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Students Union Gives Young Minister Cautious Welcome

Iulia Roşca

The National Union of Students in Romania (UNSR) is hoping for close relations with the new Education Minister, Cristian Adomniţei, a 32-year-old whose appointment last month drew criticism due to his youth and relative lack of experience.

At a news conference in early April, UNSR president Gabriel Petrea gave the minister a cautious welcome. “We hope that, being so young, we will get along much better and maybe we will collaborate better than we did with the former leadership,” he said. “But we also have some doubts concerning his experience and the team he will form.” Petrea also noted that Adomniţei has never been a teacher and comes to the post from outside the education system.

Adomniţei is a graduate of the Politehinica of Iaşi, the Faculty of Construction. He was working on a doctorate there, but said he would drop his studies to concentrate on his job as minister. He promised transparency and said he would not allow “too much political interference.” He wants to focus at first on infrastructure and then on investments in human resources.

Petrea listed several urgent problems facing the new incumbent. “We don’t ignore the fact that much money was invested in education (under the former minister), but major problems in still exist,” he said.

Among them, he said, the law of internship (the hours some faculties ask their students to do in the field to gain credits) is old and inefficient, considering the fact that 90 percent of students get the training certificate they need from friends and family members. Also, universities do not cover the cost of training and do not have the necessary space in laboratories for students to practice there.

Petrea discussed the issue of grants, stating that other countries have a credit system guaranteed by the state for talented students and that Romania should adopt this as soon as possible. He also called for an improvement in the system for granting accreditation to private universities.

“The quality of private education is low, and it needs a re-evaluation otherwise it could be damaging to the educational system,” he said. The minister should also tackle poor dorm conditions, obsolete teaching methods and outdated curricula, Petrea said.

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