15 to 15 is a book that presents the stories of 15 young people from Romania who were forced by life to drop out of school to find work to support themselves and their families. The book, published by Smartree, a strategic HR partner for Romanian companies, together with Teach for Romania, raises alarm about Romania’s huge school dropout rate of 16% in 2022.

These children, who have not reached the legal age for employment in Romania, work in various forms out of necessity: some are looking after animals, others are nannies or day laborers in construction. They deserve access to modern educational solutions, quality education and motivated teachers so that they can achieve the most difficult thing: not leaving the education system without graduating.

“There are three of us and it is difficult for us. We need it for clothes, notebooks, for everything.” — Bianca, 14 years old, farm worker

This is not only a negative social impact, but also a significant economic one, since Romania is losing more and more human capital, which leads to a lack of qualified personnel in all areas, to an increase in unemployment and an increase in impoverishment, thus increasing social problems, decreasing the quality and standard of living in the country.

“Tomorrow’s workforce needs quality education today and equal opportunities to succeed, regardless of social background,” explains Oleksandra Peligrad, CEO of Smartree. “Education is children’s chance for a good life, and we are obliged to give it to them.”

11-year-old Mircea, who works as a shepherd in Kalarash, would also like to have equal opportunities: “I would like to study books, but also be with the animals here. I really can’t read. I know all the letters, but I don’t really know how to connect them, put them into words. And I want to teach them.”

“I want to tell children to love their mother. I like to work because I get paid. I don’t like that we stay long.” — George, 14 years old, fruit and vegetable packer

The project is carried out by Smartree together with Teach for Romania, as the NGO has been working with children from vulnerable backgrounds for 10 years to reduce early school leaving through literacy programs and redress learning differences by training teachers to work in more disadvantaged areas.

Smartree, as the Romanian market leader in the outsourcing of payroll and personnel administration services, offering integrated services and software solutions for the strategic management of human resources processes for more than 20 years, understands very well the need for equal opportunities in education. In Romania, 400,000 children left school, more than two generations did not finish school.

The name “15 under 15” was designed to emphasize the contrast with the famous magazine Forbes “30 under 30”, which featured the most famous young entrepreneurs of the country. That’s because these 15 children (and the other 400,000) live in a forgotten part of our society. It’s called “dropping out of school,” but in reality, our society was the first to abandon them.

The project was documented in several regions of the country by journalists Ana-Maria Chobanu, Andrea Pietroshel and photographers Bohdan Dinke and Felicia Simion.

“I also work all day without getting tired. Before, after half a day I was dead. Now it’s normal for me.” — Mihai, 15 years old, construction worker

Launched 3 months before the deadline for annual income tax returns to ANAF, the 15 to 15 project is a call to Romania’s business environment to contribute to the future of the workforce. With a simple gesture of redirecting 20% ​​of the company’s income tax, you can support Teach For Romania to train more valuable people as educators, teachers or professors and provide quality education to the children who need it most.

Discover the stories and world of these 15 working children 15sub15 websiteand supports Smartree and Teach for Romania in their efforts to give young people from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance at education.

Article supported by Smartree & Teach for Romania