Romeo’s life has changed completely. From a minimum-wage job he used to do abroad, nowadays, Romeo can choose between two different professions: waiter-chef or professional driver.
All of this is possible due to his strong will to finish the ten-year mandatory education and due to the „Second Chance Program” (SCP)*, which gave him the opportunity to fulfil his dream. When the SCP of REF Romania began, Romeo Moldovan had only finished the first seven years of schooling. Now, he is about to finish the tenth.
Romeo Moldovan moved to the village ‘Beica de Jos’ in Reghin seven years ago. He learnt about this opportunity in 2021, but because he failed to enrol in time, Romeo had to wait for another year to start classes. Meanwhile, tired of commuting to work in Reghin, Romeo chose to go to Germany. For several months, he worked at a slaughterhouse, loading chickens into trucks. Of course, wherever he got hired, he always received the minimum wage because he did not have a degree. Of this small amount, Romeo had always sent some of the money home to his family. He lived with the rest as best as he could, from one month to the next.
Now, that he is about to finish his studies, Romeo confirms that this program, both the theoretical part, such as Romanian language, mathematics or geography, and the practical part, helped him grow a lot.
During his practical classes in Reghin, which take place at the Technological High School „Ioan Bojor”, Romeo learns how to set up tables, to serve, and to socialize with customers. He is aware that the city of Reghin can provide him more chances of employment than the village Beica de Jos.
„ The program is helpful because at the end I will receive a chef diploma. With this diploma, I no longer have to go abroad to work”. And even if he goes abroad, with that diploma he can find a much better paid job.
Looking back at the two years of study, Romeo feels that many things have changed for him. „I would recommend the program to other schools, for all vulnerable people who do not have the financial opportunity to develop”.
Driving School, a Dream Come True
Recently, Romeo got behind the wheel for the first time. He admits that he felt a little stressed in the driving school car. „ I was focusing a lot so as not to go left or right or how to change gears”. The journey from the fears of a beginner to the day of the exam draws to an end, as there are only a few lessons left, and Romeo is trying to find a solution to learn the legislation.
He likes the idea of becoming a professional driver, but he does not want to give up on the idea of working in the hospitality industry, a specialty in which he will obtain a diploma at the end of the program. „ The driving license helps me move from point A to point B, while the chef diploma helps me get hired here in Romania on a higher salary than the minimum, and I will not have to go abroad to find work”.
Currently, Romeo is attending school to obtain the 10-year compulsory education degree, is taking driving lessons and, if a friend happens to call him to work, he gladly accepts it. After all, he lives in a commune with many fruit trees and the producers always need people to load the goods. „ And I go.” Sometimes, he also works in construction, if needed.
For Romeo, Family Comes First
His greatest desire is to stay as close and as long as possible to his family. He has a twin brother and a sister. He has recently moved into a house with his wife and daughter. His daughter is the one who motivates him and who helped him understand how important it is to have an education, to be able to have a better life, to become, as he says, „ the column of the house”.
„ I would like to be able to send her to school to learn and find her way in life, like old people say: ‘I hope my children get to have what I didn’t.’
His twin brother helps him a lot because he already has a driving license and, when they are together, he always questions him about traffic signs and priority in traffic.
„We are a good family. We’re used to being there for each other”, says Romeo. His parents adopted six other children abandoned by someone from their extended family. One of the reasons why the family chose to move from Reghin to Beica de Jos is that these six children needed a safer environment. His mother committed to taking care of them, and his father cannot do physically demanding jobs because of spinal problems. „We move forward as we can. We have to move forward. ”
Romeo Moldovan is the beneficiary of two projects that take place simultaneously in the School of Beica de Jos, Mureș County, Romania.
- „Today I am Learning, Tomorrow I am Working”**, code MySMIS 148454, co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Human Capital Operational Program
- SHAPYR – Shaping Academic Employment Skills for Young Roma, funded by the Velux Foundations
„ Through this dual approach, we aimed to offer young NEETs*** who have joined “The Second Chance Programme” the opportunity to benefit from a series of services that help them in the process of entering the skilled labour market. On the one hand, we have managed to help the young people involved in this programme to complete their study cycles, to facilitate their access to the labour market, but also to make sure they are also prepared for it by adjusting to work tools specific to employability – CVs, letters of intent. Driving lessons were a bonus for those most involved and motivated, and the next activity we propose for their benefit is a job fair in which employers can come directly to the community for recruitment ” – Cristina Grigore, SHAPYR project coordinator.
*The Second Chance Program is addressed to teenagers, young people, adults, coming from diverse social backgrounds and of varying ages, who have not attended or completed primary and secondary education. The program offers them the possibility of continuing and completing their mandatory education (ten classes) without having to interrupt their professional or family activities in which they are involved.
** The aim of the project is to increase the quality of the labour force and, in particular, that of young people that are not in employment, education or training, including those from marginalized communities and at risk of social exclusion – young NEETs – by facilitating access to support and transition programmes to the labour market, for the people living in communities from Central and Western Romania.
The target group consists of 412 young unemployed NEETs, between the ages of 16 and 29, who benefit from the return to education measures through programs such as “Second Chance” (SC). Out of the total, 125 are young Roma and at least 85 come from rural areas.
***NEETs = Not in Employment, Education or Training
