Directors of the Year Awards Gala 2023: four directors honoured for outstanding achievements in education

The Directors of the Year 2023 Awards Gala, organized by AVE for the seventh consecutive year, awarded its winners at the Romanian Athenaeum. Four Romanian school principals who have transformed the lives of students and the schools they lead were awarded for the projects they have been involved in during the 2022-2023 school year. Raluca Mariana Cozma from “Ion Ghica” Secondary School in Iasi was named Director of the Year 2023. More than 200 directors from all counties of the country entered this year for one of the four award categories: Innovation, Equal Opportunities, Entrepreneurship and the grand prize, Director of the Year 2023.

“Each edition of the Directors of the Year Awards shows us that there are models of leadership and entrepreneurship in Romania that succeed in transforming education. Each winning director is an inspiration to the entire school community, regardless of the problem they set out to solve. Whether tackling the dropout phenomenon or focusing on increasing pass rates in national exams, these principals need both our recognition, as a society, and our support and encouragement,” says Silvia Toth, Director of Educational Programs, AVE.

On stage at the Romanian Athenaeum were directors whose success stories have a real impact in transforming the schools they lead and can be examples to follow. In the Entrepreneurship category, Diana Brătucu from the “Traian” Secondary School in Craiova (Dolj County) was awarded the prize, while the prize for Innovation went to Vasile Benedek from the “Ioan Ossian” Technological High School in Șimleu Silvaniei (Sălaj County) and the prize for Equal Opportunities went to Rosemarie Delia Cocoană from the Eșelnița Secondary School (Mehedinți County). The winners were selected through a rigorous process involving over 70 business leaders and education experts.

“Each of us contributes to the future of our children, whether we are aware of it or not, which is why it is important to act together in a coordinated effort. AVE’s mission is to bring together relevant stakeholders in the field of education, and we are grateful to have over 100 NGO partners and over 1,000 business leaders involved. The Directors of the Year Awards Gala aims to bring the business community, the non-profit sector and state institutions around these exceptional leaders because only together we will succeed in taking education in Romania to the next level”, says Andreea Nistor, Executive Director, AVE.

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Raluca Mariana Cozma, Director of the Year 2023, has attracted more than 787,000 euros for the school in four years of activity

For the 2023 edition, Raluca Mariana Cozma from “Ion Ghica” Secondary School in Iasi was nominated ” Director of the Year”. She was awarded for her involvement and achievements, such as the renovation and rehabilitation of the whole school and its external spaces. Moreover, since 2019 when she was appointed as principal and until now, she has attracted funds worth more than 787,000 euros for projects in the school.

To help reduce absenteeism and increase school results, Director Raluca Mariana Cozma has strengthened the relationship with parents and the local community so that they are more involved in school life. And to ensure that pupils and teachers can carry out their lessons with optimum results, she has equipped the school with laptops and video projectors worth around €30,000. Thus, through its projects and involvement, it has managed to reduce the dropout rate from 1.7% to 0.03% and increased the pass rate in the National Assessment to 94% in 2023 from 78% in 2021.

For the period 2022 – 2027, it has been awarded Erasmus+ accreditation worth over €200,000 and 36 teachers and 62 pupils will participate in exchanges in schools abroad. Other achievements include access to the Safe School project worth around €132,000 and the “Come out to learn” project worth around €100,000, which aims to approach classroom teaching in a creative way using non-formal education.

Raluca Mariana Cozma has introduced optional Financial Education, Legal Education and Drama to attract and keep students in school. Together with UNICEF Romania, she has implemented a project worth 29,000 euros to turn the school into a learning hub for Ukrainian children in Iasi.

The Director of the Year 2023 video story can be watched here.

Diana Bratucu, Director of Year 2023 for Entrepreneurship: 90% of school classrooms are equipped with digital materials

The ” Director of the Year for Entrepreneurship ” award was won by Diana Brătucu, the director of the “Traian” Secondary School in Craiova. With an investment of more than 450,000 euros, 90% of the classrooms have been equipped with digital equipment. The school has been included in the list of pilot units using the electronic catalogue exclusively, which has led to improved communication with parents and a decrease in absenteeism. The school has also been accredited Erasmus+ for 4 years and 38 teachers and 100 pupils will participate in training courses in schools and institutions in Europe.

The pupils are also involved in the development of the school, and at their initiative a sports field with synthetic turf has been built, for the construction of which they actively contributed to raising the necessary funds. The pupils are involved in entrepreneurial and environmental initiatives and more than 50% of them already collect separately after setting up recycling spaces.

The video story of the 2023 Director of Entrepreneurship can be watched here.

Rosemarie Delia Cocoană, Director of the Year 2023 for Equal Opportunities: the director who changes mentalities

The “Director of the Year for Equal Opportunities” award was given to the director of the Secondary School in Eselnita, Rosemarie Delia Cocoana, who has taken initiatives with significant impact for the students from the Roma community and disadvantaged families who make up 70% of the school’s staff. She has reduced the number of failing and repeating students by 25%, increased the number of students who do well in school and come from disadvantaged families by 20%, and hired a school mediator from the Roma community to help the school in the fight against dropping out. It has also implemented the “Second Chance” project, which has integrated 70 parents of Roma pupils to complete four or eight classes. Rosemarie Delia Cocoană started from the premise that all pupils are equal and have the same opportunities for education, and that teachers are the ones who should help and train them.

The video report with the story of the Director of the Year 2023 for Equal Opportunities can be watched here.

Vasile Benedek, Director of Year 2023 for Innovation: €500,000 funds attracted through NRRP for school modernization

The “Director of the Year for Innovation” award was received by the director of the “Ioan Ossian” Technological High School in Șimleu Silvaniei, Vasile Benedek. He has carried out European, national and local projects to keep the school’s students up to date with the latest technologies in the specialisations for which they are training, as well as modernising the school.  Through a project submitted through the PNRR in June 2023, he has attracted investment in the school worth €500,000. It has implemented Agriculture 4.0 through the purchase of an agricultural drone, providing free specialist advice for the school’s students and has set up food and agriculture laboratories, renovated the horticulture-viticulture laboratory.

Director Vasile Benedek saved the school from the danger of being closed and increased the number of students from 220 to over 400 in less than 3 years. Moreover, he increased the number of classes and introduced new specialisations: he re-established the Hungarian section for veterinary technician and set up the specialisation plant protection technician. Students have access to state-of-the-art technology and can practice on a teaching farm to modern standards.

The video story of the Director of the Year 2023 for Innovation can be watched here.

Prizes of over €14,000 for winning directors

The winning school principals are further supported in the transformation process of the schools they lead. Thus, each of them will receive a prize worth €3,500, as well as a place in the Romanian School Transformation Program, launched this autumn by AVE. Moreover, through partners Adservio and Kinderpedia they will be able to continue the digitization process of their schools by accessing one of the two online platforms that will provide them with an electronic catalogue and vouchers for the first year of use.

Now in its seventh year, the Directors of the Year Awards Gala is a tradition to provide support and recognition to school principals and to create an environment where education is appreciated and valued, inspiring and mobilizing the whole community and leaders from different sectors to get involved in transforming education.

This year AVE was joined as partners of the Directors of the Year Awards Gala by Apa Nova, BCR Asigurări de Viață, BDO Romania, Deloitte, Domeniile Averești, Edenred, Garanti BBVA Leasing, Pentalog and Up Romania. The media partners supporting the seventh edition of the Directors of the Year Awards are PRO TV, BIZ Magazine, Cariere Magazine, SpotMedia and CSR Media.