A technical high school in Zalău, Romania, has obtained the official accreditation for two new technical study majors following a six-year long process with the support of Tenaris.
Starting in 2022, students of the Alessandru Papiu Ilarian High School will be able to obtain a diploma for Computer Numerically Controlled, or CNC, technician and electric installation technicians - two majors whose accreditation process have been recently finalized through an order issued by Romania’s Minister of Education.
The initiative is part of Tenaris’s strategy to support technical education and align curricula to the labor market requirements to facilitate graduates’ immediate access to jobs.
The complex project started in 2013, through an unprecedented effort in Romania, with partners from all areas of interest: representatives of Tenaris and other companies in the industrial sector in Zalău, local authorities and representatives of relevant educational institutions.
The project involved a series of discussions and plant visits with Zalău becoming the center stage for meetings with teachers from all over the country and representatives of industrial companies, to analyze current and future labor market requirements and to update the curriculum in areas such as mechanics, electrical and electronics, and automation.
As a result, in 2014, the educational plan of the Alessandru Papiu Ilarian Technical High School in Zalău included a new major - machining technician on numerically controlled machines, and a year later the technician in electrical installations major was added. This year, they both received the official accreditation from Romania’s Minister of Education.
“We consider extremely important the alignment between the education system and the requirements of the labor market and the introduction of new technical disciplines that reflect the industrial reality and the technologies used today. We will not stop here, we will continue to promote projects that help students understand the needs of new industry - and here I refer to computer-driven industrial processes, level 2 and 3 automation that have transformed production processes from 20 years ago. We are proud to have been able to contribute to the process of transforming technical education and we thank all the other parties involved for their tenacity and perseverance,” says Mihaela Popescu, President of Tenaris in Romania.
The process of accrediting new specializations in technical high schools is a complex one, requiring the involvement and perseverance from students but also from educational institutions and private companies. The attractiveness of technical education is strongly correlated with the flexibility and ability to update and adapt to the economic context.
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