The National Military College „Mihai Viteazul”-

ambassador of the military educational system in Europe

 Throughout a period of 98 years of existence, there have been more than 6000 graduates who studied in the military college under the motto „Non scolae sed vitae discimus”. Nowadays, the implementation of this well-known Latin motto implies preparing our students in the European context, developing the abilities necessary for the contemporary world.

The European dimension has been implemented in our college since 2002, when the first Socrates partnership took place. During 2002-2013,  there were two Socrates-Comenius partnerships, which led to the college being acknowledged both at European and national level.

           During 2013-2016 the National Military College „Mihai Viteazul” from Alba Iulia was involved in two Comenius projects and an Erasmus+ one. The partnership in French entitled: „Trois langues, deux cultures, une même famille latine” between Romania and an Italian educational institution offered both the students and the teachers the opportunity to compare the culture, the language and the history of the two nations with common roots. Likewise, it gave them the chance to improve linguistic competences and to enrich their culture. Within the project meetings there were involved 21 students and 4 teachers from each partner institution.

The partnership in English entitled: „Mens sana in corpore sano: Let’s find the balance”  took place between 2013-2015, along with high schools from Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. The project aim was to make the young generation become aware of the importance of having a healthy lifestyle. The students were encouraged to develop their team work skills and to actively get involved in the problems of the community. During the seven project meetings, in which 28 students and 17 teachers participated, there were workshops, documentary visits, debates and practical activities, all of which contributed to an experience exchange beneficial both for the participants and the schools involved.

The military staff and teachers’ constant preoccupation with their professional development WAS materialized in the Erasmus+ project entitled  “The implementation of the European quality in the school through tradition and innovation”. In this project 21 teachers and military staff  benefited from courses in European university centres from Portugal, Ireland, Czech Republic, and Spain, in the following areas: adapting the curriculum  to the particularities of the profile using new technologies in the educational process, language teaching, classroom management and educational activities, socio-professional counselling and guidance, European projects and school-family relationships. The teachers and the military staff had the opportunity to enhance their professional development in an European Dimension environment, participating at courses organised by CREF, Euneos, Dorea Educational Institut and English Matters.

Due to this, the college was granted the title of: „European School” four times, in 2006, 2012, 2015 and  2018.

Aware of the fact that our mission is to form  leaders-to-be, we pay close attention to our students’ multi-purpose development. The scientific activity and the basic military training are completed with numerous sport and artistic activities, which contribute to shaping the personality of the military-to-be. In our college, there are fifteen sport teams, a folk dance group, a theatre club, a medieval and modern dance group, a vocal group, a literature club, an ecotourism club and a debate group, within which our students prove their abilities and discover new opportunities for their personal development.

Having high results is a tradition in our school. The students’ close selection and thorough preparation give them the opportunity to obtain among the best results in scientific contests, as well as sport and artistic competitions. More than 100 students benefitted from participating in Socrates-Comenius projects, thus succeeding in promoting the values of the Romanian military educational system at a European level.

We closely follow our graduates’ professional development. More than 92% are admitted to the military academies and many of them benefit from the Erasmus programme, thus studying in European universities. One can say that the experience gained in the Socrates – Comenius partnerships has been enriched through the Erasmus programme.

The National Military College “Mihai Viteazul” has undertaken with responsibility the mission that it has within the Romanian Army, preparing the leaders-to-be in the context of the European educational system, as well as guiding them in the complex process of forming their professional competences, necessary in the context of a society based on knowledge.