Romanian Education System

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According to the Law on Education adopted in 1995, the Romanian Educational System is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Research (Ministerul Educaţiei şi Cercetării - MEC)]. Each level has its own form of organization and is subject to different legislations. Kindergarten is optional between 3 and 6 years old. Schooling starts at age 6, and is compulsory until the 10th grade (which usually corresponds to the age of 16). Primary and secondary education are divided in 12 or 13 grades. Higher education is aligned onto the European higher education area.

Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the Romanian education system has been in a continuous process of reformation that has been both praised and criticised.

Aside from the official schooling system, and the recently-added private equivalents, there exists a semi-legal, informal, fully private tutoring system (meditatii). Tutoring is mostly used during secondary as a preparation for the various examinations, which are notoriously difficult. Tutoring is wide-spread, and it can be considered a part of the Education System. It has subsisted and even prospered during the Communist regime.

The Ministry of Education and Research of Romania
The Ministry of Education and Research of Romania

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Basic organization

The Romanian Educational System is divided along two main levels:

  1. Pre-University Level (Învăţământul Preuniversitar) is structured in 4 cycles:
    1. Kindergarten (Grădiniţa or Învăţământul Preşcolar) - optional, composed of three or four grades (Grupa Mică, Grupa Mijlocie, Grupa Mare and, sometimes, Pregătirea pentru Şcoală)
    2. Primary school comprises two 4-grade periods:
      1. Elementary school (Şcoala Primară) - grades I to IV
      2. Gymnasium (Gimnaziu) - grades V to VIII
    3. High school (Liceu) - four or five grades (grades IX to XII/XIII)
    4. Vocational education (Învăţământ profesional şi tehnic), which can continue or supplant High School to prepare students for careers that are based in manual or practical activities.
  2. Higher education (Studii Superioare) is organized (or in the process of being organized) according to the principles of the Bologna process, which aims at the construction of the European higher education area. It has the following four components:
    1. Bachelor (Licenţă) 3 years in most disciplines
    2. Master (Masterat) 7 years in most disciplines
    3. Doctorate (Doctorat) at least 5 years
    4. Lifelong learning (cursuri postuniversitare, formare continuă), which includes postgraduate education occurring outside the Master/Doctorate framework.

There are schools that do not fit in this framework, e.g. the "language schools", "computer schools", "accounting schools", etc., which deliver accredited diplomas, but can be taken at any level. These are lifelong learning, but how do they fit here?

Primary school is compulsory for all eight years, from years one through four being known as "primary education" while years five through eight are known as "gymnasium education". Most elementary schools are public. Private elementary education has a 0.5% market share, according to MEC.

Education in Romania is compulsory until the age of 16. In practice, given that most Romanians start school at the age of 6, the first ten years have been made compulsory by the ministry, starting with 2002. The educational system is nationwide and very centralized. in order to coordonate better with European Union Education, (Direcţia Generală Integrare Europeană şi Programe Comunitare -DGIEPC) was established. Other specific task is to find Romanian diplomas with external ones.

Types of education institutions: Grădiniţa, Şcoala Primară, Liceu, Colegiu, Grup Şcolar, Şcoală Postliceală, Universitate, Universitate Politehnica, Şcoală Postliceală....

Diplomas: Capacitate (exam), Bacalaureat (exam), Licenta (exam and thesis), Masterat (exam and thesis), Doctorat (thesis).

[edit] Minority, religious, and private education institutions

In districts where a linguistically-defined ethnic minority exceeds 10% of the total population, free public schooling is provided in that language: some of the classes are taught in that language, and the language and literature of the ethnic group is "the main language studied", although Romanian remains compulsory. There are classes for different linguistic minorities: Hungarian, German, Romani, Polish, Ukrainian, Serbian, Greek, Bulgarian, Czech, Turkish, Hebrew, Slovak, Ukrainian and Russian.

Since 1990, private and religious education at all levels have been accepted and partially funded by the MEC. In all Eastern European countries, a lot of changes have taken place since the collapse of the communist system. Because high-cost changes were involved, for Romanian society it was very difficult to support them. The educational system underwent a great number of important transformations. Reforms started fast, connected with the democratic reforms since 1990. A great number of radical changes occurred after this year.

