Youth and Education

Soaring youth unemployment and illiteracy rank high on the EUs priority agenda. Romania makes no exception, as the Member State with the highest percentage of jobless young people.

România Internațional, 11.03.2014, 13:31

Some 15 million young people across the EU are jobless, while the lack of measures to integrate them into the labour market exposes them to poverty, EU Commissioner for Youth, Multilingualism and Employment Androulla Vassiliou said in Bucharest. Attending the international conference entitled “Keeping young people in employment, education and training: Common challenges, Shared Solutions”, Commissioner Vassiliou explained who the young people facing those risks at present were:

“Social exclusion is certainly concentrated among young people whose parents or even grandparents, were migrants or who have a disability or health problem. And those who leave school early without completing their studies are the most vulnerable. Youth unemployment is one of the greatest challenges facing the EU at present. The average stands at 24% right now, higher as compared to last year”.

Commissioner Vassiliou went on to say that the fact that millions of Europe’s young people are unemployed and thus do not contribute to social security schemes, had negative consequences for the economy and significant costs for society. Disengagement of young people from the labour market entails losses of around 160 billion euros every year, tantamount to 1.3% of the EU’s GDP. Besides, Commissioner Vassiliou drew attention to the fact that social exclusion and inactivity can lead to anti-social or dangerous behaviour, often to an attraction to the extremes of the political spectrum.

Androulla Vassiliou believes that EU national education systems should be reformed so that all young people may acquire the skills they need to get a job. In turn, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta expressed his dissatisfaction with the way the Romanian education system works, while Minister of State for Higher Education Mihnea Costoiu said Romania was the EU country with the highest unemployment among its youth.

According to the Romanian official, 23% of Romanians aged between 25 and 29 are jobless and are not engaged in any form of training. Costoiu added that Romanian education was undergoing a far-reaching process of modernization and compliance with the needs of 21st-century society. Romania has a thorough plan in that respect, focusing on life-long training, partnerships in the business field and measures to ensure the equality of chances.

At present there are two ongoing programmes at EU level aimed at combating unemployment: The European Youth Guarantee, which provides labour market integration within four months of graduation, a program also launched in Romania last month, as well as Eramus Plus, which was launched in Bucharest on Tuesday.