Press review – December 21, 2020

The Ministry of Education and Research launched on Friday the Strategy for Digitization of Education in Romania 2021-2027, which aims, among other things, to make at least 90% of the country's population digitally literate and equip all schools in the country with infrastructure and technological resources.

The Minister of Education, Monica Anisie, declared on Friday that this Education Digitalization Strategy in Romania must become a national project. "After a long series of consultations with the IT and Telecommunications industry, with civil society, with social dialogue partners, we are launching the Strategy for Digitization of Education in Romania 2021 - 2027 - Smart Edu. This strategy must become a country project because if we want to build a modern Romania, we must first of all build an educated Romania. Until this moment, Romania did not have a national strategy regarding the digitization of the education and training system, and this, for my mandate as minister, represents a priority project", said Anisie. She mentioned that in the last ten years the investment budget of the Ministry of Education for digitization was zero lei. Anisie also stated that this strategy includes eight areas of interest. "From a structural perspective, the strategy regarding the digitization of education includes eight areas of interest, including the school curriculum for emerging trades. It is a reality that the future of the labor market will bring permanent changes so that the active population should follow continuous learning programs. The issue of sustainable development will open new doors to jobs related to the green economy, the discovery and exploitation of new renewable resources, the discovery and presentation of ecosystems and culture and civilization. An emerging curriculum that trains people prepared for emerging professions involves facilitating learning based on students' interests and coordinating education in the direction of current trends," the Minister of Education said.

For one in four Romanian employees, the stress level has doubled at work, and most of them feel exhausted, feel fear and social isolation during this period of the coronavirus pandemic.

After 10 months of the pandemic, Romanian employees feel overwhelmed by tasks at work, fear, uncertainty and social isolation, almost three out of 10 respondents admit that they have already reached burnout.

The fatigue felt as a result of a demanding schedule makes another almost 20% of employees believe that in six months at the most they will reach exhaustion if the stress remains at the same level, while almost 16% estimate that they will reach when sold out within one year at the most.

Employees feel that the work environment is disorganized and chaotic (31,6%), others feel overloaded (26,6%) and say that they have new responsibilities that go beyond their area of ​​competence (24,6%). These are the three main stress factors cited by the employees who responded to the BestJobs survey.

Another 23,8% of the respondents explain the high stress by the fact that they do not find a balance between their personal and professional lives, and 21% are stressed because they have to take over the responsibilities of their colleagues.

Schools could safely reopen at the end of March-beginning of April, after the second stage of anti-Covid vaccination, aimed at teachers, the elderly and people from vulnerable categories, ends, doctor Valeriu Gheorghiță told Digi23.

President of the National Committee for the Coordination of Activities regarding Vaccination against COVID-19, doctor Valeriu Gheorghiță explained to Digi24 why it is important to vaccinate teaching staff and people from vulnerable categories, so that schools can reopen safely.

He emphasized that in the case of children, the problem was not the severity of the disease, but that they can become infected, be asymptomatic and transmit this virus to other people.

Gheorghiță added that at school, the activity is very well organized, at least for small children, and that the risk of their exposure during classes was very small. The risk was related to activities outside school – public transport, the park or other activities.

"Teachers and the elderly population enter the second phase of vaccination. This means we could safely reopen the school at the end of March – beginning of April when we start the third vaccination phase. Then we would have finished the second stage for the vulnerable categories", said Valeriu Gheorghiță, according to Digi24.

A long-term vision is needed, and "the first step would be the clear definition of responsibilities and the assumption of these responsibilities by all those involved", says Radu Szekely, an expert in education at the European Commission.

Against the background of the negotiations that are taking place these days for the formation of a new Government, we continue to ask ourselves what kind of ministers would be desirable for each individual field, for our good, for all of us.

On social networks, the debates are deep and intense, and the expectations of teachers, parents and students from the future Minister of Education are very high.