[edit] Kindergarten

Children can start as early as three years old and can stay until they are six or seven years old. The last class, call preparation for school is optional. Today there are many private kindergartens offering to children special programs such as learning foreign languages (especially English or French) or initiation in computing. For Romanian Children, kindergarten is optional. In kindergarten, minority students can start learning in their own maternal language. Public kindergarten is free, private kindergartens are quite expensive for average families. Usually, children spent in kindergarten three to four hours per day. There are also public kindergartens which provide food and after-lunch sleeping periods (only the food has to be bought). Few kindergartens have all-day program and most of these are private.

[edit] Elementary school

If kindergarten is voluntary, Elementary Schools are the first educational programs compulsory in Romania and lasts 8 years. Most elementary schools are public. Private elementary education has under 2 percent market share, according to MEC. Unless parents choose earlier a school, the future student is automatically enrolled in the nearest school to his or her residence. Because of their reputations, some schools are flooded with demands from parents even two or three years in advance. A negative consequence of this is that in many schools classes are held in two or even three shifts, lasting from as early as 7 a.m. to as late as 8 p.m. Education is free in public schools (including sqme books and auxiliary materials, but not totally (some textbooks, notebooks, pencils and uniforms might be required to purchase).

School starts in the middle of September and ends in the middle of June next year. It is divided in two semesters (September to January and February to June). There are four holidays (Christmas - 2 weeks in December; Inter Semestrial - 1 week in February; Easter (either Orthodox or Catholic in April or May - 1 week; and Summer or Big Holiday spanning from June 18 to September 1st), with an additional fifth holiday in November for students in the first 4 years.

A class (clasă) can have up to 30 students (25 is considered optimum), and there can be as few as one class per grade or as many as twenty classes per grade. Usually each group has its own classroom. Each group has its own designation, usually the grade followed by a letter of the alphabet (for example, VII A means that the student is in the 7th grade in the 'A' class).

[edit] Grading conventions

For the first four years a system similar to E-S-N-U is used, known as the calificative. These are Foarte bine (FB) - Excellent, Bine (B) - Good, Satisfăcător (S) - Satisfactory, but actually meaning pass, but barely, Nesatisfăcător (N) - Failed. Students who get an N must take an exam in the summer with a special assembly of teachers, and if the situation is not improved the student will repeat the whole year. 'Qualifiers' (calificative) are given throughout the year, in a system of year-long assessment, on tests, schoolwork, homework or projects. The average for a subject (that will go in the mark register) is calculated by the teacher taking into account the progress of the student and by using a 1-4 value for each qualifier (for example, if a student has FB, FB, B, B in Mathematics, then the mark will be (4+4+3+3) /4=3.5. therefore B - taking into account that the performance of the student has lowered over time a B, B, FB, FB will also be 3.5 but will be marked as FB because the performance has improved over time). There is no average calculated for the whole year, but only per subject per semester. Most students will have only B and FB grades, with S being rarely used and N only in outstanding circumstances.

For grade 5 to 12, a 1 to 10 grading system is used with 10 being the best and 1 being the worst and 5 is the minimum passing grade. The system of continuous assessment is also used, with individual marks for each test, oral examination, project, homework or classwork being entered in the register (these individual marks are known as note). There must be at least as many note for a subject as the number of weekly classes for that subject plus one. Some subjects also require a partial examination at the end of the semester (teza). This requirement is imposed however by the Ministry and cannot be changed. The partial is valued at 25% of the final mark, and for grades 5 to 8 it applies to Romanian Language and Math and only in the eight year, Geography or History, and in the case of a bilingual school or one with teaching in a minority language, that language. The marks are given on the basis of strict Ministerial guidelines, as they count for high school repartition. At the end of each semester, an average is computed following a four steps procedure : First, all marks are added and an arithmetical average is computed from those marks. If there is a teza, this average, with 0.01 precision is multiplied with 3 the mark at the teza (rounded to the nearest integer) is added, then everything is divided by 4. This average (with or without teza) is then rounded to the closest integer (5/4 system - thus 9.5 is 10) and forms the Semester Average per Subject. The next step is computing the Yearly Average per Subject. This is done by adding the two Semester Averages per Subject and divided by 2. This is not rounded. The last step is adding all the Yearly Averages per Subject and dividing it by the total number of subjects. This forms the Grade Average (Media Generala). This is neither weighted nor rounded. If the Yearly Average per Subject is under 5 for a maximum of two subjects, then the student must take a special exam (corigenţă) at the failed subject in August, in front of a school board. If he fails this exam, he must repeat the entire year (repetenţie). If the Yearly Average per Subject is under 5 for three subjects or more, the student is no longer entitled for the special exam and must repeat the year.

