus on students’ needs and in line with the needs of the labour market, both by an increased number of fields, qualifications and graduates and by ensuring a complete educational path for the students enrolled in dual school education, so that they are able to enter dual tertiary education programmes. 

For the development of dual education, there are plans to develop 10 regional consortia and to develop and equip 10 integrated occupational campuses. The occupational campuses will be built by 30 September 2025, while the dual education consortia will operate at full capacity by 31 March 2026. All 29 grant applications were approved.

Consolidation of the professional and technical education, and especially the on-the-job-training component

VET programmes are adapted to the needs for competences and the trends in the labour market so that they respond to the national priorities for economic and social development.

Traineeships for school students and university students in the agriculture-food sector, industry and services

Under the call for proposals Traineeships for school students and university students in the agriculture-food sector, industry and services, which supports workplace learning programmes for university students and students in lower secondary education, high-school education (upper secondary) and post-secondary education, including the foremen schools, 85 projects have been completed and other three projects are in course of implementation. There are 21 471 individuals targeted for support and the intention is to qualify 8 102 learners through these projects. 

Traineeships for school students, the ITI Danube Delta region

Under the call for proposals Traineeships for school students, the ITI Danube Delta region, grant agreements have been signed for nine projects. In the framework of these agreements, 980 individuals (school students / apprentices) should be supported to participate in VET programmes.

Traineeships for school students from less developed regions

Under the call for proposals Traineeships for school students from less developed regions, grant contracts have been signed for 154 projects. In the contracts that have been signed, the assumed target is 28 663 people (school students/apprentices) who should receive support to participate in vocational education/vocational training programmes. 

Increasing the accessibility, the attractiveness and the quality of technical and vocational education and training (TVET)

Under the call for proposals Increasing the accessibility, the attractiveness and the quality of technical and vocational education and training (TVET), priority will be given to measures intended to facilitate access to and retention in vocational training programmes, streamline the mechanisms for monitoring and assessing vocational training public policies and for anticipating the needs for competences, as well as to measures related to quality assurance of workplace learning and the certification of learning outcomes in initial VET. The Education and Employment programme (EEP) 2021-2027 will support the adaptation of educational services for learners and teaching staff in TVET and the development of schools so as to support excellence in TVET, with a focus on digitalisation and sustainable development. Moreover, EEP will provide funding for Erasmus+ cross-border mobility opportunities for TVET, as well as for support measures for disadvantaged school students to help them participate in TVET and prevent school dropout.

2022

The Ministry of Education (ME) continues the reforms in the field of education and training, in order to ensure an education adapted to the labour market requirements and focused on personal and social development.

The dual education

The Ministry of Education has launched the call for proposals, funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP): A pilot programme for the development of regional consortia for dual education (I.6 “Development of at least 10 regional consortia and the development and equipment of at least 10 integrated vocational campuses”- R 4. Creation of a complete vocational route for technical higher education).

The objective of the call is to develop and equip vocational consortia and integrated campuses which contribute to the development of vocational education, both by increasing the number of qualifications and graduates and by ensuring a complete educational course for those students enrolled in dual education. 

Within the consortia, school students and higher education students may acquire qualifications at levels 3 – 8 in accordance with the National Qualifications Framework.

An expertise centre consortium for the implementation of national reforms in vocational education and training through dual education, composed of accredited public/private higher education institutions, accredited public/private schools, administrative–territorial units (ATU) and economic operators. 

The integrated vocational campus will be built and organised as an educational complex, including constructions and equipment and furnishing for carrying out activities like education, research, accommodation, recreational and reading areas, so as to ensure all necessary facilities in terms of access, participation, functionality and students’ safety. 

The beneficiaries of this call for proposals are the regional consortia for dual education, established in accordance with the methodology approved by an order of the education minister.

Consolidation of the professional and technical education, and especially the on-the-job-training component

The vocational education and training programmes are adapted to the needs for competences and the trends in the labour market, so as to respond to the priorities of national economic and social development. 

• The counselling and information platform Choose your way! is a friendly environment for informing students, parents and companies, a means for career guidance and for a closer link with the labour market. 
• To develop students’ entrepreneurial skills and correlate their theoretical training with their practical training, the following activities have been carried out:
  • The school competition Quality Brand, for which 45 practice companies enrolled, out of which 39 gained a Quality Brand certificate.
  • ROCT Platform, where 1 455 practice companies/simulated enterprises are activated, out of which 689 new companies, 355 continued companies and 411 companies that were taken over; they carried out the current activity provided for in the curriculum and extracurricular activities.
• Some important support in the student guidance and counselling actions was assured with the Career Guidance Guide. The guide includes information about 200 vocational qualifications - 132 qualifications at level 4 (NQF) and 68 qualifications at level 3(NQF), and a short description of each qualification, the main benefits and professions which students may choose from. 
• The project ReCONECT – Adaptation to change – An integrated mechanism for anticipation, monitoring, evaluation of labour market and education aims to establish three mechanisms:
  1. an integrated mechanism to monitor the insertion of graduates of VET programmes,
  2. an interconnected mechanism to anticipate the need for qualifications and competences in the labour market, and
  3. an interconnected mechanism to evaluate and monitor public policies on active measures and vocational training measures, and also to evaluate and monitor a training course and an IT platform with an integrating role for the 3 mechanisms and a support role for evidence-based public policy decisions concerning vocational training and employment.

So far, activities were conducted to analyse the capacity of relevant actors in the area of education, training and employment to synchronise and provide real and relevant data for the development of mechanisms. A methodology developed in the project described the structure, the data flow and the interoperability of the integrated mechanism for anticipation, monitoring and evaluation of labour market and education. 

