Press review – January 18, 2021

Following the executive meetings and debates held yesterday, organized by the President of Romania with the aim of deciding the method of resuming courses in the education system, with the start of the second semester, scheduled for February, the resumption of pre-university education activities was proposed in the classic format, in several scenarios, subject to the latest epidemiological developments. In parallel, a reference was made to the activity of the universities, which will debate and decide the manner in which they will align with the scenario according to which the didactic process in pre-university education also operates.

In order to prepare for the resumption of the activity in the classical format, consultations will be organized within the academic community of the Western University of Timișoara, within each faculty, to debate and adopt the most appropriate decisions regarding the format in which the didactic activities will be carried out in the second semester.

The rector of UVT, university professor dr. Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, emphasizes: "Throughout last year, we sought to keep the classic format of face-to-face activities in the UVT activity, but the conditions of the pandemic crisis did not allow us to remain in classic activities, but only, at most, in a hybrid system, and this for a short period of time. We have always had in mind, since the beginning of the pandemic crisis, the natural need to normalize the university program, for the resumption of face-to-face classes. We hope that the epidemiological evolution will allow us to return to the classic format of UVT activities, from the beginning of the next semester".

The recent government proposal to prioritize anti-covid-19 vaccination for students going to universities abroad "also directs attention to a necessary orientation towards the prioritization for vaccination of Romanian university students", draws the attention of the rector of the West University of Timisoara, Marilen Pirtea.

"We have no way of supporting the priority vaccination of those students who are enrolled in universities in other countries, without thinking about those who study in the country, many more, but equally interested in being able to resume their educational activities in front, to which access is recommended after taking all precautionary measures, including voluntary anti-Covid-19 vaccination", declares the university professor. Marilen Pirtea, rector of the Western University of Timisoara.

He says that the two categories of students must be brought to a common denominator, equally entitled to receive a priority in the anti-covid-19 vaccination process. "Society as a whole is now subject to the same pandemic crisis, where students studying in our universities, as well as those studying abroad, deserve to have access to equal treatment through vaccination against covid-19. It is vital to think as a whole about the exit measures from the covid-19 crisis. There is no need to discriminate, when it is, in fact, about our young talents, about our future", concludes Marilen Pirtea.

An address sent on Sunday, January 17, by the Ministry to the school inspectorates specifies the way in which the lists of teachers who want to be vaccinated during the second vaccination stage will be drawn up.

"Considering the fact that starting from December 17, 2020, GD no. 1031/2020 regarding the approval of the Vaccination Strategy against COVID-19 in Romania as well as the fact that Stage II of vaccination against COVID-19 has been opened, which includes the population with a degree of risk and workers carrying out activities in key fields/ essential, including the staff from educational units and institutions, we ask you to disseminate the information to all educational units in order to take the necessary measures to ensure the access of teaching, auxiliary teaching and non-teaching staff to the vaccination program against COVID-19", it is said in the address sent by the Ministry of Education to the general school inspectorates.

Thus, each educational unit will designate a person responsible for the registration of the pre-university educational unit on the platform allocated to the vaccination campaign, the centralization of identity data and the vaccination schedule of the staff employed in that unit. Information about the vaccination action can be/must be accessed on the link: https://vaccinare-covid.gov.ro/platforma-programare/, corresponding to the same source.

Priority for registration is given to employees in preschool education - where it is not mandatory for children to wear a mask; teaching staff who work directly with students and employees of pre-university education units that are to operate with physical presence starting from February 8. Each school must send to the general school inspectorate the name of the person designated to deal with the vaccination action, their position and contact details by Monday, January 18, until 16.00:19 p.m., after which the county school inspectorates/ISMB will transmit the situation to the Ministry Education until Tuesday, January 12.00, at XNUMX:XNUMX p.m., according to the press release.

The Ministry of Education asks universities in the country, through a note addressed to rectors, to register on the platform for vaccination against Covid-19, in order to schedule employees in the 2nd stage of vaccination.

Namely, the ministry requests the appointment of a person responsible for "registration of the higher education institution on the platform intended for the vaccination campaign, centralization of identity data and vaccination scheduling of the staff employed in the said institution."

Rectors are asked to disseminate the necessary information to all employees to ensure access to the vaccination program for teaching, auxiliary teaching and non-teaching staff.

The Ministry requests that the data of the person responsible for the vaccination action be communicated to the General Directorate of University Education by Tuesday, 19.01, at 12.00.

One of the major delays of the Orban government in terms of digitization is the non-adoption of the Governmental Cloud Law, an essential component for the digital transformation of the Romanian administration.

The bill was presented in government in the last days of October 2020 after prolonged discussions related to the form and substance of the law, especially those regarding data control, security and, above all, the inviolability of the data "poured" by various institutions into this cloud. The meeting of government it ended only with the request for additional clarification related to the division of duties between ADR and SPP in this project.

The project did not find a place on the government's priority list until the elections.

An important clarification: the idea of ​​establishing the government cloud has been on the government's agenda for about 3 years, but the bill was delayed by the competition between the secret services who wanted to bypass this project.

Merit, study, welfare and performance. There are the 4 types of scholarships that the authorities are obliged by law to grant, but for many students in Romania, the scholarship is just a dream.

More than 90% of municipalities do not offer school bursaries to all students who meet the criteria. The map is red for 3.002 localities.

With the exception of the Capital and the counties of Constanța and Ilfov, no other county exceeds 20% of the administrative units that fully offer school scholarships.

In the Capital, sector 1 announced that it will maintain the level of scholarships this year, although information appeared in the public space that they would be cut.

Sector 2 boasts the largest scholarships in the country.

If some receive nothing or only a few lei per month, in Bucharest, scholarships for performance can reach 1.000 euros per semester.

The government has the obligation to, annually, adopt by decision the minimum amount of the 4 types of scholarships for students.

Until now, at the national level, the minimum value is 100 lei per month for each type of scholarship.