The Romanian Schooling System: Teaching Their Children
Education is accorded a high degree of importance in the social fabric of Romania. Respect for the educated and the intellectual has been a tradition down the ages. Even the tiniest village in every remote corner of Romania kept important positions like the priest, the teacher and the mayor reserved for the educated. This tradition of holding the educated ones in high esteem continues to the present day as well. And the current education system is quite competitive for students and demanding for teachers.
Nursery school begins at the age of three and it can finish at the age of six or seven, depending on the child’s capability. Classes start at 8 a.m. and they finish at noon. At the nursery school they learn to draw, to colour, to listen to stories and then to prove what they have understood.
The children also learn how to sing and dance in playschool. They are taught simple crafts, like making boats and flowers from paper and also things from their milieu that they can relate to, like snowflakes. Some nursery schools also teach the rudiments of a foreign language like English, German or French from such an early age, in addition to the mother tongue.
At the end of the nursery school stage children are evaluated by the schools that they will attend. Primary education therefore starts at the age of six or seven and it finishes at the age of 10 or 11. In this case, as well, classes start at 8 a.m. and they finish at noon too. Children do not have lunch at school but they can have a sandwich from home and as snack, they get a small carton of milk and a roll.
Furthermore, during primary education in Romania, school subjects are Romanian, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Religion, Art, Practical Abilities, Geography, History, Biology, English or other foreign language. Nursery and primary school evaluation is performed via grades like “insufficient”, “sufficient”, “good” and “very good”.
From the primary school, students move on to the lower secondary school. This too continues for four years. New subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and a second foreign language like French, German or Spanish are introduced into the curriculum at this stage. In the 7th grade the students have to take two national level tests in Mathematics and Romanian at the end of each term. Incidentally, the academic year consists of two terms, one on either side of Christmas holidays. There are holidays for Easter and the summer vacation is a longish affair from June 15th till September 15th.
The end of the 8th grade, the most vital in lower secondary school, is marked by the final examination in Romanian, Mathematics, and History or Geography. The results are declared in a scale of 1 through 10. The results of the students in this test determine whether they can go on to high school or not.
At this stage the students have to fill in a form listing high schools and make a few choices in order of their preference. Whether they can get admitted to the high school of their choice depends, however, on the grades they score in the test.
Some students, who could not qualify for the high school, are offered the opportunity of joining a vocational school. Here they can pick up different skills or crafts that would give them a vocational qualification on finishing the course chosen.
Finally, after four high school years, they have to pass the baccalaureate exam and then they can enter the university they want. In the education system in Romania, it is compulsory to attend school until the age of 16.