In the second session of baccalaureate from this fall only 24 percent of 85,117 students that participated in the exam passed and over 14,000 of enlisted graduates quit taking the exam, according to data from the Ministry of Education made public on September 2.

The Minister of Education, Ecaterina Andronescu said in a press conference that the results from this session are worse than the session earlier this summer, in which 99,400 candidates were enlisted, but only 20,662 candidates passed the exam.

Ecaterina Andronescu also said on Saturday that the baccalaureate next year will probably be differentiated and the high school students who wish to enter the labor market directly will have the chance to take a vocational baccalaureate, which will be a new form of high school graduation.

Andronescu said that following discussions she has had with several school principals and representatives of the Inspectorate, it was concluded that a new form of high school graduation was necessary.

“This means that we will have the national baccalaureate that we now have, with the same tests, same content, and the vocational baccalaureate for those not aiming for higher education but will instead go to work. In this way, through the vocational baccalaureate, we will give them certification for the professional world,” said the Minister of Education after the government meeting.

Last year, in the autumn session, the national pass rate was 16.8 percent after resolving complaints.

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romanian-insider.com

 (photo source: sxc.hu)