Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, speaking at a UN conference about education, assured that Romania "remains committed to adjusting its education system to the current and emerging challenges" through the strategy developed under "the most inclusive public consultations process" that involved over 10,000 citizens: "Educated Romania."

The President's flagship project after two mandates at the top of the country, "Educated Romania," not only remains a strategy to be implemented sometime in the future, but it remains "a utopic initiative in a country headed by imposters holding forged diplomas," according to a recent statement of philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu, quoted by Stiripesurse.ro.

The Presidency has not reacted to the constant, broad public criticism on this topic - in contrast to claims about the most inclusive public consultation process.

"The 'Educated Romania' program is a sinister bluff that we believed in when we elected Iohannis. It fooled a bunch of intellectuals who are aware that life in a country depends on the level of its culture. This bluff called 'Educated Romania' did not succeed in raising by even an inch the quality of education, [it is] a program that turned, as someone said, from zero tolerance to plagiarism to zero reaction to plagiarism," Liiceanu argued in the statement that prompted public debates.

"As the impact of the pandemic is phasing off, leaving the space open to new and difficult global challenges, we must decide on the policies needed to heal the world. Our efforts these days should pave the way for better governance globally. Building a sustainable future is a key component of this endeavour. The success depends, of course, to a large extent on ensuring inclusive quality education. We must prepare our citizens for the challenges generated by economic changes, climate change and the new social realities, protecting, at the same time, the fundamental rights and active participation of citizens," President Iohannis said in a video message sent during the session dedicated to heads of state and government of the Transforming Education Summit (TES) which takes place on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UN).

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)