Radu Szekely, consultant in the European Commission for Education and Culture (2006), founder of the Finnish School in Sibiu and former special adviser on strategy issues in education to the Minister of Education (2019), speaks in a short interview for readers SpotMedia.ro about the problems in this field, paints the portrait of an efficient Minister of Education and proposes some important steps for the improvement and modernization of the Romanian education system.

After years of experience in the Nordic countries, my opinion is that through a process of consultation and explanation of the measures to be taken (not which have been taken!) we would have the support of the majority of people.

Regulation of the European digital market is a constant concern of the European Commission. Whether they are for the purpose of increasing consumer welfare, as the European Commission states, or for the purpose of blocking the tech giants in their plan to dominate the European digital space, these are the most important European regulations that will shape the European digital space in 2021.

Audiovisual services – keeping pace with new video content distribution models

Audiovisual Services Directive^[1] of 2018 is already in force and brings significant changes for linear broadcasters and providers services on request, providing minimum harmonization standards. One of the most notable changes is the introduction of rules on video sharing platforms, which will be subject to stricter obligations to protect the public, especially minors, from harmful online content and will have to take appropriate measures to protect the public from incitement to violence or hatred and from content that constitutes crime (essentially, public incitement to commit crimes of terrorism, child pornography and racism/xenophobia).

Although the implementation deadline of September 19, 2020 has passed, Romania has not yet released a draft implementation law for public consultation.

European Code of Electronic Communications – consolidation and reform

In December 2018, the first European Electronic Communications Code ("CECE") was adopted^[2], which represents an extensive reform of the European framework in the field of electronic communications. A very important aspect of CECE is that the notion of an electronic communications service has been expanded to incorporate the evolving changes in the sector, which has led to an increase in the number of providers of services which are subject to CECE provisions (eg interpersonal communication services provided via the Internet, such as WhatsApp, are now included in electronic communications services).

The CECE must be transposed by member states by 21 December 2020. In Romania, the implementation project is currently under debate and, given the short time available and a Parliament in the making, it is unlikely that the implementing law to be adopted on time.

Extending Consumer Rights in the Digital Sphere

Digital Content Directive^[3] of 2019 and the Sale of Goods Directive^[4] from 2019 aims to reduce transaction costs for businesses by aligning EU law and increasing the level of protection and legal certainty for consumers when making purchases across the EU. These are in addition to the Regulation Platforms-to-Business^[5] of 2019, dealing with the relationship between platforms and their business users, which entered into force in July 2020.

The most comprehensive review of copyright law in 20 years

Copyright Directive ^[6] of 2019 is the most extensive revision of European copyright law since 2001, designed to address the challenges of increased cross-border use of digital content. The new rules provide increased protection for authors and artists, while opening up new possibilities for accessing and sharing copyrighted content online across the European Union.

Bonus: Digital Services Act Package

The Digital Services Legislative Package is a legislative package announced by the EC even as we write this article, which aims to create a modern legal framework for digital services in Europe^[7]. The package represents the biggest regulatory reform effort in the digital services sector since the E-Commerce Directive of 2000 and aims to strengthen the Digital Single Market and ensure that providers of services digital platforms in the European Union act responsibly to mitigate the risks faced by their users and protect their rights.

I don't need to remind anyone that 2020 was a strange year. The books didn't fare too well either. Bookstores have closed, sales have suffered (although online sales have increased), and publishers have had to adapt – either by reducing investment and the volume of new releases, or by focusing primarily on marketable titles and translations.

He died in the first part of the year Paul Goma. They were done 100 years since the publication of the novel Ion by Liviu Rebreanu. Radu Cosașu he turned 90 years old. It was announced that Nostalgia Mircea Cărtărescu will be published by Penguin UK. The awarding of literary prizes (from Sofia Nădejde to "Cultural Observer") took place either with a small audience or online. For most, life went on.

Here is a selection of 10 titles that I thought were important for 2020. Most of them are non-fiction and translations. Order is not value.

European vocabulary of philosophies

Essays. Book one

Isolation

Alwarda

Duty. The first 5 years

Piranese

Through Romania. Travel documents

The mother of all questions

The Promised Land

Dante's reading: Inferno. Purgatory. paradise