NATO Secretary General Mircea Joane believes, after the results of the PISA tests, that it is absolutely disgusting to resort to a situation where more than half of the children in Romania who have passed through the education system are functionally illiterate. . Joane believes that the time has come for education in Romania to start at the age of two, writes news.ro

“I, when I see the results of education rankings in Europe and PISA for the children of my country, I cannot say more because I have an official job, but it is absolutely disgusting to enter a situation where more than half of your children who have passed through the education system are functionally illiterate. Half of Romania’s children are born in the country, half are born in the diaspora, and I continue to pretend that I don’t see that people, my children, Roma children, 75% of them fail to reach the minimum level of education, not secondary. I believe that we need to start education much earlier, we need to start some form of education from the age of two, because it has been scientifically proven that the foundation is laid by the age of 6, after which formal education follows,” said Mircea Joane.

The NATO Secretary General believes that it is time to get a fair chance for all children, regardless of the social status of the families they come from.

“I think we can rebuild the circle … and restart the social elevator where even a child from the most troubled family in this country will have a fair chance. There is no guarantee of success, but there is a chance that he can compete, on somewhat balanced terms, with a kid from the heart of Timisoara, from a wealthy family in Romania. This is not a matter of left or right. This is a question of morality in society, and I think that even a person with more liberal beliefs, let’s say right-wing, understands that without a qualified labor force you cannot develop your business, you cannot develop the economy. No matter how you look at it, education is central,” Mircea Joane also stated.

The Deputy Secretary General of NATO presented his book “Battle for Romania’s Future” in Timisoara. Thoughts of a Romanian at the head of NATO”, during a debate moderated by Simona Neuman, Aspen Fellow and former Executive Director of the Association of the European Capital of Culture 2023 Timisoara.