E.g. A student in the 7th year with 4 weekly classes of math may have 6,6,7,7 in class and 5 in teza. His Semester Average for Math is round((3*((6+6+7+7)/4)+5)/4)=6. If he had 7 in the other semester, his Annual Average for Math is 6.5 (and he passes).

[edit] Primary school

The first four years are taught by a single teacher (învăţător) for the most subjects. Additional teachers are assigned only for a few specialized subjects (Foreign Languages, Introduction to Computers, etc.). Staying first four years mainly with only one teacher, this usually leaves students with a long remembrance, with many people kindly remembering their primary school teacher as one of the influential figures of their lives. At the end of primary school curriculum starts to become congested. For instance, a 4th grade student (9-10 years of age) may have on a weekly basis

*These subjects may or may not have teachers other than the main teacher.
** These subjects almost always have teachers other than the main teacher.

[edit] Gymnasium school

Classes are reshaped at the end of the fourth grade, based on academic performances. Optional, for special classes (such as intensive English classes or Informatics classes). Usually schools can decide the selection in fifth grade based on local tests. Assessing the students' performance is also different between primary and gymnasium cycles. In grades between fifth to eighth, students have a different teacher (profesor) for each subject. Each class has a teacher designated to be class organizer (diriginte) besides teaching the usual subject. Additional counseling may be provided by a special counselor (consilier pe probleme de educatie - counselor on educational issues) or by a school psychologist.

An 8th grade schedule may contain up to 30-32 hours weekly, or 6 hours daily, thus making it quite intensive, for instance

  • 4 classes of math
  • 4-5 classes of Romanian language
  • 1 (2 in the 8th grade) classes of history
  • 2 (1 in the 7th grade) classes of geography
  • 2 (1 in the 8th grade) class of biology
  • 2 classes of introduction to computers
  • 4 classes of a foreign language
  • 1 classes of Latin
  • 2 classes of physics
  • 2 classes of chemistry
  • 1 class of art and music
  • 1 class of religion (optional)
  • 1 class of civic education
  • 1 class of technology (may be optional).
  • 2 classes of physical education

In addition schools may add 1 or 2 subjects at their free choice. This possibility gave rise to Intensive English Classes or Informatics Groups, accessible only by special exams in the 5th grade.

[edit] Life in elementary schools

Life in a city school is very different from life in a rural school. An urban school will have over 100 or 200 students per year, science labs and well stocked computer labs, clubs based on different interests (from math, film and drama to Harry Potter), teaching assistants and psychologists, free speech therapy and academic programs for gifted students, whereas rural schools are usually tiny, with some, in villages, providing only 4 years education - the rest being offered at a nearby larger village, having only one teacher for all students (generally under 10 students in total) - a situation almost identical to the one existing at the turn of the 20th century. Transportation to and from school is almost never provided - and in extreme cases, in remote villages, students as young as six must walk up to 10 km to school if there is no bus or train. Only starting in 2003 was a very limited rural transportation service introduced (The Yellow School Van with a Little Bell - Microbuzul Şcolar Galben cu Clopoţel). Public transport for all students is in theory free, but, because of a very awkward system, students end up paying half the price for a season ticket. Students also pay half price at all commuter trains operated by Caile Ferate Romane.

All schools follow the tradition of school turns (originally done for lack of space, but now the tradition). Thus, school starts for some groups (usually years I to IV and VIII) at 7:30 or 8:00 and ends at 12:00-14:30 while other groups (years V-VII) start at 11:00 - 13:30 and end at 17:00 - 19:30. Normally, classes have 50 minutes, with a 10 minute break (and sometimes one 20 minute break). From November until March, some schools reduce classes to 45 minutes and breaks to 5 minutes, for fear that 6:30 or 7:30 in the evening is too late and too dangerous an hour to leave school during the dark. School days are Monday to Friday.

