The decision to eliminate funding line I7 from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, worth €43.6 million, directly affects the modernization of dozens of agricultural high schools in Romania. This line supported essential investments in educational infrastructure, technical equipment, and teacher training, with a completion deadline set for August 2026.

According to data centralized by the Romanian Center for European Policies (CRPE), 100% of the analyzed projects can be implemented within the PNRR deadline. Most high schools have already launched their projects, and nearly half are in the procurement stage or have committed their own expenditures. The delays that affected the start of execution do not belong to these educational institutions, but stem from the late launch of procedures and the delayed transmission of administrative instructions at the national level. The type of investments involved—mainly equipment and works of low complexity (such as micro-farms, software, furniture, or practice equipment)—supports the technical feasibility of full implementation within 6 to 10 months.

At the same time, a major methodological issue arises: the use of the Baccalaureate pass rate as a performance criterion for these schools. In the case of vocational and technical education, the relevant indicators are skills certification and labor market integration, not results in a general academic exam. The Baccalaureate reform provided for by Education Law no. 198/2023 will only apply starting in 2030, and until then the use of the current evaluation model severely distorts the role and specificity of technological high schools.

In addition, agricultural high schools were previously excluded from other PNRR funding lines and directed exclusively toward line I7. Its elimination, without an equivalent alternative, creates a major imbalance in terms of access to public resources among different types of educational institutions.

In conclusion, the projects of agricultural high schools are feasible, procedurally mature, and based on real needs. The elimination of funding does not reflect their execution potential, but rather a superficial assessment, based on criteria that are not adapted to the specific educational context. Reconsidering this decision is justified not by institutional pressure, but by technical reasoning and functional equity. Without coherent educational infrastructure, it is impossible to build the human capital needed for the agriculture of the future.

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