An EU-level STEM education plan, a key part of the EU's Union of Skills initiative launched this March, sets out measures to reverse the trend of declining STEM performance at school and to encourage more students to study STEM subjects and take up related careers. How does Romania measure up in this area? What challenges does it face, and where is there room for improvement? Recent reports offer a nuanced snapshot.

With its STEM Education Strategic Plan, EU has set targets for 2030 include having 45% of students enrolled in STEM fields in initial medium-level vocational education and training (VET), where 1 out of every 4 students is female; 32% of students enrolled in STEM fields at tertiary level, where 2 out of every five students are female; and 5% of students enrolled in ICT PhD programs, where 1 out of every three students is female.

Romania is close to these aims for STEM higher education, but its number of trained professionals in the sector is low, while labor market forecasts indicate high demand for such specialists.

In 2023, the country had one of the highest percentages in the EU of students enrolled in a STEM1 university program, namely 30.9% compared to an EU average of 26.9%. A significant share of these students, namely 37.4% were women, also one of the highest shares in the EU, where the average stands at 32.2%. 

The numbers reflect a certain historical tradition in the study of STEM disciplines, the European Commission's Education and Training Monitor 2025 shows, but also the importance of the IT sector in the country, the presence of math- and science-specialized high schools, and the range of higher education STEM programs, but also the high value placed on STEM careers.

The achievements of Romanian teams at various international STEM Olympiads routinely make headlines in local media, and competitions in STEM fields have also gained popularity locally in recent years. Among them is First Tech Challenge Romania, the largest robotics competition in secondary schools in the country. It has been organized since 2016 by the Nation through Education Association. There, participants learn coding, project management, problem-solving, and a host of other skills, while they practice designing, building, programming, and operating a robot. By 2023, more than 13,000 students and 2,000 teachers in STEM and entrepreneurship education had taken part in the competition, where the rules are approved by the Education Ministry.

At the same time, Romanian students perform well at international Olympiads in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, or Biology. In the 2025 CEE Index of Excellence in STEM Education, put together by the US nonprofit Center for Excellence in Education based on the combined outcomes of international STEM Olympiads, Romania ranks 15th among 25 countries surveyed. China tops the chart, followed by the US, South Korea, and Singapore. The index analyzes students' performance in each of the five major STEM-related Olympiad competitions. The average rankings of students in each country are calculated and ranked for each Olympiad, with the average of those rankings determining the final country rank on the CEE Index.

However, the index captures only the experience of a small share of students, since structural obstacles persist, among them the lack of basic skills among young people, including in mathematics and science.

Numerous students leave school without mastering the basic competencies needed to participate fully in society, according to the OECD's 2025 Education and Skills in Romania. The 2022 OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed 48.6% of the surveyed students lacked basic proficiency in mathematics (compared to an EU average of 29.5%), 41.7% in reading (EU: 26.2%), and 44.0% in science (EU: 24.2%). Only a small share of the 15-year-olds surveyed demonstrated advanced levels in basic skills in mathematics: 4% compared to the EU average of 7.9%; 2% in reading (EU: 6.5%); and 1.4% in sciences (EU: 6.9%).

Weak learning foundations contribute to high dropout rates, with nearly one in four students leaving school before completing upper secondary education. The problem is particularly pronounced in small rural schools serving disadvantaged communities.

Other surveys have shown a lack of skills needed to navigate today's digital world. A total of 74% of Romanian 14-year-olds lacked the essential computer and information literacy skills tested in the IEA's International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), far from the EU target of reducing underachievement below 15% by 2030.

In higher education, where participation is lower and dropout rates high, there were only 19.0 STEM graduates per 1,000 people aged 20–29, compared with the EU average of 22.4 in 2023. In total, 4.5% of doctoral candidates were pursuing a degree in ICT, above the EU average of 3.8% but still below the 5% target. Among these ICT doctoral students, 33.1% were women, above the EU average of 24.3% and aligned with the 33% target.