Teacher-student relations are quite formal, but this formalism has evolved in the past few years to a friendly, but respectful relationship. This is due to the difference of mentality between generations. While elder teachers usually demand respect and are exigent, some younger ones, who better understand what it is like to be in school, are friendly and understanding, rather than strict. Teacher-Parent relations are also formal, with teachers calling parents to school only for administrative issues at the beginning of the semester, and for reading the marks at the end of the semester. Those teachers able to break the formalism and reach out to the students are very highly regarded both by officials and by students.

Some schools have a uniform for the first four grades, either the Ministry standardized issue or one of their own design. Years V - VIII almost never have a school uniform, nor any other dress code (but rulebooks provide for basic decency).

There is no school lunch in most schools, as school either ends before lunch or starts after lunch, although few schools have an after-school program, that may include lunch.

Both big city schools and rural schools may organize clubs, but this is left to teachers. Dance clubs, school sports, traditions and story telling, drama, music, applied physics or chemistry and even math clubs are popular, depending on the teachers organizing. However, taking part in these clubs will not be mentioned on any diploma or certificate, nor is it required. Contests between schools exist, with nationwide academic contests (known as Olimpiade - Olympiads) being used to promote the best students. These contests are highly popular, as they bring many advantages to the students taking part in them (like the ability to legally skip school for a longer period of time without punishment, easier evaluation at all other subjects, a different, better treatment from teachers, free trips and holidays, better preparation for the final exams - as these are structured like an exam) with whole classes taking part in the lower phase of such contests. Additionally, many Physical Education teachers organize intra-mural competitions and one or two day trips to the mountains. Other teachers usually also organize such trips and even whole holidays during the summer (tabere), this being a Romanian school tradition. However, field trips or research trips are not common (one or two every year), and are usually visits to museums or trips to natural habitats of various animals or plants, to gather information for a school project.

[edit] Curricula in elementary schools

The Romanian curriculum is known as highly academic but rigid. There are up to 15 compulsory subjects (usually 8-13) and up to 5 optional subjects (usually 1 or 2). However, unlike in the United Kingdom or France, these optional subjects are chosen by the school and imposed on the student - they are known as School Decided Curriculum (Curriculum la Decizia Şcolii - CDŞ) and are usually extensions to the compulsory subjects.

For the duration of elementary schools, each student must take:

  • 8 years of mathematics, Romanian, music, art and physical education
  • up to 8 of religion (any belief accepted, if a teacher cannot be provided in school, a certificate from any representative of the faith is accepted, if atheist or agnostic, another subject must be taken)
  • 6 years of geography and history,
  • 7 or 8 years from the first foreign language (usually English, French, or German)
  • 3-4 from the second foreign language (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian or Portuguese)
  • 3 years of Civic education, physics and biology
  • 2 of Chemistry,
  • 2 years of Introduction to Computers although in many places this subject can be optionally studied all the 8 years of elementary schools).

[edit] High schools

[edit] Admission to high school

At the end of the 8th year of school (at age 14 or 15) a nation-wide test is taken by all students. Starting with 2004, this examination is called Testarea Naţională (The National Test) and can be taken only once, in June. The subjects are Romanian Language and Literature, Math and either Geography or History, depending on candidate's choice (and additionally the language of the school for ethnic minority schools or classes and for bi-lingual schools). The passing mark is 5 for each of the three/four exams. If the student passes, he is allowed to enroll in a high school or he will have to join a School of Crafts and Trades for two years. The finishing grade (also known as the admission grade) is computed as an average, taking into account for 50% an average of all the Yearly General Averages starting with year 5 and for the rest of 50% the mark obtained at the National Test (1-10, 10 being the highest, not rounded, precision 0.01). Despite the exams not being published, the marks are public, lists being placed both in schools and on the Internet.

In order to enroll in a high school, the student must choose a list of high schools he or she desires to attend (there is no automatic enrollment this time), based on his mark and options by filling a nation-wide form. A national computer system does the repartition, by taking into account students in the order of their preferences and their "admission grade". Thus, somebody with an 9.85 average (this is a top 5% mark) will certainly enter the high school he or she desires, while somebody with 5.50 has almost no chance to attend a top ranked high school. However, based on this system, the last admission averages for some prestigious high schools are over 9.50 or 9.60.

