COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF EDUCATION ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE EMERGING COUNTRIES OF THE UE. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES: POLAND, BULGARIA AND ROMANIA

The subject of this paper debates the current context of the economic development and also of the human resources that represents an essential element of the competition, both at national and international level. In the global competition of the computerized economy, the quality and inventiveness of the human resources are the major factors that stand for the essential gap between states. Starting from Alfred Marshall’s statement ”the most valuable from the entire capital is the one invested in the human being’’, we consider the quality of human resources in general and the education in particular, as defining factors of overall economical growth. The specialists in the field appreciate that there is a cloze relation between the technological progress and the investment in education, with implications in all areas of life: economic, social, political and cultural.

This paper sheds light on the role of education in economic development of the modern world, education being one of the most dynamic sectors with major impact on social and economic life, serving as a promoter of human development.

The comparative analysis performed in this scientific approach, having as subject the three emerging countries of the European Union (Romania, Bulgaria and Poland), pointed out that education is developing. This analysis was based on studying the impact indicators that characterize these states with a high degree of heterogeneity.

The necessity of this research was on the need to keep up with changes and development strategies initiated by each country, because as E. Durkheim argued ’’education is first and foremost means by which society continually renews the conditions of his own existence. ''In other words, education has the task of preparing man as active element of social life.

The purpose of this analysis is to assess the importance of education and strategies for its development, in the process of creation and development of the European educational space that is based on four general principles: quality, mobility, diversity and competitiveness, which could represent the best solution to face the new demands of the society based on knowledge.