Early school dropout rate, down to all-time low in Romania but still higher than the EU average

The early school leaving rate, calculated as a monitored indicator for the 2020 Strategy, has dropped to an all-time low in Romania in 2019 – 15.7% (from 16.4% in 2018 and 18.1% in 2017).

However, the rate in Romania is still higher than the EU average and well below the 11.3% target assumed for 2020, local Edupedu.ro reported. The European Union average was 10.3% in 2019.

Early school leaving refers to people aged 18 to 24 who have completed at most lower secondary education and are not involved in further education or training. They are more likely to face difficulties when looking for a job or to earn less once they find one.

Over 254,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 24 (15.7%) from Romania have graduated at most the eighth grade in 2019, according to European Commission data reviewed by Edupedu.ro. By comparison, in 2018 the share was 16.4% (268,235 young people) and in 2017 - 18.1% (297,436 young people).

Romania, ranked first in the EU in 2017 based on the percentage of early leavers (18.1%), came third in 2019, after Spain (17.2%) and Malta (16.7%), according to Eurostat. Croatia (3.1%), Greece (4.3%) and Lithuania (4.4%) registered the lowest early school leaving rates.

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