Valuable teachers in Romania are dwindling due to the lack of recognition and respect for their work. Through the MERITO Project, entrepreneurs in Romania, united under the Romanian Business Leaders (RBL), publicly and financially acknowledge the merits of Romania’s exceptional teachers and work together to propagate the best practices of MERITO teachers across the education system.
MERITO GALA 2023
A 8-a generație de 12 profesori valoroși din toată țara a fost premiată de comunitatea Romanian The 8th generation of 12 remarkable teachers from across the country was awarded by the Romanian Business Leaders community and applauded on the open stage at the MERITO Gala 2023.
The MERITO project shines a spotlight on teachers who find creative ways to engage students in lessons, work with their passions and skills, improve their performance, and involve the local community in enhancing the quality of education in schools.
To date, 81 teachers have taken the stage. At the eighth edition of the MERITO Gala, 12 teachers from across the country—representing rural areas, disadvantaged communities, and urban schools—were awarded for their outstanding achievements.
The MERITO 2023 Teachers, applauded, awarded, and welcomed into the community, are (in the order they were awarded on Gala night):
- Emese Cîmpean, Romanian language teacher and deputy director at “Petru Rareș” National College, Beclean – MERITO Director 2023
- Dana Marinescu, Psychology teacher at “Ioan Popescu” Pedagogical High School, Bârlad
- Tița Angheluță, primary school teacher at “Ferdinand I” Secondary School, Bucharest
- Marian Cîrlig, primary school teacher at “D.I. Ghica” Secondary School, Radovanu, Călărași County
- Laura Borbe, Social Sciences teacher at “Mihai Eminescu” Theoretical High School, Cluj-Napoca
- Cătălina Gabriela Dogaru (Asavei), Mathematics teacher at “Mihai Codreanu” Secondary School, Iași
- Florentina Romanescu, MERITO Educator 2023 at Kindergarten No. 3, Tulcea
- Bianca Darabă, French teacher at “Vasile Conta” High School, Târgu Neamț
- Antoaneta Luchian, Music Education teacher at Iași National College
- Adina Stratulat, primary school teacher at “George Tutoveanu” Secondary School, Bârlad
- Daniela Tepeș, Physics teacher at “Ioan Cotovu” Theoretical High School, Hârșova
- Petrina Dobrotă, Romanian language teacher at “Constantin Noica” Theoretical High School, Sibiu
Congratulations to all the awarded teachers! Welcome to the community of those transforming the teaching profession in Romania!
“TEMAD supports high-quality education and the MERITO Project because we see true values in this initiative—people who bring passion, soul, and emotion, who inspire and motivate.”
—Florin Madar, Founder & Owner TEMAD Co.
MERITOGALA 2021
We warmly welcomed, congratulated, awarded, and applauded on the open stage the 12 remarkable teachers who joined the MERITO community, alongside 55 colleagues from previous generations.
The teachers selected for the 2021 generation, all from public pre-university education, were celebrated and thanked in front of over 200 attendees, including the Romanian Business Leaders community, previous MERITO generations, and education professionals.
The laureates represent teachers who continuously learn, innovate, share their practices beyond their classrooms, and spread quality education where it is needed most. They join the 55 colleagues from previous MERITO generations.
Thank you for the passion and dedication you bring to your profession!
Discover their stories at: www.proiectulmerito.ro/galerie-profesori
Together, we transform the teaching profession in Romania!
Valuable teachers are the foundation of quality education, where passion and dedication are constants in their activity. There is a need for contexts where teachers are appreciated, work together, and share their experiences to help other teachers learn. Through MERITO, we bring exemplary Romanian teachers into the “spotlight,” those who care deeply about the future of Romania.
We are building a team that discovers truly outstanding educators, offering them recognition, a community, and awarding them at an annual Gala held on the first day of the RBLSummit.
We are now at the sixth generation of #MERITOValuableTeachers: 11 educators from preschool to high school education and one director, who show what innovation and excellence in education mean. The 12 pre-university teachers awarded this year were selected from over 600 recommendations, made by students, parents, alumni, and local communities from all over the country. The selection process lasted nearly one year, with the final selection carried out by a jury composed of members of the Romanian Business Leaders community, to ensure that those chosen demonstrate responsibility, professionalism, creativity, passion, talent, and a touch of “magic” in their work.
This year, we considered additional selection criteria, such as the degree of innovation in and outside the classroom over the last year; the extent to which they share their practices with other teachers; the impact they have on the community they are active in or for beneficiaries in disadvantaged areas, and their contribution to the school’s learning and collaboration culture. All these teachers were documented online, validated in the local community, and those selected were interviewed by collaborating journalists. All documented stories have been published in an online gallery that preserves the teachers’ emotion and message on www.merito.ro.
This annual campaign, started at the RBLSummit 2015, culminates in the MERITO Gala, a project pillar and event where we award prizes (worth €1,500, along with the MERITO trophy and diploma) to the most value-laden stories that can spread the message worldwide about innovative teachers who can change lives and shape our future.
Florentina Tituleac
Primary Teacher, School No. 5, Săcele
“I believe this is the teacher’s role: to be there for the child, to help them learn and acquire life skills. The reward comes when a little boy tells you: ‘You really are a good lady!’”
“Children often say: ‘Miss, I can’t.’ To help them gain confidence, I constantly show them the small progress they make and have taught them to applaud each other when they succeed. I use progress monitoring systems, such as the bean jar. I add beans when they attend classes, follow the rules, and give good answers, and I remove beans when they fail these tasks. The jar has three marks: when they reach the first mark, we have a sandwich day; at the second, we go to the library; and at the third, we order pizza.”
Emanuela Patrichi
Primary Teacher, “Dacia” Secondary School, Târgu Mureș
“My role is to create opportunities to showcase what students have learned and what they know how to do. They can open doors for themselves, explore, and research, but they need guidance. That’s what school does.
With my students, who have now moved to second grade, we played games together, either in front of computers or online. I set up my phone above the table and used an app so they could see my hands in real-time. This way, we painted, drew, and did origami together, just like in the classroom.”
“The social responsibility of TEMAD has been expressed throughout its over 27 years in Romania across various domains. However, the constant in this equation of giving back to society has been our involvement in children’s and young people’s education projects.
We have learned that human resources, measured by their quality, are the most important asset of any organization, regardless of its structure, size, or ambitions. This is why we support the education of new generations who will continue the cycle of giving back to society.
For us, involvement in education is both a joy and a duty. Romanian education has a reliable partner in us.” – Costel Drăgan, Executive Director, TEMAD
Learn more here.
