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ROMANIA Reimbursable Advisory Services on Informed Decision-Making on Investments in Infrastructure OUTPUT 6 - Final Report on a Functional Analysis of Romania’s Vocational Education and Training Subsector July 2019 1
documents.worldbank.org · Web viewReimbursable Advisory Services on Informed Decision-Making on Investments in Infrastructure. OUTPUT 6 - Final Report on a Functional Analysis
Output 6 Final Report on the Functional Analysis of the VET
sub-sectorReimbursable Advisory Services on Informed
Decision-Making on Investments in Infrastructure
OUTPUT 6 - Final Report on a Functional Analysis of Romania’s
Vocational Education and Training Subsector
July 2019
This report corresponds to Output 6 under the Advisory Services
Agreement on Informed Decision-Making on Investments in
Infrastructure between the National Centre for Technical and
Vocational Education and Training Development (CNDIPT) and the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD),
signed on March 30, 2016.
Disclaimer
This report is a product of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development / the World Bank. The findings,
interpretation, and conclusions expressed in this report do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of the
World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank Group
does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work.
This report does not necessarily represent the position of the
European Union or the Government of Romania.
Copyright Statement
The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or
transmitting portions of this work without permission may be a
violation of applicable laws. For permission to photocopy or
reprint any part of this work, please send a request with the
complete information to either: (i) the National Centre for
Technical and Vocational Education and Training Development (Spiru
Haret Street, No. 10-12, Bucharest, Romania) or (ii) the World Bank
Group Romania (Vasile Lascr Street, No. 31, Et 6, Sector 2,
Bucharest, Romania).
Acknowledgements
This Report was prepared by Alina Sava (Education Specialist, TTL),
Mariana Moarc (Senior Education Specialist), Romina Miorelli
(International Expert), Juan Prawda (International Expert), and a
team of local consultants Iulia Marie, Alexandru Ghi, Loredana
Radu, and Raisa Zamfirescu led by Ioana Ciucanu (Local Education
Consultant). The Report includes inputs provided by the CNDIPT
under the coordination of Iuliana Damian and leadership of Dalia
Drmu.
Camelia Guescu (Program Assistant) provided implementation support.
Detailed comments by peer reviewers Roberta Bassett (Senior
Education Specialist) and Alina Petric (Social Protection
Specialist) are gratefully acknowledged.
The team highly appreciates the overall guidance and support
provided by Harry Patrinos (Practice Manager), Tatiana
Proskuryakova (Country Manager for Romania and Hungary) and Alex
Valerio (Lead Education Specialist) throughout the implementation
of the activity.
The team would also like to express its gratitude to all the
participants of the focus group discussions and interviews carried
out organized within the scope of this activity.
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
CEDEFOP
CNDIPT
National Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training
Development
TVET Centre
EACEA
EC
EQAVET
EQF
FM
IES
LEAP
MoNE
NAE
NEET
NGO
OECD
PAS
PISA
PMI
PP
TER
UNESCO
VET
WB
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report presents a functional review that explores the initial
vocational and training subsector supply system in Romania and its
labor market demands. It documents the most recent Initial
Vocational Education and Training (VET) policy actions, structural,
and organizational reforms that have taken place in Romania in the
most recent years, with evidence consisting of data analysis and
surveys.
The main purpose of this report is to analyze the VET structure,
organization and functions and to provide recommendations to
respond to labor market and society needs in the context of
national demographic challenges and changing global circumstances.
At the same time, the report identifies opportunities to tackle
these challenges, highlighting the potential to update the
organization of the VET sector and management and to promote better
education attainment, skills development, and opportunities to
employment.
In Romania, vocational education and training (VET) has gained
public attention in the last decade as the country faces high
challenges in addressing skills mismatch in the context of
demographic decline, aging population and continuous emigration
flow. The Government of Romania (GoR) adopted in 2016 the Strategy
for VET education (2016-2020) . The strategy was developed by the
Technical and Vocational Education and Training Centre (TVET
Centre) and it seeks to reinforce VET as a driver of the economy.
The Initial VET (VET) subsector in Romania is integral to the
Government’s overall education reform program and of the country’s
actions to achieve Europe 2020 targets but the latter have only
slightly improved and are still not aligned with the projected
trend. Crucially, early school leavers’ rate has improved less than
one percentage point from 2013 to 2018, from 17.3 to 16.4 percent,
and is far from the target set for 2020 of 11.3 percent (see Table
4, page 19) and the number of people in long life learning has
worsened from 2 percent in 2013 to 0.9 percent in 2018. In turn,
while the proportion of people with higher education degrees
improved, from participation in higher education improved in the
same period of time, from 22.8 to 24.6 percent, it still remains
the lowest level in Europe.
In this context, the WB team was requested by the TVET Centre to
carry out a functional review of the VET subsector in Romania which
is organized along two interrelated levels. First level covers two
dimensions: Strategic Framework and Organizational Structure; and
the second level covers the other two dimensions of this functional
review: Human Resources Management; and Financing. At the same
time, special attention is paid in the analysis to five key issues
that emerged as critical during the process of conducting research
for this review: curricula, links with employers, infrastructure,
student’s performance, and organizational leadership. Finally,
these dimensions and issues are observed in light of the key
features of well-functioning VET systems according to lessons drawn
from international experience .
The findings are based on evidence collected and analyzed by the WB
drawing on multiple data sets. These include surveys gathering
citizens’ perceptions on the Romanian education system, including
VET sector; employers’ views on skills shortages and needs and a
TVET Center staff survey.
Country Context
Although Romania experienced an average growth rate of 2.8 percent
during 2010-2017, the country’s growth foundations are weak.
Romania’s population fell from 22.8 to 19.6 million between 2000
and 2017 and is expected to continue falling ... In 2017, Romania
ranked as the tenth main country of origin of migration flows in
the G20, with highly educated emigrants accounting for most of
these migrants at 26.6 percent of the total. Also, Romania has by
far the largest share of poor people in the EU with over a quarter
of the population (26 percent in 2015) living on less than $5.50 a
day; at the same time there are significant disparities in poverty
across regions and between urban and rural areas. Of Romania’s 42
counties, 18 are considered lagging behind other regions, with a
GDP per capita lower than 75 percent of the national average
.
Furthermore, Romania still has substantial untapped labor potential
and low levels of human development. In addition to a relatively
large informal sector, which according to official data estimates
represents 0.6 percent of total population (EC, Country Report
Romania, 2017), the labor market participation rate is 69.9
percent, which is below the EU average of 73 percent (2018). Also,
according to the World Bank (2018), Romania has the lowest Human
Capital Index (HCI) score (0.60) in the European Union (0.75).
Romania’s score is lower than what would be predicted by the
country’s income level.
In turn, underachievement in basic skills impacts the overall VET
students’ outcomes and their performance on the labor market.
Romania’s scores on the Program for International Student
Assessment (PISA) improved significantly across all subjects
between 2009 and 2012 but remained stagnant in 2015. The test
results from 2015 show that about 40 percent of 15-years old
Romanian students (the corresponding age of grade 8 graduates and
new entrants in upper secondary education, including VET) score
below the minimum numeracy and literacy proficiency levels required
to perform effectively in further education, training and life are
functionally innumerate and illiterate compared to roughly 23
percent of students in the EU.
Persistent low financing levels for education in the country affect
the development of the VET system. Romania’s public expenditure for
education as a percentage of GDP was 2.8 percent in 2017, far below
the EU average of 4.6 percent, and the lowest in the EU. With
regards to VET alone, a recent WB analysis of public expenditures
on education (World Bank, Public Finance Review , 2018) shows that
VET in Romania accounted for 0.9 percent of total budget execution
in 2016 compared to 18.28 percent for higher education, followed by
16.82 percent for lower secondary education (grades 5-8).
In this context the Romanian VET system has undergone significant
policy reforms in the past two decades. Since the early 1990s, the
GoR has channeled its efforts to increase the quality and relevance
of VET programs for the newly emerging market economy by
implementing a series of structural reform programs (EU PHARE ).
Starting with 2007, Romania has implemented EU-funded projects for
VET teacher training programs, curriculum revision and development
of new training standards. In 2009 the Arts and Trades schools were
closed and since 2010 participation in VET experienced a sustained
decrease. But the introduction of the dual VET system started in
2017 and contributed to recent increases in participation in the
3-year VET programs.
