Entries at the vocational school, shaded by the news of the technological scholarships. “What do we do with the children in the country?”

The eighth-grade graduates who have decided to attend the vocational school can be presented, starting from July 3, until July 10, at the schools that have the desired qualification, for registrations. The directors of the technological high schools are very worried about how the registrations, the cutting of the professional scholarship, as they have understood that it will happen, being a factor that will surely influence things.

Cutting scholarships could cause decreased interest in photo school: I have

For most technological high schools the period of admission to the vocational school is an extreme exam. On the one hand, the parents of the eighth-grade graduates hardly accept that the student does not follow the high school, on the other, the decrease of the school population sharpened between high schools, each attracted student being a profit. In this context, the granting of the technological scholarship (the former professional scholarship) for all the students to attend the vocational school was an element of attraction, and this is because the students who opt for the professional come, for the most part, from disadvantaged environments, have, most, weak results in teaching, few take the most likely to take the exam.

“Children who will not take places at high school will come to professional, this is what I expect to happen. But what do we do with the children from the country?! ”, says Prof. Anișoara Dima, director of the Metallurgical Technological High School. What will happen to a lesser extent, the directors are afraid, is that the students in families with reduced financial possibilities will choose the vocational school. So far they received a support of 300 lei (or 600 lei if they were admitted to a dual education class). “They had no possibilities, they were even delicate situations. The scholarship did not even pay a home, to stay in the fireplace, but it was a help. We don't know what would happen next with the transport, because this did not talk about it.”added Prof. Dima.

At the high school he leads, 70-80% are students from the rural area, and most are commuters. Their families are difficult to handle, the aid of 300 lei that the students from the vocational school were received representing an important amount. Moreover, these children almost never manage to obtain a merit scholarship (which granted in the school year 2024-2025 for students with average over 9.50), even if the regulation allowed the cumulation of the technological scholarship with other types of scholarships. “Frequently it happened to cumulate with the social scholarship, but it still does not reach what expenses they have”, says Prof. Dima.

From autumn, as the discussions have taken to this point, the support of vocational education will fall exclusively to the economic agents interested in training the labor.

Today, the students from the dual professional education classes receive a technological scholarship worth 300 lei from the state, and the economic agent comes with another 300 lei. For the dual classes, the economic agent will remain, which means that the amount for children will be halved (only 300 lei will receive). For those from the ordinary professional classes, nothing will be granted.

“And the economic agents are probably kneeling by the new measures. Maybe the state, I say, have some facilities to double the employer. But for the one that the state has no one,” says the director of the Slatina Metallurgical High School.

Experience has shown that the amounts that reward students with school progress almost do wonders. Prof. Dima gives the example of a professional class that is not a dual class, but for which the economic agent of practice supports the granting of several scholarships. He awards the most interested in the students monthly, monitoring the progress in the classroom and during the practice. The evaluation is done monthly, so the hierarchy can be changed at any time. The competition truly stimulates the students, says Prof. Anișoara Dima, and the model would be desirable to be extended, although it does not replace the constant support that certain families really need.

“We are in a happy situation”

At the Technological High School no. 1 Balș The concern is somehow smaller. Here are only dual professional education classes, the economic agent, an important manufacturer of door and PVC windows, coming with a whole package of benefits that will surely attract students, believes Prof. Claudia Lutic, the director of the high school. The economic agent offers a scholarship of 400 lei/month, special practice conditions, equipment, transport and advantageous work offers at the end of the three years of school, the salaries exceeding, from the beginning, 3,000 net lei.

“I think we are in a happy situation, much better, compared to other school units ”, says Prof. Lutic.

Other directors hope to continue counting more perspective than immediate advantages. At the “Petre S. Aurelian” Economic High School in Slatina, even more students come every year than the number of places announced and certain specializations are needed. Here it attracts the qualification first, because they are specializations in the field of services. Dual education have never had, but employers of practice partners (restaurants, hotels, beauty centers, etc.) are always found, and students manage to hire during high school.

Technological scholarships, only 6% of total scholarships in school year 2023-2024

The technological scholarships represented only 6% of the total scholarships granted in the school year 2023-2024, so that in the school year there are only fewer beneficiaries, shows the research conducted by the Institute of Education Sciences, released by the Ministry of Education and Research.

“According to the data of the Ministry of Education and Research (MEC) with reference to the school year 2023-2024, in March 2024, 1,371,869 beneficiaries of school scholarships were registered. The merit and social scholarships represented over 94% of the total beneficiaries and absorbed most of the budget allocated to the scholarships. The merit scholarship was granted to a large number of students (522,653), with a total amount of 229.94 million lei, being the most funded category. The social scholarship had the most beneficiaries (762,833) and a total amount close to the one for merit scholarships (228.54 million lei), indicating a consistent support for students with difficult situations. Technological scholarship has been given to a number of 82,328 students (6% Of the total scholarships), the scholarship for minor mothers was granted for 960 beneficiaries (0.06%), while the Excellence scholarships cumulated a total of 3,095 beneficiaries (0.22%). (…) The number of beneficiaries of the technological stock exchange In January 2025 it decreased by a quarter (26.2%) compared to March 2024, and the funds allocated were reduced by almost 40%. The Olympic Excellence Stock Exchange has only 236 beneficiaries (a decrease of over 50% compared to March 2024, when they were 501), while the Olympic Excellence Stock Exchange remains relatively constant in number of beneficiaries (2,564 in January 2025, compared to 2,594 in March 2024), and the amount allocated increases (1.78 million lei), is shown in the report cited.