This year, representatives from the Education sector changed the system for awarding merit scholarships, resulting in a doubling of the number of beneficiaries.

Parents argue that the principle of meritocracy is not being respected, and students with high grades may be demotivated as a result.

Merit scholarships are awarded to students who attained grades between 9.50 and 10 in the preceding year, as well as the to top 30% of students in each class, arranged in descending order according to their GPAs. Consequently, students with GPAs as low as 8 and even those falling below 5 are considered eligible for merit scholarships.

According to the Ministry of Education, approximately 500,000 students received merit scholarships in October. Among them, over 5,000 have GPAs between 4 and 5, 2,300 have GPAs between 3 and 4 and over 100 have GPAs slightly higher than 1. Most of these students with GPAs below 5 are in the ninth grade and receive scholarships based on their high school admission grades.

However, education experts believe that this system of awarding merit scholarships does a disservice to education in Romania.

Marian Stas, education expert: "Such a state of affairs undermines everything that means respect for merit, respect for performance, respect for the honest work of those students who choose to work instead of taking shortcuts, knowing that they will receive money undeservedly".

The merit scholarship has increased this year, from 200 to 450 lei. While some parents approve of the project, others believe that the authorities have been too generous.

Iulian Cristache, president of the Parents' Federation: "The Ministry of Education and the Council of Students shared a common goal. As a representative of the Parents' Federation, I believe it wouldn't have been appropriate to advocate against awarding scholarships, particularly considering our commitment to safeguarding the interests of these children. However, in all honesty, it appears to me that the ministry has been overly generous. I would advocate for awarding excellence scholarships exclusively in cases where meritocracy is emphasized and offering social scholarships".

Officials from the Ministry of Education have conveyed that they attempted to stimulate competition among children and motivate them to surpass themselves through this approach. However, they have not denied considering proposals to improve the methodology for awarding school scholarships.