Despite recent progress, an unfinished agenda remains. The gross
participation rate in upper secondary education has been
continuously dropping since 2009, down to 85.3 percent in 2017/2018
and it was found that this was almost entirely registered in
technological high schools and vocational schools. At the same
time, the overall dropout level for upper secondary were at 3.5
percent in 2017/18, with significant higher level for much higher
the technological track, (4.3 percent). Also, a recent analysis on
student performance at national examination at grade 8 shows that a
relatively high share (41 percent in 2018) of low performing
students (below score 6) are going to upper secondary, mainly to
the technological route. In turn, infrastructure education
shortages in Romania are significant and approximately 35 percent
of Romanian VET schools lack workshops, for instance.
Latest data indicate higher labor market outcomes among Romania’s
VET graduates compared to those of general education, but there are
important shortages and misalignment of skills. Romanian secondary
school graduates between 20-34 years old who entered the labour
market without any further education perform better if they are VET
graduates, with an employment rate of 67.2 percent in 2017, than
those graduated from general education tracks, with 60.8 percent in
employment (CEDEFOP, 2019). While this rate for VET graduates is
slightly lower compared with the EU-28 average (76.6%), it has
increased by 7.2 percentage points since 2008. But there is a
shortage of skilled labor, particularly in the ICT sector, health
and education professionals. Moreover, automation of production
processes has started driving demand for higher levels of cognitive
skills, while jobs involving routine application of procedural
knowledge are shrinking. At the same time, employers interviewed by
the WB team for the preparation of the “Education Infrastructure
Strategy” strongly believe that students and graduates entering the
labor market lack key soft skills.
Organizational structure of VET in Romania
The Romania’s VET subsector is an integral part of the
pre-university education system and it falls under MoNE’s overall
responsibility. The subsector, however, is placed at the
intersection of education, training, social, economic and labor
market policies and therefore multiple stakeholders related to
these sectors are in different ways connected to VET decision
making.
The Romania VET institutional setting is highly fragmented, and its
key functions are carried out by several organizations. More
specifically, four different organizations, in addition to the
MoNE, carry out key system-specific functions in the VET system.
Within the MoNE, five different organizational units carry out five
different functions or tasks in the system, some of them the most
important in the VET area. These five organizational units report
to three different Secretaries of State. All in all, different
functions in the operation of the VET system are carried out by
people in nine different organizations at central level. (see Fig.
28, page 49)
Crucially, the function of leadership and oversight for the entire
VET system, or the entire VET subsystem, is missing. While
fragmentation per se is not necessarily a problem, since,
generally, professionalization implies that each organization
should tackle the field where it specializes, the main issue is
that when this fragmentation lacks coordination. The TVET Centre, a
specialized public institution established in 1998 under the
subordination of MoNE, has been founded with the purpose of
reforming the VET in Romania, by means of successive adjustments,
the TVET Center has widened its goals and activities and currently
holds the expertise to play that role of leadership in the sector.
As such this report include recommendations to reform the TVET
Centre structure to enhance its efficiency in performing the key
functions and thus improve coordination and leadership in the
sector. The proposal includes a redefinition of roles, the creation
of new units, and the redistribution of responsibilities from the
Director to specialized units.
The VET subsector concerns both upper secondary and post-secondary
education levels. At the end of lower secondary education (Grade
8), students have two pathways available, both of which include VET
options. After lower secondary school students can choose the high
school pathway, which offers three tracks: (i) theoretical, (ii)
technological, and (iii) vocational (in the sense of vocational
studies such as music, for instance), or a three-year vocational
(professional) pathway, where the focus is exclusively on training
for a level 3 qualification with no direct access to higher
education. The technological track is composed of three profiles,
technical, environmental and services and theoretical one of two,
humanities and science. Initial VET in Romania is also delivered at
post-secondary level in post high schools and foremen schools (1-3
years). The VET supply is unevenly distributed at territorial level
with urban areas being well covered, whereas rural areas are still
underserved (with only 26 percent of VET units).
The system appears to be training graduates whose skills are not
well aligned with the needs of the labor market. Stakeholders,
especially employers’ associations and unions, report that the
current list of occupations is outdated and does not capture the
latest changes in the labor market, which in turn reflects weak
participation of labor market stakeholders, including those
participating in Sectoral Committees, in designing the VET offer.
Across all regions, managers, technicians, clerks and service and
sales workers are the most difficult occupations to fill, except in
Bucharest-IIfov (). On the one hand, VET schools are producing more
technicians (trained in the technological track) than the labor
market needs in all regions, on the other hand, there is high
demand for workers in plant and machine operators in almost all
regions, and significant low supply of VET graduates trained in
these occupations, especially graduates of professional
track.
The strategic framework of the Romanian VET sector
The analysis shows that important initiatives to modernize its VET
system and align its provision with labor market needs have been
taken. Yet, the implementation of the policies related to the
strategic objectives set out for the VET sector has been uneven.
The most salient obstacles are related to the organizational
overlaps and fragmentation as well as inadequate resources.
Initiatives conducive to making VET more relevant to the labor
market include the development of a qualification framework linked
to occupational and training standards and curricula development.
However, this functional analysis has found that the core
curriculum is perceived to be overloaded and disconnected from the
training field of the qualifications and that there is a
fragmentation of tasks between different agencies that design the
core and the specific curriculum and the national qualifications
and occupational frameworks. Several national agencies perform
“overseeing” roles; the roles of the local and labor market actors,
with the exception of schools, are mostly advisory.
The involvement of social partners in the VET subsector has also
increased in the past few years, but the level of engagement of
social partners in VET varies. In some sectors no sectoral
committee, where employers and employees per economic sector are
represented, exists. Additionally, the committees are well engaged
in roles related to the development of qualifications but less so
in the roles attributed to them by law related to foster dialogue
with the authorities as well as between schools and companies.
Local partnership spaces have only advisory roles, which has
contributed to make them be perceived as symbolic. Also, the
participation of other relevant non-governmental organizations in
these dialogue platforms is weak and while the introduction of the
dual system in 2017 represents an important step towards putting
employers in the driver’s seat in the VET system in Romania, there
are still several undefined aspects. For instance, quality
standards to assess employers’ equipment and teaching delivery are
still absent.
Mechanisms to anticipate competences required in the labor market,
are in place but this function of the system is highly fragmented.
These mechanisms comprise both studies focused on skills
assessments and those tracking VET graduates’ employment insertion.
Various actors directly or indirectly involved in the VET subsector
assessing skills needs, including governmental institutions,
development partners and private stakeholders. The numerous
assessments of skills carried out in Romania vary significantly in
terms of scope, timeframe, and methodology. Similarly, several
initiatives are in place to study the insertion of VET graduates in
the labor market, but these are not conducted regularly nor evenly
across Romania.
In order to increase participation in VET programmes various
promotional and guidance activities have been implemented. Yet the
lack of coordination of these multiple initiatives can also divert
the efforts from the main objective of making the VET more
attractive. The functions of providing study and career guidance
for transition from lower to upper secondary (with focus on VET
options); of counselling or support to ensure retention (and avoid
dropouts); and of offering professional career services for those
finishing upper secondary VET are not well defined. As a
consequence, responsibilities for each of them remains largely
undifferentiated. Furthermore, insufficient funding and properly
staffed initiatives further jeopardize the adequate functioning of
these efforts.
With the same objective of increasing participation in the VET
sector, the GoR has introduced initiatives to widen access and to
improve the flexibility and permeability of the system. A number of
monetary support schemes, including grants for VET students, or
monetary incentives for teachers to work in more disadvantaged
areas. Yet, funds have been found to be either insufficient or
potentially unsustainable. The GoR designed a mechanism for the
validation of non-formal and informal learning in 2004 to increase
flexibility in the system but since 2014 no specific changes have
been implemented. In turn, the current VET system in Romania does
not offer alternative exit points with recognition for labor market
entry; VET learners face constraints in moving between streams;
and, progression to higher education is possible only for students
of the technological stream. A recommendation included in this
report is to reform the VET system structure in order to introduce
further permeability into the system, including options to move
between different qualification paths in VET as well as the
expansion of professional higher education.
While quality assurance (QA) mechanisms for VET provision are well
established in Romania, the approach underpinning their
implementation could be improved. There are overlaps and overburden
of responsibilities across the configuration of actors responsible
for the QA function. This results in a QA system that is more
focused on compliance with minimum standards than on enhancing
performance. As it is the case in other functions of the VET
system, links with employers in the established processes for QA in
VET are still weak and mechanisms to assess work-based learning are
currently under development. The mechanisms to assess quality of
on-the-job and practical skills are unevenly developed and a key
pending issue regards data collection systems for QA procedures.
