We're not short of tablets, we're short of data: how digitalising education can prevent dropout

Education in Romania is at a crossroads: between chronic problems - high school dropout rates, functional illiteracy, a lack of facilities - and opportunities: European funds, emerging technologies, and best-practice models already validated internationally.

The Minister of Education: "We do not have enough data for real policies."

In the QX Report, the Minister of Education, Daniel David, stated it clearly: in many essential areas of education there is no relevant data to underpin public policy. Any strategy that ignores this reality risks remaining nothing more than a nicely written document.

Romanian education starts with a major disadvantage: children's participation in kindergarten is almost 20% below the EU average of 93%, which affects the development of fundamental skills. At older ages, the problems worsen. International PISA tests show that almost half of Romanian students do not master basic competencies in mathematics, reading, and science - twice as many as the European average - and this situation is compounded by deep social inequalities: over 57% of students from poor families do not even reach the minimum level of competence. In effect, Romania is trapped in a vicious circle of educational inequality, in which the lack of early intervention and the poor or ill-adapted quality of teaching generate major gaps on a large scale.

"The biggest problem is not that we lack data in education, but that the data sets do not communicate with one another and are not used to anticipate, only to report. Technology can change this. We can build an interconnected educational digital infrastructure in which data works in favor of teachers, students, and decision-makers - in real time, not retrospectively. So we are not lacking tablets. We are lacking data." - Marius Marinescu, Chief Technology Officer, Metaminds

Romania is digitizing education in fragments, while Europe is building ecosystems

A survey conducted by Metaminds and AtlasIntel in 2024 shows that:

• 9 out of 10 Romanians (90.5%) consider digitization important for the country's economic development;
• 63% want a digital identity in order to reduce bureaucracy;
• 69.7% identify bureaucracy as the main obstacle in their relationship with public services;
• 36% cite the lack of interconnection between institutions as a major problem.

These figures clearly show that there is a public expectation for the digitization of state services, including education. Parents want clarity. They want answers. And they want to know, in good time, what is happening with their children at school.

Analyzing the current situation, the problem is not necessarily the lack of technology itself, but the lack of a coherent ecosystem that links technology to the real needs of students, teachers, and parents. Romania has computers in schools, internet in many classrooms, and access to modern school-management education platforms capable of monitoring in real time the progress of students, classes, and schools - but these are not integrated at a central level. The Ministry of Education and the school inspectorates do not have access to the data collected, as it remains isolated at the level of each educational institution, without being transmitted in a centralized digital format. Moreover, the adoption of these platforms is extremely low: fewer than 2,000 of the more than 6,300 existing pre-university education establishments use such solutions, despite the fact that the technology has been available in Romania for more than 16 years. This situation highlights a significant gap between the digital potential of the education system and the reality of large-scale implementation.

Other unadopted solutions include: the creation of adapted educational content, the creation of offline digital educational resources (interactive textbooks that also work without a permanent connection), culturally and linguistically adapted content (for Roma and Hungarian children or those from isolated communities), and mobile digital library equipment for schools without internet - as a result, children from vulnerable communities remain completely outside the digital transformation.

Some timid steps are being taken: through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), approximately 70% of universities have received digitization grants to improve their laboratories, their staff's IT skills, and their digital infrastructure. In addition, the first "smart labs" (interactive digital laboratories) have been set up in schools, and investment in certain educational resources has increased. What remains, however, is for these initiatives to be expanded and interconnected, so that technology becomes a natural part of education at all levels, not a curiosity or an isolated project.

The teacher of the future needs real support, not just a laptop

Digital transformation in education cannot take place without well-trained teachers. In Romania, most teaching staff do not possess the skills needed to use technology pedagogically, and the solution would be to adopt mandatory programs dedicated to professional development in the field of digital skills. Without continuous training, they risk becoming mere "operators" of platforms, without integrating them effectively into the teaching process. Therefore, Romania needs a national continuous-training program in which teachers learn not only what tools exist, but above all how to use them effectively in the classroom. Furthermore, AI - although already widely used in international education - is absent from the Romanian educational landscape. It could transform the way teaching and learning are done, providing teachers with tools for automatic analysis and assessment. It is important to emphasize that AI must be seen as a tool that supports pedagogy, not one that replaces it. The teacher's role remains central - artificial intelligence can only relieve them of repetitive tasks (grading tests, managing data) and provide them with relevant information, but the human factor (empathy, student motivation) can never be substituted.

