The Importance Of Education In Romania

There’s no doubt in my mind that education plays the most important role in everyone’s life. It’s what allows us to learn, experience, and apply new things, in order to improve the quality of our own lives and the ones around us. Education is mostly free in Romania. The government subsidizes the entire cost of education, throughout the first 12 years. Once pupils become students, the situation undergoes a few minor changes. The university system offers both free and tuition-based places. Both free and tuition places are given to students based on admission results, from highest to lowest passing grade.
Starting at the age of 7, I’ve passed through all levels of formal education: primary school, middle school, high school, and university. I use the term “formal” because that’s the feeling I’ve had throughout the process. The educational system in Romania doesn’t put a lot of effort into treating children as individuals - there’s more emphasis on meeting a standard curriculum, rather than making sure that all pupils and students manage to learn at their own pace.

Right off the high-school benches, I chose medical school. Six of the best and worst years of my life, if I can put it that way. In my first year of medical school I realized that nothing I’ve experienced before in the educational system could have prepared me for what was coming. Looking back, I believe that my own ability to adapt to certain situations is what got me through those six years. Like medical school, the curricula of most universities and colleges in Romania is pretty straightforward. Each subject is awarded a certain number of credits, and there’s a fixed credit limit that you must achieve in order to pass to the next year. At the end of the cycle, in order to graduate, you must have achieved all