~The possibilities of using data for enhancing education quality
are limited mainly because these data are mostly about school
network, educational areas, levels, specializations, and are
insufficient to enable prospective students to make informed
decisions or to assess the performance of training
institutions.
Evidence shows that curriculum in VET is unbalanced between the
professional and technological tracks. The shares of hours
allocated for technical subjects and practical training are
significantly higher in the professional track compared with
technological one. For instance, in professional track, the share
of hours/school year allocated to technical subjects varies from 30
to 50 percent during the three years of study (see Table 15, page
60). Also, practical training receives higher weight, and this
makes the professional track more appealing to youth in search of
immediate employment. This finding calls for rethinking and
restructuring curriculum in technological track, and thus
rethinking the overall scope of this track.
The management of human resources and finance
Regarding the enabling functional dimensions of management of human
resources (HR) and financing of Romania’s VET sector, this report
looks at two interconnected levels – the staff and finances of the
TVET Center and of the teaching staff in VET schools. An online
survey conducted by the WB team to TVET Center’s staff revealed
that they are highly skilled and experienced, over 60 percent of
them have previous experience in the private sector and they are
moderately satisfied with the current pay levels. While most of
them are aware of the goals and requirements of the Centre, over 40
percent of the TVET Center staff did not receive any training in
the past year, while around 30 percent of them attended training
sessions delivered by peers inside the TVET Center.
Three key challenges would need to be addressed to improve the
functionality of the TVET Center. First, it is necessary to align
the competences (knowledge, skills, behaviors) of its staff to the
most recent developments relevant for the VET subsector in terms of
strategic planning, evidence-based policy-making, monitoring and
evaluation. Second, at present, the TVET Center has 55 positions
out of which 45 positions are filled, which shows a clear
understaffing of the organization. Third, improvements could be
achieved by exploiting the staff’s expertise in the private sector
to develop stronger connection with the industry/businesses, the
development of digital and entrepreneurial skills, and the
implementation of more dynamic curriculum anchored in market
demands.
Furthermore, the TVET Center funding strategy would benefit from
reconsiderations regarding both the amounts allocated to it and the
structure of the budget. The funds allocated to the TVET Center
decreased between 2016 to 2018 from 19 million lei to 14.5 million
lei. Yet, although the planned budget for 2019 is around 16 million
lei, about half of the budgeted amounts are spent yearly, which
points out to an inadequate financial planning and management. At
the same time, securing adequate and predictable funding is
critical for the well-functioning and sustainability of the Center
and its activities. Yet, in recent years the subsidies from the
state budget decreased from 56.1 percent in 2017 to 46.6 percent in
2018, while the non-reimbursable external funds increased from 43.9
percent to 53.4 percent in the same period.
Recent studies have shown that teacher quality is the main
school-based predictor of student achievement and in the Romanian
VET sector, teachers’ provision is lagging behind in several areas.
These areas include teachers’ training, matching teachers’ skills
with students’ needs, motivating teachers to perform, and
supporting teachers to improve instruction. Most VET teachers are
well qualified and have between 11 and 30 years of experience. But
entry-level teachers are scarce, which shows that this teaching
occupation at such is not very inviting for young professionals who
are supposedly equipped with newer skills and knowledge. VET
teachers are constrained by the scarce infrastructure as well as
limited financial resources and their lack of motivation is also
related to the student to teacher ratio. Eurostat data shows that
Romania has the highest student to teacher ratio among reporting
Member States, reaching even 60 students to 1 teacher in the
post-secondary non-tertiary vocational education.
A large-scale survey implemented by the WB team in 2018 with TVET
schools, however, showed that VET teachers perceive the general
quality of education in their schools to be as good as the quality
of education in theoretical schools. Altogether, 72% of the
teachers believe that the quality of instruction in VET schools is
indeed as good as in theoretical high schools, while 22.6% believe
that it is not as good. There are, however, interesting differences
between BAC teachers and specialty teachers: only 65% of the BAC
teachers believe that the quality is as good, while 79% of the
specialty teachers believe so.
The budget allocated for education in Romania is on the lowest
place in Europe and the funds spent by schools for training in the
pre-university system at the end of 2016 represented 0.5 percent of
current expenses and 0.1 percent of staff expenses. The total
expenses in VET schools amounted in 2016 only to 149 million lei
being the subsector with lowest share of financing among main
levels of education. This low level of overall expenses is caused
by the low number of schools, only 457, that recorded expenses for
61 thousand students, in 2016. In VET 98 percent of funds are
allocated for teachers and current costs, leaving almost financial
space to innovate or invest.
Key recommendations
· To actively engage employers with schools and in managing and
delivering VET, including, for instance, by granting them more
decision power and allocating budget to the Sectoral Committees and
reflect their advice in policies at the central, local or school
level; and revise the legal framework in which Regional Consortia
and Local Committees operate.
· To ensure skills alignment by, for instance, providing adequate
number of qualified teachers with on the job experience and/or
train them accordingly; actively involving employers in school
management and sector decision making; developing nationally
coordinated tracking system of VET graduates; create and/or enhance
school institutional arrangements to effectively and functionally
link schools with the employers.
· To turn the TVET Center into a lead organization in the VET
subsector by investing it with key functions such as setting the
vision and mission of the sector as well as allocation of budgets
for different roles and actors in the sector and monitor
outcomes.
· To render the VET system for flexible and permeable via several
reforms including the introduction of examination and end of
compulsory education (Grade 10), adapting the Baccalaureate exam to
VET graduates via the creation of Professional Bac, introducing an
extra year to ease transition to higher education, and expanding
the tertiary education non-university sector.
· To increase participation and quality of VET by, for instance,
enhancing the system of career guidance ad students support; making
the curriculum aligned with current skills and technological
demands; increasing employers’ participation in certification
exams, modernizing the infrastructure and equipment facilities, and
ensuring access to adequate and reliable data for monitoring
quality of VET provision.
· To enhance the quality of the teaching force by, among other
actions, increasing VET schools’ autonomy to decide upon teacher
training curricula; allow school VET teachers spend some time in
industry to update knowledge and skills as part of their in-service
trainings and re-design pre-service teacher training to tailor it
to VET specificities; improve the system of professional
development for teaching and management staff in schools
· To improve the financing levels and efficiency in the subsector
by giving a role to the TVET Center in budget allocation and
monitoring expenses; introducing dedicated financing, and direct
funds towards more innovation, mobilities and work based learning;
fomenting participation of employers and social partners in VET in
order to bring in complementary resources; gearing funds towards
social or economic sectors that could see the returns more directly
such as youth marginalised populations or the agroindustry sector,
and, in general, measuring the external efficiency of the VET
system to show how VET investment returns to individuals,
employers, and the country.
1. Introduction
Scope of the report. This report explores the initial vocational
and training subsector supply system in Romania and its labor
market demands. It documents the most recent Initial Vocational
Education and Training (VET) policy actions, structural and
organizational reforms that have taken place in Romania in the most
recent years, with evidence consisting of data analysis and surveys
applied. The main purpose of the report is to analyze the VET
structure, organization and functions and to provide
recommendations in view of promptly responding to labor market and
society needs in the context of national demographic challenges and
changing global circumstances. At the same time, the report
identifies opportunities to tackle these challenges, highlighting
the potential to update the organization of the VET sector and
management and to promote better education attainment, skills
development, and opportunities for employment. It concludes by
presenting a series of measures to overhaul the country’s VET
system, including an organizational reform, as well as adopting
flexible and permeable paths for students and their transition to
labor market or to further education.
Global competition, increased movement of people and goods, and
rapid technological change are reshaping the demand for skills,
with occupations in some sectors becoming obsolete, and new jobs
being created. In this highly complex and volatile landscape,
investing in human capital should become top priority for
governments to make the most of the evolving socio-economic
opportunities (World Bank Group, 2019).
In Romania, vocational education and training (VET) has gained more
public attention in the last decade as the country faces high
challenges in addressing skills mismatch in the context of
demographic decline, aging population and continuous emigration
flow, as well as an economy that is not vibrant. Since 2011, the
Government of Romania (GoR) has taken steps towards improving the
quality and relevance of VET with focus on curriculum updating and
alignment with European standards, introduction of work-based
learning programs and dual education in 2017. Still, the last
formal update on skills took place in 2002 , teacher training in
VET area has not been provided in a consistent way and the sector
lacks connectivity with employers, investment in infrastructure
(school campuses, canteens, workshops, buildings) and adequate
funding.