School dropout: between a harsh diagnosis and real change

Romania is heading toward 2030 with baggage that is hard to ignore: 16.6% of young people aged 18-24 left school early, and in rural areas the rate reaches an alarming 27.5%, more than eight times higher than in large cities, representing the highest rate in the European Union. At the same time, only 22.5% of young Romanians between 25 and 34 have completed university studies, compared with the EU average of 43.1%. These figures place Romania among the last in Europe in terms of educational inclusion and qualified human capital. And the differences between social, geographic, and economic backgrounds deepen the gap. Poverty is the main factor: families cannot afford school supplies, clothes, or transport, and 1 in 2 children lives at risk of severe poverty. The problem can be controlled through targeted measures - scholarships, free meals, transport, "Second Chance" programs - but Romania is slow to implement them systematically.

Educational-management platforms have proven essential in reducing absenteeism and preventing school dropout, offering features such as automatic notifications to parents, more effective communication between school and family, and, implicitly, more active parental support in children's educational journeys. However, the lack of consistent national funding and the absence of an integrated ecosystem in which data is collected and analyzed centrally block the real impact of these solutions.

The absence of a national digital infrastructure makes it impossible to quickly identify students at risk of dropping out, while other European states intervene proactively based on predictive analytics. Although the Ministry of Education recently began building an early-warning system with the support of the World Bank, real implementation remains far off. Without massive investment in teacher training, platform interoperability, and a coherent strategic vision, Romania risks remaining stuck in an outdated education system, while the rest of Europe builds the school of the future.

Absenteeism is not inevitable: technology and community involvement can change trajectories

School absenteeism affects students' chances of success, especially in vulnerable areas, but examples of success - such as the one in Dobrin, Sălaj County, where half of the students were absent every day and the attendance rate rose within a few years to 92% in 2023-2024 - demonstrate that significant change can be achieved through local involvement, a well-defined strategy, positive rewards, and a friendly school climate. School-management platforms can play an essential role in preventing absenteeism and school dropout by promoting teaching adapted to each student's needs and encouraging closer collaboration between teachers, students, homeroom teachers, and parents. By flagging risk factors early - such as declining school performance, the appearance of behavioral problems, or an increase in the number of absences - these platforms enable rapid and effective intervention, thus helping to reduce the risk of school dropout.

Internationally, success in combating absenteeism is based on real-time digital monitoring and rapid intervention, including counseling and educational contracts with parents. Romania is taking its first steps in this direction through pilot programs and European projects, but it is essential that these initiatives be expanded systemically, not just in isolation. It is important to note that absences also drop when students are motivated - an approach centered on "encouraging attendance," rather than merely penalizing students for their absences, bears fruit. Therefore, the lesson is that absenteeism can be combated through a mix of digital platforms, monitoring, close collaboration with family and community, social intervention, and a positive school climate.

Transforming education requires coherence, will, and community

Change does not come through new equipment alone. The Ministry of Education should allocate an annual per-student budget for digitization, allowing schools to choose educational platforms that meet technical standards - from data security to teacher support. These isolated platforms should send essential data, automatically, to a central ministry platform, so that decisions are based on reality, not on estimates. We have the infrastructure - internet, platforms, local initiatives. What is missing? The coherence of a unified, unitary system in which data is interconnected within a system accessible both to the ministry and to teachers and parents.

In conclusion, the transformation of Romanian education must include the full range of interventions: from social policies (to keep vulnerable children in school) to digitization (to make teaching more effective and attractive); from teacher training to international partnerships. Only through a holistic approach, supported by the community and by decision-makers, will we be able to move from promises and pilot projects to a reality in which every child has the chance at a quality education, comparable to that of any other child in Europe.