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Poor Conditions for Young Professors
Laura Mitran
Young Romanian university teachers suffer from low salaries and have a tough time getting promotions, making an academic career unappealing for most students. Even those who pursue such a livelihood see teaching as something they have to do while conducting research.
Many complain bitterly about the lack of respect and prestige they suffer from society at large and do not encourage their own students to follow their example. "Whenever there has been a press awards ceremony, in the Romanian Press Club for instance, not once was a teacher invited to take part in the jury," said Marian Petcu, a reader at the School of Journalism. "Wouldn't it be inconsiderate of me to encourage a student to take up teaching in the existing conditions?"
Those few who decide to embark on such a teaching career have to have a real passion for education. Many students feel sympathy for their teachers because of the conditions they have to put up with. "We pity our teachers, honestly," said Veronica, a geography student who did not want her full name used. Such an attitude may not encourage learning.
Her colleague Raluca said professors, "have to ingratiate themselves a lot; you don't just get to the top because you're good." Most current students seem reluctant to choose such a fate for themselves. "I could never take it; the students would make me go mad," said Bogdan Zamfir, a first year student in philosophy.
Things are better at the Law School, where most teachers also work in their profession. As a teacher, "you have the chance to change things that you didn't like as a student," said fourth year student Catalina Constantina.
Teaches for Students, Not for Money
Monica Ratiu is a partner in a law firm and doctoral assistant in public law who describes teaching as a hobby. "The first 20 years in the branch, one works (virtually) for free; you need to be a professor to have decent salary," she said. She does it not for the money but for the students, the research and because "it keeps me engaged."
Many teachers at the medical school also work in hospitals. One is Enyedi Mihaly, who likes to stay connected to student life. "At the hospital, one can at times feel down, seeing a patient looking all right and then discovering he has some awful disease. That doesn't happen in school."
Some medical students would be willing to take up teaching to earn some money. After six years of studies, they still face two more years as probationers and then residents, during which they earn no more than 500 RON per month. "I would teach just to be able to remain in a hospital in Bucharest, because it is very hard to do that once residence period is over," said Cristina, a fourth year student in general medicine.
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