The GoR adopted in 2016 the Strategy for VET education (2016-2020)
. This strategy was developed by the National Centre for Technical
and Vocational Education and Training Development (NCTVETD) and it
seeks to reinforce VET as a potential game changer and driver of
the economy. The Strategy for VET is in line with three other
education strategies representing ex-ante conditionalities for
Romania’s access to EU funds under the Programming Period
2014-2020: (i) Strategy to Reduce Early School Leaving (ESL); (ii)
Strategy for Tertiary Education (TER); and (iii) Strategy for
Lifelong Learning (LLL). However, the slow implementation of these
strategies and the constant underfinancing of the education sector
will have long term implications for the country’s human capital
and economic development. The table below shows the highest-level
objectives for the strategies as well as the priority programs for
each.
Table 3. Education Strategies in place - objectives and priority
programs
Strategy
OBJECTIVES
VET
improve access and quality of the training programs;
stimulate innovation and cooperation through mobilities.
ESL
implement an effective system of prevention, intervention and
compensation policies and measures to address major causes of early
school leavers to reduce the share of youth between 18 and 24 years
old who have completed lower secondary education, and who are not
involved in further education or training, to 11.3% by 2020.
contribute to Romania´s inclusive smart growth by reducing the
number of people at-risk of unemployment, poverty and social
exclusion.
TER
prepare specialists who can develop a competitive society in the
global economy; support HEIs to catalyse creativity and innovation
throughout Romanian society and assist industry in developing
products and services.
contribute to Romania’s economic growth, productivity, and promote
social cohesion, thus serving as the foundation of a
knowledge-based economy.
LLL
increase the participation in lifelong learning and improve the
relevance of the education and vocational training systems for the
labor market
PRIORITY PROGRAMS
Improve relevance- match skills with labour market demands,
articulate the system;
Improve access–career counselling and promotion of VET
sector;
Improve quality –align occupation with training provision, teaching
learning process, skills assessment, develop qualifications and
curriculum;
Improve innovation and cooperation –stimulate international
mobility, exchange programs for VET students.
ESL
improve access to quality early childhood education and care
services;
offer remedial learning opportunities for students in primary and
lower secondary education; improve the quality and attractiveness
of initial vocational education and training; and provide
opportunities for second-chance education.
TER
LLL
increase access and participation for all; increase relevance and
quality of LLL programs for individuals and labor market; develop
partnerships for better information in close collaboration with
economic, social, academic partners and all relevant
stakeholders.
The VET subsector in Romania is integral to the Government’s
overall reform program to achieve Europe 2020 targets. As a EU
member state, Romania has aligned its education and training system
to European policies following the four strategic objectives of the
Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and
Training (ET 2020): (i) making lifelong learning and mobility a
reality; (ii) improving the quality and efficiency of education and
training; (iii) promoting equity, social cohesion and active
citizenship; (iv) enhancing creativity and innovation, including
entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training.
Looking at the snapshot presenting the Romanian intermediary scores
in target achievement, the country has slightly improved compared
with five years ago, but this is not the projected trend. The table
below shows Romania’s mixed progress towards achieving the EU 2020
targets as compared to its national targets. On the one hand, it
comes out that the implemented actions were few and limited since
they could not yet reverse the trends for early school leavers
which remained highest in the EU at 16.4; similarly, tertiary
attainment persisted at the lowest level in Europe. In addition, it
is obvious that there is a continuous disconnect between policies
and their implementation and no engagement of adults in lifelong
learning leading, again, to the lowest score in Europe, 0.9
percent. The single target achieved is the employment rate that had
a constant and linear increase. The data point out at the fact that
there is more attention given to the strategic preparation, to the
policy intent for the sector of education and training and less
support or capacity to translate the policy into actions and
results. Governing mechanisms and financing support of sector
priorities are still missing. There are three elements that enable
the implementation and that are critical for the way forward:
coordination, collaboration and consistent reform.
Table 4. Europe 2020 targets – state of play
Europe 2020 Targets
Romania 2020 targets
Early leavers from education and training (age 18-24) below
10%
11.3%
17.3%
16.4%
At least 40% of people aged 30–34 having completed tertiary
education
26.7%
22.8%
24.6%
At least 15% of people aged 25-64 should participate in lifelong
learning
10%
2.0%
0.9%
70%
63.9%
69.9%
Source: Eurostat database on EU benchmarks Education and Training
2020, 2019 .
The high emigration dynamic affected both high-skilled and
low-skilled migration and the total population, Romanian leaving
the country in unprecedent numbers: 3.58 million counted in 2017,
more than 75 percent of the population decline . There is a factor
affecting the E&T targets and their trends during these years,
namely the migration flow that demonstrated that both highly
skilled, 26.6 percent of the population, and low-skilled, 20
percent, are leaving the country in highest percentages. The
structure of emigration by skill level reflects the prevalence of
the two types of emigration, having important consequences for the
Romanian labor market. The migration also affects the calculation
of the rates in the table above as these are measured against
residential population. The ESL rate shows improvement from 18 in
2017 to 16.4 in 2018 that can be attributed to the implementation
of the strategy, but also to the migration.
In this context, the WB team was requested by the NCTVETD to carry
out a functional review of the VET subsector in Romania as part of
its work on the development of a strategy for infrastructure
investments in the broader Romanian education system. The report is
looking in detail at the Vocational Education and Training (VET)
sub-sector functions and organization, at existing barriers to
ensuring an effective policy planning and implementation, budget
preparation and execution, and human resources management. This
review seeks to identify key performance constraints to achieve the
strategic goals set out for the subsector; analyze and assess the
relevance of the functions performed by the TVET Center; and draw
recommendations for the development and implementation of effective
policies for enhancing the quality and relevance of vocational
education and training in Romania, which is the core strategic
priority adopted for this subsector in the country.
The report is structured along six chapters that are grouped in
three clusters as follows:
· The first cluster covers three chapters: introduction into the
rationale and scope of the report; the methodology used to underpin
the analytical tasks, detailing the main surveys applied to prepare
report and recommendations; and the country context explained by
data that covers the socio-economic status, current education
reforms and results and main highlights of the surveys applied and
considered; it pays special attention to issues affecting the
performance of VET;
· The second cluster includes two chapters: the first chapter
describes the analysis performed along first two dimensions
Organizational Structure & Strategic Framework. Regarding the
first dimension the chapter presents the institutional
arrangements, the stakeholders involved in the sector and their
roles, the core structure of the VET system, and the regional
structure of the skills supply and demands. Regarding the second
dimensions focuses on main elements of the Strategic Framework:
relevance, participation and quality; and summarizes the key issues
that emerged as critical to address in this functional review
together with those already identified in the National VET
Strategy. The second chapter of this cluster continues the analysis
for the other two functional dimensions: Human Resources and
Financing, dividing the presentation in two parts, one related to
the TVET Center, the main VET authority; and the other on VET
teachers, exploring the key features that characterize the state of
finances for the VET system in Romania, its regulations, and the
key actors involved in decision making in financial management in
the VET subsector.
· The third cluster consist of key observations and
recommendations: this section concludes the report, starting with
the key aspects identified that need to be addressed in the future
and closing with proposed recommendations grouped in the main areas
of discussion: curriculum, teachers, skills’ alignment and
financing. The key observations and recommendations are correlated
with the four dimensions and with the issues identified in the
previous sections, the policies in place and under implementation,
and their relevance and functionality, also bringing in
international best practices related to well-functioning VET
systems.
2. Methodology
Functional reviews in general seek to identify barriers for
effective policy planning and implementation and typically focus on
two main areas for potential reform: organization and policy. In
terms of organization, these analyses can identify individual
ministries, agencies or work units that are to be restructured for
reasons of cost-effectiveness and/or efficiency. In terms of
policy, reviews look at all relevant government policies and
programs or may focus on specific policy areas considered to be
particularly problematic. These two subjects of functional analyses
are not mutually exclusive. Assessing what public organizations do
in a certain policy area and whether there are policy alternatives
or gaps is often as important as improving how the respective
organizations are run. Operational efficiency and policy
effectiveness are inextricably linked, and this report approaches
these two aspects of reform in Romania as such.
The specific goals guiding functional reviews vary from case to
case. They can be aimed at improving the alignment of processes
with a given organization's strategic goals; overcoming functional
fragmentation or duplication; optimizing resource allocation in
response to changing policy objectives or citizen demands; or
re-sizing bureaucracy and reduce operational costs.
