Romanian pre-university teachers are selected in the summer. The tradition, if we may speak in such pretentious terms, has gathered some time since it has been in existence. If in the years 1991-2001, the exams for employment in the system of pre-university education took place within the framework of a “paper” organization, which allowed a lot of bureaucratic confusion due to file cabinets and registers, the lists of positions that are put up for competition are disguised. as understandable human errors”, for almost a quarter of a century we have benefited from “computer work”, from “general salvation” through digitalization. Despite the elementary truth that digitalization is not synonymous with transparency and the correct application of laws, the educated public and middle class embraces the saving idea: “fewer papers, faster process of state functioning”. It is certainly less expensive in terms of time, but is it more efficient? It depends on the professional qualities of the Romanian civil servant, who, as a rule, is on the frog’s leg in terms of competence, which has been confirmed again and again, to the annoyance of the citizens. In fact, the main source of dysfunction in the normal operation of the Romanian state is a poorly academically educated staff , poorly trained according to the “job description” and ready to systematically break the law if significant personal gain can be obtained. This rightly follows the immediate, and sometimes disturbing, alarming and surprising work of a civil servant. Either due to the computerization of the workload, or due to the large consumption of paper with a signature and seal, Beamtenstaat democratic, fair and timely does not exist in Romania. People are the measure of all things, and here they are measured in terms of Romanian customs, according to one jus gentium unwritten, to the natural code of voluntary backwardness, to the barbarism of which we are not ashamed.

The recent case of a young teacher from Constanta who was misinformed and misled by a personnel inspector from the inspectorate[1], captures the articulations of a system that cuts careers and destroys any meritocracy through its political representatives, because the inspector, unfortunately, is not an honest professional in Romania who supervises, directs and makes decisions, but a party apparatchik with a mission ,, to keep them all under political-administrative control – peace and tranquility to us”. People’s surnames are of little importance compared to the situation itself, which, we have no doubt, is reproduced en masse in every inspection. in Romania. Disinformation with ill will forms a strong core ​​maintaining the stability of the system. From false, incomplete knowledge comes manipulation and persistence in primitivism. It is true that even the target audience of these practices, that is, the teachers of our children, does not understand what is happening to them and does not take measures to protect at least the minimum .On the one hand, the brazen “cunning” of the person in office, on the other, the naive and vulnerable “stupidity” of the “random victim. The fact that a master’s degree graduate, but who has not yet passed the final exam – although he has been issued a master’s degree graduate certificate – because it is planned to take some positions a month after submitting the file for the exam, it is recommended to complete the bachelor’s degree upon request, forgetting to be informed about the impossibility to choose a position in high school without a master’s degree in the field, thus limiting his employment opportunities, means superficiality at first glance and risks raising suspicions of corruption and other behind-the-scenes arrangements. Trade in budget positions is, unfortunately, a practice in the Romanian state. The Scavenger Hunt and the Shandramala Guardians wink at each other. How many stories can we not unravel in this place? One could write an institutional history starting with this variable alone. Who cares?

Entire positions put up for competition in the spring, but which suddenly disappear from the bureaucratic orbit at the July-August meetings, are saved for a third-year student or the niece of the school principal, positions reserved for officers’ wives, who have been on a mission with a husband for at least ten years, etc., these are small things in addition to what is happening in the personnel department in our school inspectorates. No one from above checks what is below (to keep the peace – the ideal of school inspectorates in Romania, as if we are talking about a night program in a tenant association), although we complain that we lack teachers in rural areas or certain subjects, for example in the category of science sciences (physics, biology and chemistry). Schools are looking for math teachers, but there are fewer applicants than the actual demand because, in addition to the modest salary, the selection process is murky and inconclusive. Who cares?

In addition to abnormally unrealistic examinations based on stereotypes and lack of experience with students in the classroom, with few and unstable positions, we have the nuisance of inspectors who think and act like Konstanz in the cited article. If we were to collect the country’s press, which annually reports on deviations and violations in school inspectorates, we would have a sufficiently voluminous map in front of us so that many inspectors could be fired. Prosecutorial intervention would be welcome in many places, but Romanian prosecutors have other things in mind. “Big corruption” has been fought since dawn. But all this will not happen in our country, no matter how much we would like it. People have a strong “back”. Functional clicks can still break out. The system is dead, but it can still feed hungry mouths. Who cares?

As a rule, parents and teachers should protest against the actions of those who somehow manage the education system. We seem to have other concerns than the state of public education in Romania, a concert, a city break or a walk on the green grass. Who cares if we have fun amidst the ruins of our own failure to build something together? – Read the entire article and comment on Contributors.ro