Ecaterina Andronescu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ecaterina Andronescu
Minister of Education
In office 20 November 2018 – 2 August 2019
Prime Minister	Viorica Dăncilă
Preceded by	Valentin Popa
In office 2 July 2012 – 21 December 2012
Prime Minister	Victor Ponta
Preceded by	Ioan Mang
Succeeded by	Remus Pricopie
In office 22 December 2008 – 1 October 2009
Prime Minister	Emil Boc
Preceded by	Anton Anton
Succeeded by	Daniel Funeriu
In office 28 December 2000 – 19 June 2003
Prime Minister	Adrian Năstase
Preceded by	Andrei Marga
Succeeded by	Alexandru Athanasiu
Senator of Romania
In office 30 November 2008 – 20 December 2020
Deputy of Romania
In office 22 November 1996 – 14 December 2008
Personal details
Born	(1948-04-07) 7 April 1948 (age 77) Malovăț, Mehedinți County, Romanian People's Republic
Political party	Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Education	Politehnica University of Bucharest

Ecaterina Andronescu (born April 7, 1948) is a Romanian engineer, professor, and politician. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). She served in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies from 1996 to 2008. Later, she was a Senator from 2008 to 2020, representing Bucharest. Ms. Andronescu has been the Education Minister four times. She held this role in 2000-2003, 2008-2009, 2012, and 2018-2019. She is married and has one child.

Meet Ecaterina Andronescu

Early Life and First Time as Education Minister

Ecaterina Andronescu was born in Malovăț, Mehedinți County. She became an engineer in 1972 after studying at the Politehnica University of Bucharest. In 1982, she earned her doctorate in the same field. She continued her studies in Western Europe in the 1990s.

She worked at Politehnica University for many years. She started as an assistant lecturer in 1972. By 1994, she became a full professor. She also served as the dean of the Industrial Chemistry Faculty from 1992 to 2004. From 2004 to 2012, she was the university's rector, which is like being the president of a university. She has written many scientific papers and books. She also holds a patent for an invention.

In 1996, Ms. Andronescu joined the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR), which later became the PSD. She was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1996. From 2000 to 2003, she served as the Education Minister. During this time, she made some important changes. These included new rules for university entrance exams and high school admissions. She also changed how the baccalaureate (a national exam for high school graduates) was graded. These changes sometimes caused confusion for students and teachers.

Back in Government: Challenges and Changes

Ecaterina Andronescu was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2004. In 2008, she was elected to the Senate. During her campaigns, she often spoke about improving education. She highlighted her past efforts to bring computers into classrooms and build school gyms.

In 2008, she became Education Minister again. This period also saw some challenges. For example, errors were found in a national high school admission test. She later considered changing this test due to its unpopularity. She also took action against a private university, Spiru Haret University, for not having proper accreditation. This meant the university might not be able to issue diplomas. However, the university later won the right to continue its operations in court.

Ms. Andronescu worked on creating a new education law. However, this process became complicated due to political disagreements. In 2009, she resigned from the government along with other members of her party. This was done in protest over the dismissal of another minister.

Leading Education Again: A Fourth Term

In 2018, Ecaterina Andronescu was nominated to be the Education Minister for a fourth time. This happened after the previous minister resigned. She served in this role for about nine months.

She was removed from office in August 2019. This decision followed a controversial statement she made about young girls and safety.