• The projects funded under the call for proposals Traineeships for school students and higher education students in the agricultural-food sector, industry and services, funded under the Priority axis 6 Education and competences, support work-based learning programmes for higher education students and for students in lower secondary education, high-school education (upper secondary education) and post-secondary education, including foremen schools. The target group is composed of school students (ISCED 2 – 3, qualification levels 3 – 4), school students (ISCED 4, qualification level 5, students enrolled in post-secondary schools/foremen schools organised in school education establishments) and higher education students (ISCED 5 – 7). Under this call for proposals, from 88 grant applications approved and contracted, 87 have been completed. 

2021

The Ministry of Education (ME) continues the reforms in the field of education and training, in order to ensure an education adapted to the labour market requirements and focused on personal and social development.

The context of the COVID-19 epidemics

From the perspective of mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, ME has applied several concrete steps in all four of its sector strategies. These measures will be reflected in the 2020 Integrated Report on the four strategies, which is under preparation phase. An implementation report for the entire period 2015-2020 covered by the four sectoral strategies will be available by late 2021.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to help closing the achievement gaps and to support the design of teaching activities in the school year 2020-2021, implementing regulation on school subjects were developed and made available online (See the online platform). 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, GEO No 144/2020 put in place a legal framework to equip students with mobile IT equipment and medical protection items in order to ensuring the minimum hygienic-sanitary conditions in public pre-university educational establishments lacking connection to the water & sewerage network.

Also, in this pandemic context, the School at Home national programme is implemented, by ministerial order (for which the Order of the Education and Research Minister no. 4738/2020) approved the necessary number of electronic devices with an internet connection, as well as the criteria for the distribution of the devices purchased in the programme to primary, lower secondary and upper secondary students in full-time education (i.e. the preparatory grade, grades 1-12, the vocational school). Thus, in December 2020, the delivery of 250,000 tablets, 10,000 webcams and 22,000 laptops allocated was completed.

Government Decision no. 756/2020 has approved the National Programme Safe Education which provides for allocations from the Budget Reserve Fund at the Government’s disposal. By 1 April 2021, through this programme, 39,149 tablets, 4,698 webcams and 3,109 computers (desktop, all-in-one, laptop) were purchased.  

Curricular policies

Efforts are made to modernise the school curriculum for VET and TVET routes. 

In the school year 2020-2021, continuing the application of the new curriculum for vocational education and for technological high-school education. Their application began gradually, in the 2016/2017 school year, with grade 9. 

Consolidation of the professional and technical education, and especially the on-the-job-training component

In order to develop TVET, starting with December 2020, the implementation of the project ReCONNECT – adaptation to change – an integrated anticipation, monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the labour market and education, whose objective is to match the labour market demand and supply provided by public education and employment services, by putting forward new tools and three mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating public policies on vocational training, monitoring the labour market insertion of pre-university graduates, and anticipating skills needs on the labour market.

In 2021, within this project, for the TVET component, two activities are to be carried out:

• (1) analysis of available statistical data for the adaptation thereof to the IT system to be developed, and

• (2) development of first versions of the three above-mentioned mechanisms. 

Regarding the projects financed by the Human Capital Operational Programme (HCOP), under the call Internship for pupils and students in the agri-food, industry and services sector, and which support on-the-job training programmes for students and pupils in lower-secondary, secondary (high school) and post-secondary education, including foreman schools, 60 projects were implemented, another 28 being under implementation on end of March 2021. 

Under the call HCOP/711 - Internships for students, ITI Danube Delta, 12 project applications were submitted and evaluated, for nine of them the financing contracts being already signed. 

By the call HCOP/633/6/14 - Internships for students for under developed regions, 155 projects are being implemented.

ME continues to provide scholarships, including vocational scholarships for students enrolled in dual education system, under the umbrella of its national social programme. In the school year 2020-2021, 111,786 students benefit from the Professional Scholarship programme (the current monthly amount is 200 lei/ student), of which 17,749 students are enrolled in dual education. 

Developing an open and accessible lifelong learning framework

The financing contract was signed for the Edu-C-Ad project: New tools for the national strategy on lifelong adult education in Romania; it is about a project implemented by ME in partnership with the National School of Political and Administrative Studies (SNSPA) and funded by Human Capital Operational Programme. Through this project, Romania will participate for the first time in a programme for the international assessment of adult skills. The started in December 2020 and it will run for a period of 3 years. For 2021, the systemic review and evaluation of the regulatory framework for adult continuing education and the conduct of a pilot study on 2,000 respondents to calibrate the research tools and the sampling framework in accordance with international standards are foreseen. The study will use selected, translated and adapted literacy, numeracy, problem solving and digital literacy tests while observing the international indicators and standards. 

Regarding the setting up Community Lifelong Learning Centres (CLLC), in order to centralize the information on the operational CLLCs in the counties, in December 2020 ME requested the School County Inspectorates (ISJs) to report on the state of play regarding the organisational, establishment and the operational aspects concerning the CLLCs for each territorial and administrative division of each county. The attributions of the CLLC will be modified by a joint ME & MMPS MO which will amend the joint MEN & MMJS MO No 3894/2019 on the approval of specific instructions for the accreditation and regular evaluation of CLLC to provide a greater flexibility in developing a wider portfolio of training services in order to support citizens, including disadvantaged people, to acquire basic and advanced skills. Other initiatives to promote lifelong learning at the community level are also considered by promoting local educational hubs, including in schools, public libraries, cultural centres, etc., to be developed in partnership with local authorities, civil society and business environment.