[edit] Types of Romanian high schools

Gheorghe Lazăr High School, Bucharest
Gheorghe Lazăr High School, Bucharest

There are four types of high schools in Romania allowing access to university. All of these allow for a high school diploma, access to the Bacalaureat exam and therefore access to University studies. Unlike the Swedish or French systems, the choice of high school curriculum does not limit the choices for university. For example, a graduate of a Mathematics-Computer Programming (Real) Department of a National College may apply to a Language Department of a University without any problem. However, because of the subjects taught, the quality of education and the requirements for admission in universities, artificial barriers may appear: for example, a graduate of a Humane and Social Studies Department will find it very hard to apply for a Mathematics Department at a University because the admission exam for that university department requires knowledge of calculus, a subject not taught in Humanities and Social Studies. But there is no formal limitation: if that student manages to understand calculus, he or she is hi to apply.

High school enrollment is conditioned on passing the National Test and participating in the National Computerized Repartition.

High school studies are four years in length, two compulsory (9th and 10th year), two non-compulsory (11th and 12th year). There are no exams between the 10th and the 11 years. There is also a lower frequency program taking 5 years for those wishing to attend high school after abandoning at an earlier age.

  • National College (Colegiu Naţional) - the most prestigious high schools in Romania, most are each part of at least one international program such as Cervantes, SOCRATES, Eurolikes etc. All are "theoretical" (see below). Most are over 100 years old, and all have a very strong tradition in education. For example, Saint Sava National College in Bucharest is one of the oldest schools in Romania with almost three centuries of tradition; Gheorghe Lazăr High School (also in Bucharest) is 155 years old and, like Sf. Sava, founded before Romania itself; Colegiul German Goethe is 250 years old Other national colleges are Colegiul Naţional de Informatică Tudor Vianu Bucharest, Colegiul Naţional Iaşi, Colegiul Naţional Fraţii Buzeşti Craiova, Colegiul Naţional Vasile Alexandri Galaţi etc. The last admission average for these is over 8.70, but for the best national colleges an average result of 9.50 is not enough. Entering in one of these national colleges is usually a sure ticket for a good university scholarship.
  • Military College (Colegiu Militar) - a high school administered by the Romanian Army. After graduation the student will have a military rank (usually petty officer in the Army or Navy) and will allow him to enter an Army Academy without passing through basic training before. However, they are considered extremely strict (legally they have the same regime as army units and are considered military installations with all students being members of the army and abiding army rules and regulations, including lights out at 10 o'clock). Eg. Colegiul Militar Mihai Viteazu Alba Iulia.
  • Economic College or Technical College (Colegiu Economic or Colegiu Tehnic) - A high school with very good results and with an academic program based on technical education or services (see below). An admission average of 8.00 is usually enough.
  • Liceu (Standard High school) - An average high school, providing one of the available academic programs. The type of academic program offered is added after this designation (eg. Liceul Teoretic Dimitrie Bolintineanu or Liceul Economic Ion Luca Caragiale)
  • Grup Şcolar - A group of two schools - a high school (usually offering academic programmes in the field of technical or services education) and a Craft and Trade School. Some are regarded as being the worst alternative to allow access to a highschool diploma and access to university, while others are very well regarded as they give highly useful and well regarded diplomas and provide a rather high quality education (such as Grup Şcolar Economic Viilor Bucharest - training gastronomy specialists, protocol waiters etc. - and owning their own hotel, restaurant and pastry shop).

There are a number of academic programs (profile) offered:

Theoretical program

  • Sciences - Profil Real ("mathematics and computer programming" or "earth studies") - this is the most demanding of all the academic programs, and the most sought-after as it offers the best chance for university admission, teaching as it does most of the subjects needed for admission. There are 15 different subjects per year, with 30-35 hours weekly : e.g. Latin is compulsory for a year, Math for 4 years (5-7 hours/week - Calculus, Trigonometry and Algebra), Computer Programming (4 hours weekly - 4 years), two modern languages, such as English for 2-6 hours/week and French for 2 hours/week, also 4 years, Literature 3 hours/week 4 years, Geography, History, Chemistry, Physics (all of these 4 years, 1-2 hours weekly each), Economics, Philosophy, Logic, Psychology (1 year each - 4 years) etc. This will give an "Assistant Computer Programmer" qualification. Besides being the hardest, this is the most common program, as it is the most sought after.
  • Humanities - Profil Uman ("social studies" or "languages") - more modern languages (3 or 4), Latin or Ancient Greek, 4 years, two years of each of the studied social sciences, more history and geography than in the case of real studies, but almost no mathematics, chemistry, physics or biology. This program still demands over 30-35 hours weekly but will give no work qualification.

