The quality and the lack of money represent two of the Romanian challenges in the area of education, believes Cristian Aedo, Senior Education Economist for Europe and Central Asia within the World Bank.

• The last two tests were carried out in 2009 and 2012, and the next shall take place in 2015, as this assessment is carried out every three years. The program is aimed at the assessment in the field of mathematics, reading and sciences. It is not a test assessing students in relation to a curriculum, they are assessed in terms of competences, and to what extent the education acquired can be applied to everyday needs. The pupils being assessed are 15 year old. The outcomes show a difference between Romanian pupils and OECD pupils, the first being 50 points under the average of the OECD countries, at Mathematics, which is equivalent to one study year. Thus, we can say that 15 year old pupils from Romanian schools are, in average, one year behind pupils of the same age from OECD. Comparing the Romanian pupils with the Polish pupils, one can notice that the Polish pupils excel in this test, being high above the average of the OECD countries. Compared to the Polish pupils, the Romanian pupils are one year and a half behind, from the competences point of view. 
  

• The Romanian challenges are similar to those of many other countries. One of the topics often discussed with ministers - not only the minister of Education, but also the minister of Finance and the minister of Labor - is the discrepancy between the competencies with which the Romanian pupils exit school and those required on the labor market. In all the countries we work in, when questioning employers we can notice this difference between the competences they would need and those developed by the education system, caused for several reasons. In Romania, four out of ten employers questioned, i.e. 40%, think that the skills with which youngsters exit the education system and enter the labor market represent a constraint in carrying out the corporate operations. In a similar manner, like in other countries in the world, this fact especially affects companies competing on the global market. It is about the challenge to enhance not only the quality of the competences that the educational system provides, but also their relevance for the labor market. In other words, it should be increased not only the level of competences, but also their relevance to the level of the labor market. 
  

• Reducing this gap is the key challenge for your country. Moreover, there are also problems regarding the differences between the best pupils and the average, in Romania such difference reaching 100 points that is two years. There are inequities that need to be solved, and the difference is related to socioeconomic characteristics, like the incomes level, rural vs urban environment and other similar aspects. Quality is an issue, when comparing Romania against Europe. Another important issue is related to resources. In Romania, about 3.4% of GDP is invested in education, compared to an average of more than 5% in the EU.