Ongoing efforts towards improvement

Recent initiatives, from the Educated Romania project to the reforms announced in the QX Report and in the education section of the 2025 – 2028 governing program, have highlighted STEM education as a priority, alongside various measures meant to aid in supporting it.

In order to improve learning outcomes, some projects are focused on better teacher preparation and continuous professional development.

The focus on theoretical aspects and limited practical applications in teaching remain a challenge, according to the EU report. This is made worse by the lack of teacher training in specific pedagogies, such as inquiry-based science learning or project-based learning.

OECD analyses have noted that a large share of schoolteachers received limited pedagogical preparation in their initial teacher education, with impacts on teaching quality. Continuous professional development (CPD) typically consisted of short training courses outside schools, often of poor quality and relevance, according to the same source. A compulsory master's in pedagogy has recently been introduced, while the new education law added structured mentorship for practicing teachers and envisaged revisions to CPD. Schools can organize learning communities to support collaborative learning among teachers, but in-school teacher appraisal is not currently designed to help teachers improve their teaching practices, according to the organization's assessment. OECD also notes the need to further develop the resources teachers need to deliver competence-based teaching, provide them with additional support and guidance, and better align the national evaluation at the end of eighth grade with the curriculum.

Adding to the issue is an emerging shortage of qualified teachers in STEM subjects, as noted in the recent OECD report: an estimated 41% of science teachers and 47% of math teachers are aged 50 or older.

Measures have been taken to increase the attractiveness of the teaching career through better pay, but teacher salaries in Romania remain low compared to the OECD average. In 2022, the average annual wage of a general upper secondary teacher in Romania was USD 33,085, below the OECD average of USD 53,119. In 2023, following three weeks of strike and two large protests in Bucharest, teachers were granted a salary increase of approximately 25%.

Ensuring adequate teacher training is one of the measures needed, alongside improving basic skills and higher education attainment, the Education and Training Monitor 2025 notes. The need is there as the share of young Romanians (aged 25 to 34) who hold a tertiary degree increased only slightly in 2024, to 23.2%, below the EU average of 44.1%16 and the EU-level target of 45%. Factors such as high levels of early school leaving, low participation of disadvantaged students, dropout rates among university students, and emigration have contributed to stagnating attainment levels. Meanwhile, financial barriers and the lack of coherence between upper-secondary pathways and higher education programs have been identified as key factors behind the high dropout, which is particularly high for those who graduated from VET.

Infrastructure investments

Several infrastructure investments, funded through the National Resilience and Recovery Plan (PNRR), have been announced in recent years, with the aim of adding more science laboratories to schools across the country. In 2022, high schools could apply for funding to set up smart labs equipped with digital equipment typical of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) classroom, the Education Ministry announced at the time. This September, the institution said that this year and the following one, it will finalize projects that entail the endowment of 1,400 multidisciplinary smart labs in 1,093 high schools through the PNRR. This adds to projects that entail the endowment of more than 5,800 schools, clubs, and children's educational centers; digitalization projects for 60 public and private universities; and a training program for digital pedagogy skills targeting 100,000 teachers in the pre-university school cycle.

The educational offer & the labor market demands

From 2022 to 2035, the growth in employment in high-tech manufacturing and services in the country is expected to be one of the highest among all EU member states, the Education and Training Monitor notes.

Meanwhile, the vocational education and training (VET) offer increasingly focuses on STEM as well. Locally, 36.0% of pupils in medium-level VET in 2023 were enrolled in STEM fields, similar to the 36.3% level in the EU. Of these, 36.4% were girls, one of the highest shares in the EU, where the average stood at 15.4% average in 2023, and above the proposed 2030 EU-wide target of at least 25%. At the same time, more STEM-related specializations that aim to meet labor market demands have been added. Among the new qualifications are 'electrician for photovoltaic systems' and 'industrial robot operator', demanded in the field of electronics/automatics.

(Photo: Wittayayut Seethong | Dreamstime.com)

simona@romania-insider.com