Technical programs - Profil tehnic will give a qualification in a technical field such as electrician, industrial machine operator, train driver and mechanic etc. A lot of subjects are technically based (e.g. Calibration of Technical Measurement Machines, Locomotive Mechanics), with some math, physics and chemistry and almost no humanities.

Vocational programs - Profil vocaţional will give a qualification in a non-technical field, such as kindergarten educator, assistant architect, or pedagogue. A lot of subjects are based on humanities, with specifics based on qualification (such as Teaching) and almost no math, physics or chemistry. Art, music and design high schools are grouped here. High schools belonging to religious cults are also included. Usually, admission in these high schools is done by a special exam besides the National Tests in music or art.

Services and Economics programs - Profil economic will give a qualification in the fields of services, such as waiter, chef, tourism operator. Offering a quite balanced program, similar to the real studies in the theoretical program, but a bit lighter, and giving a valuable qualification, this program is very sought after (being second only to the real program).

The following high-schools forms does not allow entrance to universities:

  • School of Crafts and Trades (Şcoalǎ de Arte şi Meserii) - a two year school providing a low qualification such as salesman or welder or builder. In case the student wants to continue to high school he or she must attend a special year between the 2nd year in the School of Crafts and Trades, and the 11th year in high school.
  • Apprentice School - a two year school, almost integrally based on apprenticeship with a company, that usually also hires the graduates. Once highly popular, nowadays only a handful remains and will be almost completely phased out by 2009. There is no access to high school from this type of school.

Optional subjects are either imposed by schools on the students, or at best, students are allowed to choose a package of two or three subjects at group level (not individual level). Usually optional subjects provide additional hours of the hardest subjects, through "extensions" and "development classes". In addition, there are also a large number of specializations. A student can be, for example, enrolled in a National College, study a real program, specializing in mathematics-informatics.

[edit] Students' life in Romanian high schools

All the rules and regulations of elementary school apply here. Uniforms are a local issue, according with each school's policies. Few high schools have uniforms, and in case it exists, it is only used on special occasions (such as festivities, conferences, sporting contests etc.). Many high schools have their own radio stations, monthly or biannual magazines etc.

Unlike the elementary school, there are no clear guidelines for marking. In different schools the same mark has different value. The communication between students and teachers is still poor. Usually students have no decision power in the workings of their high school, most high schools do not even have a school council, with all the decisions being taken by principal Director. Usually, each high school has at least two principals.

[edit] The Baccalaureate exam

High school students graduating from a College, Liceu or Grup Şcolar must take the National Baccalaureate Exam (Examenul Naţional de Bacalaureat - colloquially known as the bac). Despite the similarity in name with the French word Baccalauréat, there are few similarities. The Bacalaureat is comprised of 2 or 3 oral examinations and 4 or 5 written examinations, usually spanning on the course of one and a half weeks in late June and September. It is a highly centralized, national exam. Usually the exam papers are taken to a centralized marking facility, sometimes even in another city, under police guard (for example in 2001 all the exams from Braşov were sent to Brăila for marking). The exam supervisors (always high school teachers or university professors) cannot teach in, or otherwise be related to, the high school they are sent to supervise. Starting with 2007, the ministry drafts 100 different sets of subjects for each exam, and makes them available 6 months in advance through both the official web site [4] and via booklets available free of charge. The solutions to each of the sets are also made public by the ministry.

