SHARE OF THE POPULATION WITH HIGHER EDUCATION IN BACAU - RANK OF THE COUNTY IN ROMANIA

Abstract

The present paper starts from the analysis of the degree of education in higher education in Romania in recent years and the highlighting of the gaps between the Member States of the European Union, with an emphasis on the existing imbalances between the different areas of the country. Thus, if the European Commission defined as desirable a "European Education Area" in which by 2030 at least 45% of young people aged between 25 and 34 will have graduated from a university education program, in Romania the latest data indicate a level below 23% and slightly decreasing in recent years, compared to the European average of 41.2%. The last population census from the end of 2021 indicates for the North-East Region a proportion of only 14.6% of the population aged 20 and over who have completed higher education in the total population of this age group, being the last region in the country, but also from the EU. The dynamics between the last two censuses confirm the lowest increase in this indicator for the poorest region, with +21.4% compared to the Romanian average of +25%. Within the region, Bacău county, with an average of 13.2% at the last census, has the lowest dynamics not only in the region but also in the country, with an increase of only 11.1% of this proportion.