Preliminary assessment of the first payment request of Romania

elements) was satisfactorily fulfilled (Cover Note).

The authorities also provided:

3. Copy of the publication in the Official Journal No. 1250 of 31.12.2021 of the Government Decision No. 1309 establishing the implementation of the National Programme to reduce early school leaving. Analysis:

The Romanian government adopted on 30 December 2021 a Government Decision establishing the implementation of the National Programme to reduce early school leaving. It was published in the Official Journal No. 1250/2021 and entered into force on the date of its adoption.

The Government Decision (article 2 on page 2) contains a time-bound, evidence-based target to reduce early school leaving in at least 25% of schools participating in the period 2021-2026. It also sets the objective of improving pupils’ performance in national assessments and increasing the percentage of pupils completing secondary education and the participation of secondary education graduates in the national assessment for class VIII graduates and the rate of transition from lower- to upper-secondary or vocational education.

The general objectives of the programme are to increase school autonomy and capacity in the use of resources, through the implementation of the Early Warning Mechanism in Education (MATE), and to monitor, through the Early Warning Mechanism in Education (MATE) tool, pupils at risk of early school leaving, and support schools in collecting relevant data and carrying out plans for individualised activities and training. Through the implementation of these actions, the programme is expected to contribute to a higher cost-effectiveness in the use of resources.

The programme identifies primary and secondary schools with a high percentage of pupils at risk of dropping out, and supports them in collecting relevant data and carrying out individualised work plans through the MATE tool. The MATE collects school data on indicators to assess the risk of early school leaving, on the basis of which its vulnerability index on early school leaving is calculated. There are five Indicators: (1) percentage of replacement teachers in relation to total number of teachers; (2) secondary education attainment rate; (3) the ratio of repeat and drop-out pupils to the total number of pupils; (4) the participation rate of secondary school graduates in the national assessment for 8th grade graduates; (5) the share of lower secondary school graduates who scored less than 6 in the national assessment for 8th grade graduates. Based on the vulnerability index established by the MATE, the intervention priority — high, medium and low at school level — is set to reduce the risk of drop-out and early school leaving.

Finally, Article 5 of the Government Decision states that the Early Warning Mechanism in Education (MATE) and the methodology for the implementation and use of the Early Warning Mechanism in Education (MATE) IT tool shall be approved by order of the Minister for Education within 30 days of the entry into force of the Government Decision.

The Ministry of Education passed the Ministerial Order that approved the Early Warning Mechanism in Education (MATE) mechanism and methodology. The Ministerial Order was published in the Official Journal No. 1252/2021 and entered into force on the date of its adoption, 30 December 2021. This allowed schools to know the activities involved in the project and the monitoring procedures.

Also, following the description of the measure in the CID Annex, the National Programme for the

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