Functional reviews are client-driven; hence their scope and goals
depend on clients’ needs to address specific issues. In terms of
scope, this report focuses primarily on the initial vocational
education and training (VET) provided at secondary level (ISCED
3-4) because it falls under the client’s coordination. At the same
time, the report acknowledges the need to bridge policies and
actions between initial and continuing VET with focus on enabling
access to jobs, further education or lifelong learning
opportunities.
In terms of goals, this functional review takes as a starting point
the key concern in the sector to develop a vocational education and
training system demand driven by the labor market and of quality
and relevance for its beneficiaries. This concern is manifested in
the overall objective of the national strategy for VET. Bringing in
the functional perspective to look at this key concern resulted in
defining the core goal of this review as an assessment of the
alignment of processes with strategic objectives set out to address
this key concern of the sector. In this context, this functional
review has been guided by four related specific objectives:
(i) To identify key constraints and issues in the VET subsector
that may be hindering the realization of this core objective;
(ii) To analyze the functions performed by TVET Center and to some
extend by the other agencies working in the subsector towards the
achievement of this overall goal, and assess its relevance;
(iii) To overview the sector performance looking at schools,
students and teachers and its relationship with structure and
organization;
(iv) To draw recommendations for organizational and process changes
for enhanced VET quality and more effective service delivery.
According to the RAS Agreement, this functional review was
developed in two phases. In the first phase, the WB team focused on
identifying key issue areas in the VET subsector to foster dialogue
with the Client and specify further areas for in-depth analyses.
The WB team conducted a series of structured and semi-structured
interviews and focus groups with relevant VET stakeholders and the
findings were presented in the first Draft Report on a Functional
Analysis of the VET subsector delivered in 2017. The tentative
conclusions of that report indicated the need for a strong
leadership in the VET subsector, which, in turn, calls for a lead
organization providing vision, mission, strategies and plans, as
well as adequate human and financial resources. The report argued
that the TVET Center could play the role of a lead organization in
the VET subsector provided its organizational capacity is enhanced.
Equally important, the presence of a lead organization could reduce
the relatively high degree of fragmentation in the subsector.
In the second phase, the team complemented the preliminary findings
of the first phase with more substantive qualitative and
quantitative data. The team collected and analyzed multiple data
sets to provide a more detailed picture of the Romanian VET
landscape, key challenges, opportunities, as well as evidence-based
recommendations for further development of the VET subsector. The
team collected data and information through several surveys carried
out with relevant VET stakeholders, in chronological order as
follows:
· Survey #1 – Nation’s Status (Starea Natiunii) administered in
March-April 2017 was carried out by the National School of
Political Studies and Public Administration targeting the Romanian
adult population (the sample included 1.149 people). The scope of
this opinion survey is to collect information regarding citizens’
perceptions on the Romanian education system, including VET sector.
The team further considered and extracted the specific results
relevant for the area of the report.
· Survey #2 – Employers’ views study, which was prepared and
conducted during April-May 2017 by the WB task team under this
Advisory Services Agreement. This survey was designed based on the
STEP Skills Measurement Program developed by the World Bank to
measure skills in low and middle-income countries. The data
gathering exercise included: (i) focus groups with Romanian
employers, accompanied by (ii) an online employers survey. The main
objective of the focus group discussions was to gather and
synthesize employers’ perception of the skill shortages of current
employees, skill needs for new recruits, and anticipated skill
demands. In total, 39 employers from five major Romanian cities
(Cluj-Napoca, Timioara, Iai, Braov, and Bucharest) were randomly
selected, and 30 companies participated in the focus group
discussions. The online survey included a questionnaire whereby
employers rated the importance of different types of skills for
different types of occupations. The skills assessed covered a range
of diverse cognitive, socioemotional, and job-related skills that
are considered important in the workplace. The questionnaire was
sent to 950 enterprises randomly selected from a large pool of
databases: ListaFirme- a database organized per economic and
financial activity, a database provided by student associations
with a record of 350 companies, a database provided by TVET Center
with 300 employers in partnership with VET schools, and a database
on job advertising with 100 companies. Finally, 140 companies (15
percent of the total number of companies invited) responded to the
online survey and provided sufficient data to check on skill
perceptions
· Survey #3 - VET system features, and beneficiaries’ perceptions
was carried out during May-June 2018 by the WB team and implemented
by the TVET Center in 101 schools distributed evenly across the
eight regions of Romania. The main scope of this survey is to
collect information on stakeholders’ views on key characteristics
of the VET system, as well as their experiences with the system in
recent years. The survey was carried out through online
questionnaires with students enrolled in professional,
technological, theoretical and vocational tracks (grades 9-12/13),
teachers (teaching general and VET subjects, and practical
training), and parents (of grade 9 students).
· Survey #4 –VET strategy progress in implementation was carried
out during November-December 2018 in 49 VET schools by a MoNE team
with the WB support under the Advisory Services Agreement for
Capacity Development for Monitoring and Evaluating the
Implementation of Education Strategies. The main scope of this
survey was to collect data and information to analyze
implementation progress of education strategies, including the VET
Strategy. Survey was carried out in 49 VET schools (out of 947
education units providing technological, professional and post high
school education) interviewing 49 VET school principals, bringing
in focus groups and responding to questionnaires to 365 teachers,
936 students in final year, and 135 companies’ tutors. Apart from
interviews and questionnaires, 49 institutional grids were applied
in VET schools to collect school level data on student enrolment,
qualifications, teaching staff, national programs, quality
assurance, and relevance of VET programs.
· Survey #5 -TVET Center staff survey was carried out during April
2019 prepared by the WB team with the scope to collect data and
information regarding TVET Center’s human resources management, its
staff qualifications, experience, and skills levels, their key
functions within the organization, as well as key organizational
challenges and priorities. The survey was administered through an
online receiving answer from 34 staff out of 47. The survey was
developed using the questionnaire prepared by the WB Bureaucracy
Lab to survey the civil servants aiming to develop the evidence
base for VET public sector reform by understanding the
characteristics of staff and the systems and organizations in which
they work.
Also, the team gathered and analyzed multiple datasets from
different sources:
Table 5. Datasets used to support the analysis and respective
sources of data
Dataset
Source
MoNE’s SIIIR -data for school year 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19
Teaching staff: number of teachers, qualifications, work
experience, teaching levels.
MoNE’s EDUSAL (teachers’ payroll system) for 2018/19
Student performance at National Evaluation and Baccalaureate
exams.
MoNE’s PMIPN 2017/18
Public expenditures of VET schools and TVET Center.
MoPF’s database for 2016 and FOREXEBUG for TVET expenses
2016-2018
Data on resident population, school age population, participation
in education, employment, job vacancies by group of occupations and
economic sectors.
NIS TEMPO database
Other education-related data
Eurostat, CEDEFOP, UNESCO, OECD, World Bank.
In addition, in view of the interlinked nature of policy and
operational aspects of implementation and taking as a background
reference the strategic objectives set out in the 2016 national VET
strategy, the team gathered information and reviewed the existing
VET-related policies and strategies, the agencies and stakeholders
in charge with implementation, monitoring and evaluation (M&E).
The team also conducted multiple in-depth interviews and focus
groups with relevant VET stakeholders: school principals, teachers,
parents, employers, and decision makers within MoNE and its
subordinated agencies, and MoLSJ.
The analysis of the data and information collected in these two
phases is presented in this report and is organized along three
interrelated levels. First, in line with the RAS Agreement, the
functional analysis covers four dimensions: Strategic Framework;
Organizational Structure; Human Resources Management; and Financial
Management. Second, special attention is paid in the analysis to
four key issues that emerged as critical during the process of
conducting research for this review: curricula, links with
employers, infrastructure and equipment, student’s performance, and
organizational leadership. Finally, these dimensions and issues are
observed considering the key features of well-functioning VET
systems according to lessons drawn from international experience.
Figure 3 illustrates the process of conducting this functional
review, details the functional dimensions and issues that emerged
as critical in this process, and offers a general overview of the
functional analysis presented in this report.
Figure 3. Stages of Functional Review followed for the analysis of
VET in Romania
Source: World Bank team, 2019.
Since the core specific objective of this review regards checking
the alignment of processes with the strategic goals, the four
functional dimensions of interest for the client were accordingly
organized in two sets. The first and second functional dimensions
that the client proposed to explore – strategic framework and
organizational structure – are considered in this report as the
backbone of the analyses and hence as fundamental functional
dimensions. The other dimension – human resources and financing –
set the conditions for the operation of the fundamental ones and
therefore are considered in this functional analysis as enabling
functional dimensions (Figure 4). This analysis looks at these two
functional dimensions as operating in a crisscross matrix,
underpinning and defining each other. Adopting this perspective
allows to observe the strategic and organizational set-up
considering human resources and financial management, and, at the
same time, to understand how these management areas function
strategically and organizationally.
