Press review – January 19, 2021

The Western University of Timișoara has launched the solution competition for the rehabilitation and modernization of the facades for the building body of its main headquarters, from V. Pârvan boulevard no. 4, a representative building of Timisoara.

It is one of the indisputably valuable works of Romanian architecture. The building was designed by the renowned architect Hans Fackelmann, a landmark in the history of Romanian architecture after the Second World War, a project that was awarded by CSCAS in 1964 and by the Union of Architects in 1967.

The rector of the West University of Timișoara, prof. univ. dr. Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, explains the importance of the project:

"In order to provide visibility, but also to respond to the scale involved in the works for the new facades of our university headquarters, UVT has publicly launched a solution competition, in order to award the design services contract for the "Rehabilitation and modernization of the facades of the University of the West from Timisoara".

We are waiting for designers and architects, teams and design companies from Romania and internationally to respond to this challenge and to participate in the contest of solutions, who can contribute with an innovative vision to the modernization of one of the most famous urban areas in Timișoara, a a symbolic building for our university center, whose initial design was carried out under the coordination of the well-known architect Hans Fackelmann."

The documentation can be accessed in SEAP/SICAP, being assigned to the announcement published in the "solutions competition" section with the code DC1000144/06.01.2021, being available online HERE.

The value of the architectural design services included in the solution competition is almost 380 thousand lei (without VAT). The deadline for submitting offers is March 22, 2021, 10:00 a.m.

A university, even if it is in a locality with the red scenario, can decide on activity with physical presence, said the Minister of Education on Realitatea TV. He said that the decision is taken on the basis of university autonomy.

Minister Sorin Cîmpeanu also said that "the decision comes in parallel with the responsibility", in the case of universities.

"A university, even if it is in a locality with the red scenario, can decide on activity with physical presence.

The universities, on the basis of university autonomy, have total decision to decide how they will operate in the XNUMXnd semester", stated Cîmpeanu.

We remind you that the president Klaus Iohannis announced on Thursday that from February 8, the majority of certain schools will reopen, and about the universities he said that "considering that each university has its specifics, the decision will be taken at the level of each university, taking into account the university autonomy , but obviously, you are free to align yourself with the scenario according to which the pre-university also operates".

Regarding state universities, the percentage of those who stated that they will be immunized is 60.86%, according to a record prepared by the Ministry of Education. In private universities, the percentage is 45.81%.

The highest percentage is recorded in the "1 Decembrie 1918" University from Alba Iulia (87%). The situation regarding the big universities, in percentages:

Bucureşti:

• Polytechnic University 68%
• University of Bucharest 62%
• "Carol Davila" University of Medicine 81%
• Academy of Economic Studies 54%
• SNSPA 63%

Cluj-Napoca:

• "Babeș-Bolyai" University 65%
• "Iuliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy 64%

Iaşi:

• "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University 64%
• "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University 61%
• "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy 30%

Timisoara: Western University 73%

Braşov: Transylvania University 57%

Constant: Ovidius University 45%

Sibiu: "Lucian Blaga" University 51%

Targu Mures: "George Emil Palade" University of Medicine and Pharmacy 43%

Children are avid users of digital technologies, and trends already felt for a long time deepened in the pandemic, when school moved online and there were long periods of quarantine. This trend has many benefits, but also raises issues related to the safety of children in the digital environment, a problem in which even education systems can lend a hand - from information distribution to media literacy and promoting digital citizenship, says the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD) in an analysis on this topic published on the platform OECDedutoday.com.

OECD analyst Francesca Gottschalk points out that "despite all the opportunities offered by the digital world - such as playing, learning, socializing, participating in civic life - digital involvement is accompanied by risks to children's safety, risks that can have implications in the real world."

It shows that the risks are either online declinations of risks that exist offline too – bullying can just as well exist on the Internet and in the schoolyard, children can be exposed to racist displays or hate speech and in online games or apps , as in real life - while others are specific to the digital environment. Among these, examples are given of sexting (sending messages with sexual content), the misuse of children's personal data or the confusion often produced by some types of online commercial communications.

• All this, the author shows, can affect children's well-being and school results, their private life in the short or long term and can have financial implications.

The review describes several ways that education systems can—and in some places already do—step in to support children's online safety. Certain:

Actions against cyberbullying – from developing national action plans, to helplines for children, parents and teachers, disseminating information to help teachers embed online safety in their teaching.

Some of the Romanian employees are already thinking, at the beginning of the year, to change their current job this year, and some have even taken concrete steps in this direction, for a new career challenge, but the number of those who are dissatisfied is more lower than at the beginning of last year. Thus, just over half (54%) of the Romanian employees who participated in a survey conducted by the recruitment platform BestJobs say that they are thinking of changing their job this year, and 28% have even taken concrete steps in this direction. Even if 2020 was full of challenges from a professional point of view, with a lot of effort and stress, the number of those considering a job change is lower than at the beginning of last year, when six out of ten Romanian employees declared themselves dissatisfied with the situation their professional career and were thinking of changing jobs.

Although the salary prospects still remain the main criterion according to which most Romanian employees (39%) choose one job or another, almost 29% of the respondents to the survey say that they were planning to change their job before the pandemic , because they want a new career challenge. For 27%, however, the main reason why changing jobs has become a priority in the new year is that they don't feel they have enough opportunities for professional development at their current job. More than 15% of respondents are even considering the option of completely changing their field of activity, and 19% are now thinking more than before the pandemic about the prospect of a job abroad.