"The reduction in the number of students, which will be done gradually by reducing the number of places available, is caused by an insufficient number of teachers. We now have 1,000 teachers for 45,000 students. To ensure the best teaching, we would need twice that amount. Since we cannot get any more than 1,000, we have to reduce the number of students to 30,000," said Gheorghe Rosca, ASE rector.
ASE graduates are among the highest in demand on the domestic labour market, and the reduction in the number of places at the institution could worsen the current shortage of skilled employees.
Many of the young people that graduate from ASE end up being hired in the financial-banking, outsourcing or IT&C industries, and if they worked while in college, could earn 1,000 euros in net amount as soon as they graduate, depending on their specialty and training.
The reduction in the number of places has already started with the admission exam for the 2008/2009 year, which has slashed 600 places from 4,200.
"The decline in the number of places was due to the closure of the 12 of the 16 regional university centres that ASE has. In 2009/2010 we will witness the sharpest decline in the number of places at the Academy, because the number of students doing master degrees will halve, while the number of places for people studying to get their undergraduate degrees will go down by 10-15%," Rosca explained. He added that reductions would mainly target those places for which tuition is charged.
ASE saw 16,000 students graduate in 2007-2008, as a result of the enforcement of the Bologna Convention, which has a two stage graduate college. The introduction of the Bologna undergraduate cycle means that each student spends three years in the undergraduate cycle and then has to complete a two-year master's degree to specialise in a specific field.
"Even though we had twice the number of last year's graduates this year, I am convinced they will all find jobs. Only those who do not want to work will not find one," ASE's rector explained.
About 25-30% of ASE four-year cycle graduates work during college.
The shortage of teaching staff is because of the low salaries in the education system. The average net salary of a teacher stood at 1,473 RON (some 420 euros) in June, 15.7% more than the average net wage across the economy, according to the data supplied by the National Statistics Institute (INS).
In comparison, net incomes in the tobacco or petroleum industry exceed 2,000 RON/month and 3,000 RON/month (860 euros) in the financial industry.
There are, however, professors at ASE, who, depending on their length of service, number of hours and extra hours spent teaching may earn as much as 8,000 RON in gross amount per month (2,270 euros).
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