Jean Kodische is an engineer by profession. He currently serves as the CEO of Eneria. He studied engineering in France, and at the end of each year, he had a mandatory internship period. At one point, six friends gathered and decided to raise a few thousand euros to carry out consolidation work in a school in Ocna Sibiului. The school was in a very advanced state of degradation. Back then, he traveled by bus and it took 48 hours from France to Romania. This was practically his first connection with Romania.
Today, in the Narada podcast “Leadership with the Soul: Conversations with Important Voices in Business Supporting Education,” he talks about his experience, his first encounter with Romania, and the frustrations that currently plague him regarding the shortcomings of the educational system here. “I am an engineer and I studied engineering in France, and at the end of each year, we had a mandatory internship period. That’s how six friends and I decided to raise a few thousand euros to carry out consolidation work in a school in Ocna Sibiului. The school was in a very advanced state of degradation. Back then, I came by bus and it took 48 hours from France to Romania. Just that part was very challenging. And so, my first connection with Romania was a school,” he recalls.
Back in France, Jean progressed in his career to the point where he was offered the leadership of Eneria in Romania. He moved here with his entire family. In the podcast, he also mentions his wife’s first job, where their children study, and his parents’ inclination towards volunteering. Jean Kodische speaks with honesty and emotion about the village where he was born, the teachers who marked his life, and the differences between the educational systems in Romania and France. “The main difference between the French and Romanian systems is that in the Romanian system, children with learning difficulties are not helped to the extent they should be. There is no equality of opportunity in education for those with learning difficulties. In Romania, only children who achieve excellence are supported.” He appeals to business people and civil society, drawing attention to the need for the power of many to contribute to education and to truly bring about change in the system and provide an additional chance for evolution. “Education is what will shape the next generation. If I don’t help, what will I get in return? Why would anyone come to help me and meet my needs?” Kodische states.
The podcast is moderated by Ramona Raduly, a journalist with over 20 years of experience in the Romanian press, who took on the role of storyteller for the Narada organization precisely due to her personal frustration with the Romanian educational system. “When I first came into contact with Narada and listened to the stories from the organization’s communities, I was in the position of a parent of children newly entered into the Romanian public education system. It seemed to me that everything was upside down at school, that the curriculum did not meet the individual needs of the children at all, and that the teachers lacked many pedagogical skills. I went with Narada to a community in Moldova, and after seeing the level of the school in the rural areas of the country, my frustrations amplified. The fact that people like Jean accepted the challenge to speak in a podcast, to give a voice to education, seems like a glimmer of hope that we will succeed in uniting as many as possible and improving the schools in Romania,” explains Ramona Raduly.
“Leadership with the Soul: Conversations with Important Voices in Business Supporting Education” will continue with new episodes, and among the guests are important leaders from renowned companies in Romania, including BIC Romania, Adrem, Prime Kapital, and Green Horse Games, who actively participate and support Narada’s plans to address various educational emergencies listed on HartaEdu.ro.
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