One-third of parents believe that traditional education prepares children insufficiently for life

Given the situation of the Romanian education system, from the small budgets allocated over the years, to the high dropout rates, all amplified by the context of the pandemic, it is important to ask how parents manage their children’s development. Reveal Marketing Research conducted a study in partnership with Kidprenor on Romanian parents’ perception regarding education, saying that one-third of Romanians believe that traditional education prepares a child for life to a small and very small extent. Therefore, many parents would be willing to pay even up to 500 lei for their children’s development.

Asked to evaluate the traditional education, a third of Romanians believe that it prepares a child for life to a small and very small extent, while 37% say the opposite. Thus, the majority of parents (76%) states that they would be willing to pay for activities in line with their children’s interests. Most of the respondents (31%) would allocate between 300-500 lei per month to offer their children the opportunity to study in their favorite fields. In addition, 20% of parents are even more generous, declaring that they would invest even over 1000 lei.

8 out of 10 parents declare that a child should choose their areas of interest by themselves

According to the study, Romanians are very concerned about the development of their children and encourage them to follow their passions. Thus, 8 out of 10 parents believe that a child should choose their areas of interest by themselves. There is, however, a difference between the analyzed segments. Higher-income families with a higher level of education are much more open to giving children the freedom to choose an area of ​​interest (85%), compared to lower-income families (67%).

Languages, public speaking, and sports are the main activities that parents find attractive for their children.

Asked what areas they find attractive for their children, respondents mostly mention languages ​​(66%). Then, more than half of the parents (58%) mention personal development activities. Public speaking skills or learning good manners are positively appreciated by parents.

Other activities selected by respondents are: individual sports (52%), team sports (46%), entrepreneurship courses (44%), and IT activities (42%) (coding, web design, computer graphics, robotics ). Compared to the rest of the activities, the data shows a lower interest in art (theater, painting, drawing, singing, knowledge of a musical instrument) – only 28% of parents consider that these activities would be interesting for their children. Therefore, we observe Romanians’ tendency towards areas that either have a positive impact on children’s health or towards areas that are socially perceived as pragmatic or stable careers. Although many children may be interested in artistic activities, parents tend not to value them.