Figure 4. Functional dimensions of the review
Source: World Bank team, 2019.
The analysis of these four dimensions reveals the degree of
functional connectivity the VET has with the employers, thus the
degree of demand or supply driven education and training provided
to students, and hence its relevance and quality. The VET
school-employer connectivity is important along three dimensions:
(i) increase employability of graduates of the institution in jobs
related to their education; (iii) increase work performance of the
graduates which is a proxy of the relevance and quality of the
education delivered in school; and (iii) provide real participation
and decision-making power of the employers in the functioning of
the VET.
The adequacy of the Romanian VET system functionality is considered
also in relation to lessons drawn from international experiences of
well-functioning VET systems that are demand driven by employers.
VET systems are more focused than general education on the aim to
endowing students with the skills that are relevant for employment
in specific economic sectors and specialties. Hence, the
involvement of employers at different levels of the strategic
planning and delivery of VET is critical to ensure that a VET
system achieves the aim that is central for this education path.
This is also backed by international practice showcasing that
relevant and effective VET systems are largely demand-driven by
employers and, more specifically, their well-functioning is highly
and positively correlated with the degree of functional
connectivity education and training institutions have with the
employers of the economic sectors for which training is being
provided.
Moreover, these demand-driven VET systems tend to be more
attractive and popular among students, parents and employers. This
is because graduates of these institutions, by and large, tend to:
(i) find employment in the trades of their training within a
reasonable time after their graduation (between six to 12 months);
and (ii) display, in the eyes of their employers, an acceptable
employment performance leading to their medium to long-term
professional career path. In this way, well-functioning VET systems
and its education and training institutions send strong signals to
the society that (i) their graduates have the skills requirements
demanded by employers related to the trades of their training; (ii)
the training provided by these connected institutions is relevant
to the current skills and of appropriate quality; and (iii) the
employability of these graduates, while not 100 percent assured,
has a significant likelihood of occurrence.
Also, demand-driven VET systems worldwide display some core common
operational characteristics in terms of governance, organization
and service delivery as described in the paragraphs below and
illustrated in Figure 5:
· The design and delivery of education and training - which should
be competency-based - is aligned with national frameworks and is
delivered and validated with employers’ participation, in the
context of adequate institutional management and good quality of
teachers and trainers with on-the-job experience;
· The maintenance of regular links with the world of work,
including via systems to monitor graduate’s employment,
establishing formal and functional links with employers of the
region and the economic sector, providing services and good to the
local community, and providing career guidance for students;
· Education and training institutions are part of a supporting a
network of training providers in the same geographical area or
sectoral focus, and offers services for its members and graduates –
these may include training of teachers or sharing learning
materials as well as equipment and physical facilities;
· Organizational structures and processes are well-known across the
system and at institutional level to ensure that resources are not
under or over-utilized, reflecting clear established roles and
responsibilities, lines of accountability, and communication
channels;
· Education and training institutions have appropriate equipment
and physical facilities to carry out training in a safe, effective,
timely manner. Also, employers are involved in defining the
specificities of equipment and facilities which may be located
either at the institution or at relevant employers’ sites;
· The regulatory framework allows for a certain degree of autonomy
for education and training institutions to decide about focusing on
few training courses and economic sectors, as well as procurement,
staffing policies, financing, etc.
Figure 5. Features of well-functioning VET systems based on
international experience
Source: World Bank team, 2019.
3. Country context
3.1 Socio-economic context
Demography. Despite being one of the fastest-growing economies in
the EU, Romania faces a series of demographic and social
challenges. Romania’s economic growth has been one of the highest
in the EU since 2010, with an average growth rate of 2.8 percent
during 2010-2017. But its growth foundations are still weak.
Romania’s population fell from 22.8 to 19.6 million between 2000
and 2017 and is expected to continue falling (World Bank, System
Country Diagnostic, 2018). There are 2 million less children and
youth (aged 0-25) living in Romania compared with 2002 levels,
while school age population has dropped by almost 1 million in the
last fifteen years, as shown in the Table 6 below. Besides, over 2
million people of working age (20.6 percent of the labor force) are
estimated to have emigrated in search of better job opportunities
as of 2017. Currently it is estimated that 3 to 5 million Romanians
are living and working abroad. In 2017, Romania ranked as the tenth
main country of origin of migration flows in the G20, with highly
educated emigrants accounting for most of these migrants at 26.6
percent of the total. Briefly, the table below illustrates that in
a country where the young population has been shrinking, the
country could maintain more young population in school than before;
however, it needs to bring back to education and training the
adults as non-traditional students in order to reach previous
levels as share of the total population.
Table 6. Demographic trends
0 – 25
population
2002
Source: National Institute of Statistics, 2018.
Poverty. Romania has by far the largest share of poor people in the
EU and there are also significant disparities in economic
opportunities and poverty across regions and between urban and
rural areas. Over a quarter of the population (26 percent in 2015)
living on less than $5.50 a day, more than double the rate for
Bulgaria (12 percent). Of Romania’s 42 counties, 18 are considered
lagging behind other regions, with a GDP per capita lower than 75
percent of the national average (World Bank, Country Partnership
Strategy, 2018). Overall, access to basic services such as piped
water, sanitation, internet or electricity, and education, remains
constrained for many citizens (4.5 percent of Romania’s
population), especially for those living in rural areas and
marginalized areas.
Employment. Romania still has a substantial untapped labor
potential and a relatively large informal sector. Official data
estimate people in the informal economy at 1.2 million (EC, Romania
Country Report, 2017). In comparison to the EU average of 73
percent (2018), Romania has a labour market participation rate of
69.9 percent (2018). Considering that the unemployment rate is
relatively low at 5 percent, the implication is that the country
has significant human capital on which to draw. Moreover, Romania’s
economic growth projections require the country’s industries to
develop more efficient production processes and to increase product
quality. Achieving this goal will depend at least in part on having
a domestic workforce with relevant skills, competencies, and
abilities. The Romanian institutional environment is also
struggling with capacity bottlenecks – most striking is the
insufficient use of data in targeting and monitoring employment
programs, missing outreach and mentoring services added to the
fragmentation and insufficient institutional coordination between
stakeholders in charge of demand- and supply-side measures. The
lack of institutional coordination is both vertical (between the
Ministry of Labor and Social Justice and the National Agency for
Public Employment and its county offices) and horizontal (between
county employment directorates and social services). Institutional
structures for social dialogue are in place (e.g. the National
Tripartite Council and the broader Economic and Social Council, but
also Ministry and county-level committees), but they are mostly
used by the government to provide information about planned
initiatives, without a substantive process of involvement and
cooperation with impact on employment.
Industry. There is significant regional variation in the
concentration of priority sectors, with implications for
investments in VET institutions that aim to establish or expand
sectoral linkages. Romania’s National Strategy for Competitiveness
(NSC) 2014-2020 identifies ten priority economic sectors given
their potential for export and employment growth. These sectors
were identified based on export competitiveness, employment
potential, and integration in global value chains. Evidence (NSC
2014-2020, and World Bank, Competitive Cities, 2013) shows that
these sectors are not equally distributed across regions of Romania
which have different competitive advantages and economic structure.
For example, some regional economies from the South-West,
South-East and West are highly specialized and reliant on a limited
number of industries, while others from the South, North-West and
Centre are more diversified (Figure 6).
In turn, these regional variations affect the demand for skilled
labor and consequently the need for certain VET programs and
institutions.
Figure 6. Romania’s economic priority sectors, by regions
Source: National Competitiveness Strategy 2014-2020; National
Institute of Statistics.
Human capital. Also, the country faces many challenges in human
development which calls for policy makers to prioritize investments
in human capital. According to the World Bank (2018), Romania has
the lowest Human Capital Index (HCI) score (0.60) in the European
Union (0.75). In other words, Romanian children born today will be
60 percent as productive when they grow up as they could be if they
received complete high-quality education and health services. For
example, a four-year old in Romania today can expect to complete
12.2 years of education by age 18, compared to 13.4 in other EU
member countries. Moreover, Romania’s score is lower than what
would be predicted by the country’s income level.
Skills. Underachievement in basic skills impacts the overall VET
students’ outcomes and their performance on the labor market.
