A New Vision About The Stimulation Of Stem Education In Romania

Analysis of the enrolment in STEM topics within EU28

Within the EU28 there were about 19.6 million tertiary students enrolled at the end of 2016, studying for Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees (tertiary education levels 5-8). Within these enrolments, only 3 million were studying a field in engineering (engineering, manufacturing and construction), representing only about 15% of the total. Among these, only 26% women were studying for engineering programs, and 4% were studying in information and communication technologies (see Table 01 ), showing that engineering is still a field of education dominated by men.

In Romania, there were 535,218 students enrolled in tertiary education in 2016 (levels 5-8), placing the country on the 9^th position among the EU28 (Eurostat, 2018b). Among these, 118,621 were enrolled in engineering, manufacturing and construction (22% of total enrolments), 27,385 were enrolled in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics (5% of total enrolments), and 32,661 were enrolled in information and communication technologies (6% of total enrolments).

Analysis of the graduation in STEM topics within EU28

Within the EU28 the number of graduates in a field of engineering was of about 667,000, representing only 15% of the total number of graduates of tertiary education (levels 5-8) in 2016. Among these, only 28% women were graduates from engineering programs, and 19% were graduates in information and communication technologies (see Table 02 ).

The tertiary education attainment was of about 26% in Romania (persons of 30-34), at the end of 2016, compared to almost 40% for EU28, being the lowest from the EU28. At the same time, adult participation in learning for persons of age 25-64 (levels 0-8) was of only 1.2%, compared with the EU28 of about 10% (European Commission, 2017). These very low figures are to be correlated with a very low investment in education, the lowest from EU28, of only 3% of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with EU28 mean of about 5%.

In Romania, there were 121,788 graduates in tertiary education (levels 5-8) in 2016, placing the country on the 7^th position within the EU28 (Eurostat, 2018c). Among these, 22,098 were graduates in engineering, manufacturing and construction (18% of total graduates), 6,950 were graduates in natural sciences, mathematics and statistics (6% of total graduates), and 5,992 were graduates in information and communication technologies (5% of total graduates).

Identification of main barriers and measures to overcome the barriers to select STEM education in Romania

The children of today’s society experience technology from the early age differently than two decades ago. The real train/car and the doll/cooking set were replaced by the virtual games played at tablet, laptop, Play station and Xbox One. Therefore, the technology and hands-on activities should be introduced from early education, if STEM education path is to be stimulated.

Barrier 1 : Cultural . The main barrier is connected with an erroneous stereotype that connects STEM with difficult, arid and boring topics. On the contrary, the STEM topics are linked with innovation and creativity, therefore are to be promoted as expeditions of discovery from primary school. This is to be achieved by an attractive manner of teaching mathematics and science topics, with hands-on activities and practical examples which are to be an inspiration for every pupil. This implies up-to-date training programs for teachers, both for the content and teaching methods, which incorporate technology through on-line applications and project-based, team-work assignments.

Barrier 2 : Structural . The pursuing of STEM education and career path involves at the same time investment in STEM facilities in schools, like experiment kits designed for children, science laboratories that are connected with the real world examples and IT-based teaching/evaluation methods. Moreover, the investment in new tools like rapid prototyping should be thought in order to help the pupils better represent the reality.

Barrier 3 : Motivational . Fun activities based on STEM, like science clubs, young mathematicians clubs, special events connected with science (like science fairs, maths festivals, science debates, protecting the environment activities, contests for young scientists) are to be better developed in every school from Romania. This involves their integration in the school daily schedule, and their development inside the schools. In such a way, by smart playing, both boys and girls, very bright and average pupils will have the opportunity to be involved in STEM topics.

Barrier 4 : Political . The next barrier is linked with the disconnection existent between government policies and industry/business. There is a need for the policy makers to be more involved in stimulating the relationship among schools and practice in specific industries/businesses, and this is to be addressed by a better education policy, more oriented on practice. Moreover, the payment of teachers should be considered with priority, as despite an increase, it remains low and drives the teachers to other more profitable activities. This is turn leads to unenthusiastic, less prepared teachers, unable to inspire the young minds.

Barrier 5 : Personal . The STEM professionals are perceived as hard working, but at the same time their profession in Romania is not correlated with a financially rewarding career. As self-esteem is manly correlated with the financial part, is it obvious that the pupils are more attracted to other better remunerated professions.

Identification of key priorities to stimulate STEM education in Romania

Therefore a new vision is needed for the support of STEM education in Romania, from primary to tertiary education which involves a sustainable partnership on long-term. This vision includes the implication of multiple stakeholders, from teachers to industry, from policy makers to local communities.

Key priority 1 : Redesign the school . The school is to be redesigned, as a part of a community network that connects each school with the neighbouring businesses, museums, community organizations, public libraries and mentors. Mentors may be scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs visible in mass- media and from the neighbourhood, if possible, in order to create a larger impact on the children activities. Each mentor should adopt a school and should inspire the pupils by active involvement, as guest lectures and facilitating site visits, during the whole school year, not only at the begging and end of it.

Key priority 2 : Improve curricula for STEM . The policy makers specialised in education but also in science, technology and research should work together with teachers associations, parents associations and inspectorates, to create better curricula for STEM topics. The first issue to be tacked is to think curricula for primary and secondary education based on understanding, scientific observation and personal experimentation, not on over-stuffed text-based topics as in present. The learning experience should be enriched with collaborative problem-based learning (Momete, 2016), scientific experiments and debates.

Key priority 3: Increase investments . Local authorities should be more involved in the school activities and should work in collaboration with the previously mentioned stakeholders, as the primary education requires a systemic approach. Local authorities should invest in STEM facilities in schools and IT-environments.

Key priority 4 : Improve teachers’ training . The teaching and learning dimension is to be next tackled, by establishing better training programs for primary school teachers on STEM specific disciplines and how they must integrate STEM-disciplines with other non-STEM disciplines. Moreover, the actual tackling of STEM-disciplines by teachers from primary to secondary education should facilitate the development of an authentic learning ecosystem, where the online collaboration applications designed for children, interactive digital games and technology-enabled tests are to be incorporated into the learning experience.

Key priority 5 : Motivate through fun activities . The fun part based on STEM activities should move away from leisure time to school time, as this may act as a motivation tool for average and sub-average pupils. The universities should be also involved and organize science workshops, summer schools based on hands-on activities designed for young pupils, as the orientation towards STEM topics should start from an early age.

Key priority 6 : Attract and reward qualified teachers . The qualified, talented and enthusiastic teachers should be attracted in the primary and secondary education, as they may act as inspiration for pupils to select a STEM career. This is to be achieved mainly by better salaries and rewarding systems for teachers. At the same time, the salary framework in Romania should be reconsidered and should incorporate the value of the work and not special salaries and special pensions for some categories.

In such a way, the real world will be introduced in the classroom by the involvement of all the stakeholders which may help the schools to develop activities inside and outside the classroom that are showing the pupils the world that lies beyond the classroom windows and its functioning. Given the skill shortages, especially in STEM professions, and continuous emigration of Romanians (European Commission, 2017), the excellence in education, from primary to tertiary, should be pursued with consistency and determination and this may be also achieved by tackling the priorities identified by this paper.