Bridging the Education Gap: BioTop Academy for High School Students in Romania

The internet is not just about funny clips and shallow content. Four young people from Oradea, friends since high school, have founded an educational project aimed at changing this perception and providing Romanian students with a real learning tool. Thus, BioTop Academy was born — an online platform that combines resources for the Baccalaureate exam with a broader vision of education, centered around deep understanding and personal development.

Reflecting on the difficulties related to accessing private tutoring — whether due to financial or logistical reasons — the four young minds devised an accessible and student-friendly solution. Through a subscription, high school students can access clear, well-organized video lessons taught in a structured manner. These lessons not only help with exam preparation but also support the building of a solid knowledge foundation. Soon, weekly interactive sessions will also be available, focusing on Baccalaureate preparation.

The founders emphasize that they are not offering a magic formula for success but providing constant support in a process that requires active involvement from both them and the students.

The platform also has a charitable component: students from low-income families, those facing health issues, or those in vulnerable situations can access the platform for free, based on verified documents. Detailed criteria are provided on the platform’s website. Additionally, they are seeking partnerships with NGOs to further assist these cases effectively.

Each team member is passionate about their area of contribution to the platform:

• Oliviu Marian, the project coordinator, is a final-year student at the Faculty of General Medicine at UMF “Iuliu Hațieganu” Cluj-Napoca and teaches human biology in a structured and energetic style.
• Joshua Patrick Biro, a former national History Olympian, and History and Medical Physics graduate, organizes the Baccalaureate material for History in a logical and engaging manner.
• Adrian Mateaș, a graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Cluj-Napoca, explains organic chemistry concepts in a way that makes them accessible to students.
• Sergiu-Ioan Maioru, a graduate of Informatics at the University of Oradea, is the platform’s programmer and ensures the technical operation of the website.

Another key focus for them was overcoming the promotion of superficial learning and repetitive methods. As Joshua Biro explains: “You can’t afford to be superficial when learning, even if it seems like the easiest path. You can’t learn the secrets of success in ten simple steps, nor can you expect a large volume of information — like that needed for the Baccalaureate exam — to stick overnight. That’s why we’ve also prepared videos on life concepts and skills that remain after the Baccalaureate: What it means to win and lose in a competition; the balance between modesty and dignity; why it’s important to understand the difference between correlation and causality, among many others.”