The 6 exams are :

  • Exam A/1 (Proba A/1) - Romanian Language and Literature (Oral Examination) - The candidate draws a literature subject at random and a text comprehension subject, also at random. The candidate has 15 minutes "thinking time" and 10 minutes to answer the questions in front of three persons. The exam is public.
  • Exam C/1 (Proba C/1) - The language of study in a school where the teaching is done in a language other than Romanian (usually the language of an ethnic group) - organized exactly like Exam A/1. C/1 is taken only by those taught in another language than Romanian.
  • Exam B (Proba B) - A foreign language (Oral Examination) - The candidate is allowed to choose from English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. The choice must be done upon registration for the exam (usually in May) and cannot be changed. The candidate draws one subject with two questions (reading comprehension and speaking) at random, and has 15 minutes thinking time to construct his answers and 10 minutes to answer.
  • Exam A/2 (Proba A/2) - Romanian Language and Literature (Written Examination) - Usually an essay upon a literature theme (such as "Show the features of the modern twentieth century novel with examples on a studied work") and a text with 10-20 questions based on the text (such as "Find a metaphor and an oxymoron in the text" or "Comment the following passage in ten lines or less"). Half an hour before the start of the exam, the Minister Of Education draws the correct variant on TV, with sealed envelopes containing 20 or 25 exam papers being delivered to the exam rooms and opened in front of the students. According to law, each student must receive an exam paper, writing the subjects on the board being no longer allowed. Exam C was 2 hours long in 2005, 2004 and 2003 and 3 hours long in 2002.
  • Exam C/2 (Proba C/2) - The language of study in a school where the teaching is done in a language other than Romanian (usually the language of an ethnic group) - written examination - organized exactly like Exam A/2.
  • Exam D (Proba D) - Compulsory subject depending on the academic program followed in high school (Written Examination) - This translates to math for those finishing a real studies, technical or services program or for a choice between Romanian History and Geography for a humane studies or vocational program. However, the difficulty of the exam varies between the academic program followed in high school (e.g. a candidate that was enrolled in a real studies program in high school will receive a Mathematics 1 subject - the hardest math subjects, including algebra, simple calculus, trigonometry and geometry, while a former services student will receive a Mathematics 2 subject - a simpler subject, featuring only algebra and simple calculus). 15% of the exam is "multiple choice", 15% "fill in the gaps", the rest requiring detailed explanations and proof. Unlike in western exams, calculators, slide rulers or any other assistance is forbidden. Exam D is 2 hours long.
  • Exam E (Proba E) - Subject at the choice of the candidate from the domains considered as the main part of the Academic Program followed in high school (Written Examination) - This gives the student more choice depending on the academic program completed. For example, a real studies student may choose from Physics, Computer Programming, Chemistry and Biology, a technical student/railway mechanic may choose Physics, Mechanical Instruments and Machines, Technical Instruments and Measures or Railway Maintenance while a human studies/languages may choose from Latin or a different language than the one in Exam B. The same rules apply as in the case of Exam D, with one exception - students choosing Basic Accounting (Services Program) may use an account sheet describing the function of each account.
  • Exam F (Proba F) - Subject at the choice of the candidate from a lesser domain of the academic program followed in high school (Written or Practical Examination) - This gives even more choice, with a student from real studies being able to choose from up to 20 subjects, from Philosophy to Physical Education while a student in humane studies/social sciences is free to choose from Math to Biology and, of course, Physical Education (over 50% of all candidates take this subject, as it is not written, usually takes under half an hour, requires no learning and it is nearly impossible to fail). However, the choices must be made from subjects the candidate was taught in high school.

Except for the languages exams, the subjects are provided in any language desired by the candidate (demands can be made "on the spot" for a number of languages - Hungarian, German and Romanian subjects are available in all high schools nationwide, with other languages in areas where the respective language is spoken, while for other languages the request must be filed alongside the registration form, two months in advance). Braille can also be provided.

Each exam (Proba) is marked from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, using two decimals for written exams (e.g. 9.44 or 9.14 is a valid mark) and an integer for an oral exam. Each exam is corrected and graded by two separate correctors (no computers are involved, as this is not a standardized test) agreeing on the mark based on a nationwide guideline. The total mark for the Bacalaureat is the arithmetic mean average of the six or eight marks obtained (0.01 precision). To pass, a student must obtain an average score of at least 6.00 and at least 5.00 at each of the individual exams. A student scoring a perfect 10 will be warded with special honors (Absolvent cu Merite Deosebite). In July 2005, 78 candidates out of a total 179878 scored a perfect 10 (0.04%) while 149435 (83.07%) students passed the Bacalaureat. In case of failure (respins), the student is allowed to retake only the exams he failed, until he manages to graduate but no more than 5 times. A September session is held especially for those failing in the June/July session or for those unable to attend the exam in the summer. In case a student is not content with the mark received, one may contest it in 24 hours after finding his or her score. If passed, unlike the case with most high school completion exams, he or she may not retake it (although this matters less in Romania than in the United States or Germany.