Romania’s scores on the Program for International Student
Assessment (PISA) improved significantly across all subjects
between 2009 and 2012 but remained stagnant in 2015. The test
results from 2015 show that about 40 percent of 15-years old
Romanian students (the corresponding age of grade 8 graduates and
new entrants in upper secondary education, including VET) are
functionally innumerate and illiterate compared to roughly 23
percent of students in the EU. In other words, Romanian students
are one-and-a-half years of schooling behind students in EU
countries. The competency-based training curriculum in the VET
system consists of two parts: (i) transversal or soft skills, i.e.
teamwork, problem solving, information technology, foreign
language, etc.; and (ii) sector specific skills related to
occupations and qualifications (worker, technician, supervisor,
manager, etc.). In Romania, the VET system must compensate for VET
students’ low level or lack of basic skills that could not be
acquired in the lower secondary level by grade 8; consequently,
more importance and support should be allocated to general programs
in grades nine and ten. This is particularly concerning because
literacy and numeracy are critical foundational skills needed to
acquire higher-order and socio-emotional skills required on the
labor market.
Financing. Persistent low financing levels for education affect
development of the VET system. Romania’s public expenditure for
education as a percentage of GDP was 2.8 percent in 2017, far below
the EU average of 4.6 percent, and the lowest in the EU as shown by
the Figure 7 below. (Eurostat, 2019). According to Eurostat, the
average spending for upper secondary (ISCED 3-4) in the EU was
estimated at 1.05 percent of GDP in 2015 compared with Romania’s
spending level of only 0.63 percent and even much lower spending
for the VET area, at 0.02 percent. Furthermore, a recent WB
analysis of public expenditures on education (World Bank, Public
Finance Review , 2018) explains the same underfinancing in VET in
Romania accounted for 0.9 percent of total public expenditures in
2016 compared to 18.28 percent for higher education, followed by
16.82 percent for lower secondary education (grades 5-8). Given the
limited funds available for education in Romania, an adequate
monitoring and tracking of the spending could have significantly
increased the efficiency and better use of the limited funds. At
the same time, accountability in financing should include checking
whether financial resources are reaching the most vulnerable
students. In the absence of adequate funding, it will be difficult
to address the equity and quality challenges faced in the education
sector. The spending issues are detailed in the financial
management section, presenting the management weaknesses regarding
the VET sector.
Figure 7. Education expenses as of GDP, EU vs Romania
Table 7. Education expenses for upper secondary education
% of GDP upper secondary
Source: Eurostat 2019.
3.2. Education context
Reforms. Since the early 1990s, the GoR has channeled its efforts
to increase the quality and relevance of VET programs for the newly
emerging market economy by implementing a series of structural
reform programs (EU PHARE ). In the presence of a market economy at
debut, prior to Romania’s EU accession in 2007, a multiannual VET
reform program was carried out between 1995 and 2006 focused on the
development of new curricula and training standards, training
programs for VET school managers, school inspectors and teachers.
The system created was a supply driven system where employers were
consulted but not yet engaged. This reform program included major
infrastructure investments in equipment, laboratories and
materials. Starting with 2007, Romania has implemented EU funded
projects for VET teacher training programs, curriculum revision and
development of new training standards. In 2009, the Arts and Trades
schools were closed, and participation in VET registered a
sustained decrease since 2010. At the same time, as VET became part
of the technological track in upper secondary level after these
closures, the academic high school became the main educational
alternative. Although enrolment rates in high school rose from 72
percent in 2008-2009 to 92.7 percent in 2012-2013, enrolment rates
in VET decreased sharply from 25.3 percent to 3 percent over the
same period.
Implementation of dual VET has started only in 2017, which
contributed to recent increases in participation in the 3-year VET
programs. Yet, the dual system should complement the professional
education, as it should be organized in regions with an economy
that functions and demands, to connect and create access to such
education and training paths. The second element that dual system
must consider is gaining employers’ trust for the quality of
education offered. Other recent measures include the ongoing
revision of the curriculum for upper secondary education, including
initial VET; the development and updating of professional
qualifications and of professional training standards with the aim
of increasing quality and labor market relevance.
Despite recent progress, an unfinished agenda remains. The
challenge remains of offering good quality VET with a clear link to
either employment or further education and training, or of
identifying credible alternatives for children and youth who do not
take the grade 8 examinations, or who are not performing well
enough to be accepted into the high schools they prefer. The VET
subsector is facing considerable challenges as illustrated in
Figure 8, in terms of ensuring equal access to VET programs and
efficiency, especially to students from disadvantaged communities,
Roma, and those with disabilities; quality of learning and training
environments; relevance of VET programs for the labor market, and
innovation.
Figure 8. Main challenges in Romania’s initial VET
Source: World Bank team
Access and efficiency. Despite recent progress, the overall student
participation in VET programs, calculated as percentage of all
upper secondary students (56.2 percent) is considerably lower
compared with other European countries like the Czech Republic
(72.9), Finland (71.3), Slovenia (70.4), Croatia (70) and Slovakia
(68.9), but exceeds the EU28 average (49.3).
The gross participation rate in upper secondary education (high
school and vocational) has been continuously dropping since 2009,
down to 85.3 percent in 2017/2018 (Report on Status of Education in
2018, MoNE 2019). It was found that the overall decrease in the
number of students in total upper secondary was almost entirely
registered in technological high schools and vocational schools.
For this reason, in the period under review, the proportion of
students included in these forms of vocational education and
training in the total number students in high school and vocational
education went down by 16 percentage points from 58.2 percent in
2010/2011 to 42 percent in 2017/2018.
Figure 9. Gross enrolment trend in upper secondary education
Source: MoNE, 2018.
In 2009, the Government’s decided to close the Arts and Trades
schools which resulted in a sharp decrease in student enrolment
from 15.8 percent in 2009 to 1.8 percent in 2011. Nevertheless, in
the last three years, the trend reversed, 14.1 percent in 2017,
with the introduction of the 3-year school-based VET programs at
upper secondary level in 2013. The figure below shows a difference
of 10 percent points between boys and girls in VET enrolment,
providing greater coverage. Since its reopening, the 3-year program
has revealed its viability by the increasing number of lower
secondary graduates opting for this program in the last four years.
Nonetheless, progress has been steady but slow, and it took six
years to reach the pre-closure enrolment levels. To keep up with
the increased demand, MoNE increased progressively the number of
places for this program from 20.000 in 2012, to 51.000 in 2014 and
nearly 90.000 students in 2018. This trend confirms the fact that
reopening the vocational schools was a good call to respond to
market needs and gain population’s trust.
Figure 10. Enrolment trend in 3-year program between 2009 and
2017
Source: MoNE, 2018.
Dropout rates in vocational schooling are of particular concern.
There was a marked increase in the dropout rate among vocational
students between the academic years of 2010 and 2012 when the rates
more than doubled. The dropout rate among females exceeds that of
males, a clear departure from trends at other levels where girls
are more likely to stay in school than boys. The financial crisis
and policy shift in VET offer two likely explanations for the
increase in the dropout rates. The Government’s decision to abolish
Arts and Trades schools in the vocational system, primarily due to
poor quality and design, was implemented in 2009-2010, its impact
first showing up in the following academic year. One unintended
effect of this policy was the disincentive for low-performing
students, who were more likely to drop out than to complete the
programme in which they were already enrolled; this, in turn, may
have contributed to the increase in the share of young people who
were not in employment, in education or in training (often referred
to as NEETs). In December 2013, the government changed the VET
system by ordinance and opened opportunities for student to enroll
in vocational programmes right after grade 8 (entering what are
called scoli profesionale) after completion of gymnasium level.
Under the new rules, students would no longer have to enter upper
secondary before being granted access to the VET system.
Table 8. Dropout rates in vocational education and training, by
gender, 2009-2017
2009-2010
2010/2011
2011/
2012
2012/
2013
2013/
2014
2014/
2015
2015/
2016
2016/
2017
Total
8.6
19.8
30,4
7,9
4,3
5,0
4,2
3,5
Female
9.7
21.9
35,8
10,5
7,1
6,2
4,9
4,1
Male
7.9
18.6
27,4
7,0
3,6
4,5
3,9
3,2
Source: National Institute of Statistics, TEMPO 2019.
The highest dropout rate is recorded for the past three years in
technological track (4.3 percent in 2017) and it is driven by
technical and environmental profiles as presented in the Table 9
below. Further analysis below it looks at decomposition of data per
technological track and its profiles, revealing similar performance
pattern for theoretical track -humanities profile.
Table 9. School dropout in upper secondary, on tracks and profiles,
per school year
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
Total
3.5
3.5
2.5
1.6
1.4
1.5
Source: Data calculated based on NIS data, 2018.
VET infrastructure. The Ministry of National Education collects
data on education infrastructure, such as number of schools,
buildings, classrooms, availability of laboratories, workshops,
computers, internet connection, but there is no information related
to its status and functioning. According to previous analysis
performed by the WB team in this project, in 2017, more than half
of secondary schools lacked science laboratories, while around 20
percent of VET schools had no workshop on their premises. The same
analysis conducted by the World Bank to inform strategic decisions
in education infrastructure (World Bank, 2017) reveals
infrastructure shortages in Romania, as well as sizable gaps
between urban and rural schools, concluding that a considerable
amount needs to be done to ensure public schools are equipped with
safe and modern learning environments.
The data on the status of VET buildings show that more than 20
percent require rehabilitation, while only 2 percent of the
buildings are currently under rehabilitation (Figure 11).
Approximately 35 percent of the VET buildings have been fully or
partially rehabilitated, and 10 percent of the buildings do not
require rehabilitation.
Figure 11. Status of VET buildings as reported in SIIIR for school
year 2018/19
Source: SIIIR, 2019.
Approximately 15 percent of VET buildings lack fire safety
authorization, and 12 percent sanitary authorization. These
percentages are higher in rural areas, where 17 percent of the
buildings lack fire safety authorization, and 20 percent sanitary
authorization respectively. Accessibility for students with
physical disabilities is limited: only 10 percent of VET buildings
are equipped with disabled toilets.
Further investigation of the data module on infrastructure for the
dataset of school network 2018/19 could gave an idea about the
distribution of infrastructure challenges at county level.
Workshops are fundamental for practical activities in VET schools,
but approximately 35 percent of Romanian VET schools lack this
endowment. Data show that there is no county in which all VET
schools have practical workshops, and less than 50 percent of
schools in Constanta, Salaj, Ilfov, Satu Mare and Giurgiu have
workshops (Figure 12). Inadequate or lack of spaces and equipment
for practical activities are factors that hinder effective
implementation of VET programs.
Figure 12. Share of VET schools with workshops
Source: SIIIR, 2019.
Although 93 percent of VET schools are equipped with IT labs, the
situation varies across counties. There are 13 counties in which
all VET schools have IT labs. On the other hand, the percentage of
VET schools equipped with IT labs is below the national average in
18 counties. Giurgiu is the county with the lowest percentage of IT
labs in VET schools, 62.5 percent. The number of people employed in
the ICT sector more than doubled in the last 6 years, from 40,749
in 2012 to 84,737 in 2017 , and the demand for ICT professionals is
still growing. Therefore, digital skills should be developed both
in general education and vocational education and training.
In terms of VET campuses, the situation is critical: only 33
percent of VET schools have campuses. In 7 counties, including
Bucharest, less than 25 percent of VET schools have campuses, while
in Giurgiu there is no campus at all (Figure 13).
Figure 13. Share of VET schools with campuses
Source: SIIIR, 2019.
Quality.
PISA assessment. According to the 2015 PISA assessment, about 40
percent of 15-year-old students have low reading and numeracy
proficiency which is almost double the EU average (23 percent).
This means that Romanian students lag those in other EU countries
by about 1.5 years. At the same time, data from national grade 8
examinations indicate that 4 in 10 students (41 percent) obtained
low scores (6 or below), while only 2 in 10 (17 percent) managed to
get high scores (8.5 or above).
A recent analysis on student performance at national examination at
grade 8 shows that a relatively high share (41 percent in 2018) of
low performing students (below score 6) are going to upper
secondary, mainly to the technological route. Dropout levels were
at 3.5 percent for overall upper secondary education in 2016/2017
but this is higher in the technological track, with 4.3 percent and
5.7 percent in the case of the technical profile. The illustration
below shows a high correlation between baccalaureate performance
that is the lowest, 33 percent passing rate, and the dropout that
is the highest, 6.1 percent, in the technical profile. It remains
the most challenging and very demanding profile being at the same
time the one in need of restructuring and improved quality and
relevance.
Figure 14. BAC performance and dropout rates per track and profile
(2017/2018)
Source: World Bank team calculation, 2018.
The gap observed by looking at the distribution of students’ skills
at grade 8 is mainly between urban and rural area. Low skilled
students in rural area increased at 60 percent in 2018 as compared
with 28 for urban. The urban rural divide it can be observed better
at the extremes, for the low level of skills the gap of 32 percent
between rural and urban and for the high level the difference of 20
percent is reversed, still favoring urban graduates. Low performing
Students are mainly located in rural, remote and isolated areas. In
terms of their administrative and geographic distribution, the low
performing students are in 1,500 rural localities inside the
Carpathian arc and in counties closer to the border, as well as in
hard-to-reach areas (e.g. Danube Delta), as presented in Figure 15
below. Interestingly, while the Western region of the country was
traditionally scoring better, the situation deteriorated primarily
due to migration and children left behind by their parents. At the
same time, the map points out at the alarming situation of low
performing students in lagging schools in urban areas.
Figure 15. Geographical distribution of low performers at grade 8
in school year 2018/19
National examinations. Evidence shows that students completing
lower secondary and entering upper secondary, including VET, have
weak foundational skills affecting their future learning outcomes
and labor market productivity. A recent analysis on student
performance at national examination shows that a relatively high
share (41 percent in 2018, see table below) of low performing
students (below score 6) are going to upper secondary, with most of
them (almost 60 percent) coming from rural areas. While in the last
four years, the percent of low performers increased by 7 percent,
the high performers fell by 10 percent, as shown in the table
below. The Baccalaureate exam confirms the same story where the
share of low performs is the highest in technological track while
the share of high performers is the lowest.
Table 10. Distribution of scores at grade 8 exam (2015 -2018) and
Baccalaureate (2018)
Year
17.63
47.05
26.18
Performance at grade 8 examination is important for students
willing to continue to upper secondary due to its major influence
in the high school admission process. The score obtained at the
national examination accounts for 80 percent of the final high
school admission score, while 20 percent is made up by the average
score of marks obtained during four years of gymnasium (grade 5-8).
The WB task team heard many times during interviews with
stakeholders (e.g. students, parents, teachers, principals) that
most students are entering VET with low scores, especially in
technological track, as compared to those admitted in the
theoretical track, which may contribute to the public perception
that technological high school is second-class education and
therefore unattractive. Students are admitted to high school based
on three key criteria: final score, student preferences, and number
of places allocated for each specialization. This perception is
also confirmed by evidence (Table 11) which shows that, for
instance, in Bucharest, high school admission scores in 2016/17
were considerably much lower for technological track (highest score
of 7, lowest score of 4.7) compared to theoretical one (highest
score of 9, lowest score of 7.9). Given the low entry scores into
technological high schools, most students in this track don’t
perform well enough to train for a specific job, and at the same
time to be able to pass the Baccalaureate. This issue was also
raised by many teachers during interviews who find it difficult to
train these students considering they lack basic skills (reading,
numeracy).
Table 11. Admission scores (average) by track and profile in
Bucharest, in 2014/15 and 2016/17
High school track and profile
2014/15
2016/17
Source: WB team’s calculations based on data from MoNE.
The lower scores in technological track are reflected also by the
average scores per profile presented in the figure below. A student
admitted with a low score will be able eventually to pass the
baccalaureate with low performance, on average less than 1.25
points compared with humanities profile. Within the technological
track, the same ranking applies for services profile remaining on
top, followed by environment and technical.
Figure 16. Average passing scores per profiles at Baccalaureate
examination 2018
Source: WB team’s calculation, 2018. Baccalaureate scores: low =
0-5.99, medium = 6-8.49, high = 8.50-10.
In terms of average performance, a negative trend may be observed
for both highest and lowest scores which went down by 1 point in
the case of technological track. Going further, variations may be
observed in both tracks. For example, there are slight differences
between sciences and humanities profiles in theoretical track, yet
significant ones in technological whereby the technic profile
registers the lowest entrance scores, followed by the environment
profile. The profile services fares much better with score levels
comparable to the ones in the theoretical track. The data on
student performance at the Baccalaureate exam (Figure 17) shows a
similar pattern, with striking differences (of 42 points) in
student performance between theoretical and technological. Going
further, the data breakdown by profile reveals lower student
achievement in the technic (33 percent) and environment (41
percent) profiles, whereas over 70 percent of students in services
manage to pass the examination. These low performance levels in
technological high school persisted over time thus affecting
internal efficiency of this type of education.
Figure 17. Passing rate at the Bacca