Unlike the French system, this exam opens little if any doors. It is a requirement when enrolling in an university, because, technically, without passing it, the student is not a high school graduate, but, usually it counts for almost nothing in the admission scores (in most universities, 0 - 20% is the norm). In the best possible situation, it makes up half of the total university admission score, but only in the most undesired departments of the small, backwater universities. Given the extremely atypical Romanian university admission system (usually another exam making up for the rest of the process), these percentages mean even less. Because of the perceived lack of importance, and because of the above average difficulty of the exam, many supervisors are very tolerant to misdemeanors such as talking during the exam, and, there have been some cases when supervisors allow students to swap sheets of paper with answers to questions between themselves. Bribing is also common, in the form of protocol, a sum of money (around 100 lei) paid by each student, months before, either to a fellow student, or even a teacher (the protocol treasurer) in order to smooth the exam organizers. Each year, major newspapers such as Evenimentul Zilei,[1] România Liberă or Jurnalul Naţional report on and publish lists of high schools with the value of the protocols. Of course, both the officials and the students deny such findings, but this habit is so accustomed, that from time to time even the education ministry admits it is a phenomenon.[citation needed]

[edit] Higher education

In any country higher education is the moment of truth for the entire society. With many pressures from technical developments, a deficiency in designing higher education is a very costly endeavor paid by a country. The qualified job market suffers directly and one of the numerous direct consequences will be the decreasing number and quality of teachers and professors involved in the educational system. Unfortunately, this is the case in Romania, where the educational system still have many gaps, in contrast to the well established national educational systems in the US, Canada or Western European countries.

Babeş-Bolyai University
Babeş-Bolyai University

The first modern Romanian universities are:

In Romania, after 1990, the universities were the first type of institutions that started the reforms for democratization of education. They achieved autonomy, an impossible goal during the socialist regime. Students had been a very active social category participating in the social protests in the years 1956, 1968 and 1989. After 1990, they formed a very radical offensive campaign aimed against communist politicians. The University Square movement began when, around the University of Bucharest, these students proclaimed a ‘communist free zone’, installed tents around the area and protested for over 40 days demanding that communist statesmen be dismissed from public functions. Additionally, they demanded the autonomy of mass-media. However, Romanian students’ movements were a model for other neighboring countries. For instance, Bulgarian students made an alliance with union syndicates and protested through marathon demonstrations and strikes. The difference in that case was that their union syndicates were strong allies of students. Also, their movement was less radical but more powerful and realistic. In this case, they succeeded to dismiss some communist leaders. In Ukraine, the social movements from the end of 2004 against electoral frauds had the same structure.

[edit] International programs

The professors tried to adapt curricula to that of their counterparts from North America or Western Europe. After 1990, Romania started many projects supervised by countries from the European Union and also in collaboration with the US, obtaining some projects and bursaries. The main goal of the country has been to adapt to the European Higher Education System. Especially notable were their effort for having their academic diplomas recognizing by other European countries and for developing international programs such as: Tempus, CEEPUS, Socrates/Erasmus, Copernicus, Monet, and eLearn. With US Fulbright programs were developed. Tempus is a program for cooperation in Higher Education started between EU member states and partner countries. There are four subprograms (Tempus I, Tempus II, Tempus II-bis and Tempus III between 2000 and 2006). Tempus III is actually a pledge for cooperation in higher education which states to deepen the cooperation on higher education, strengthening the whole fabric of relations existing between the peoples of Europe, bringing out common cultural values. The program allows fruitful exchanges of views to take place and facilitates multinational activities in the scientific, cultural, artistic, economic and social spheres. More specifically, the Tempus program pursues the establishment of consortia. Consortia implement Joint European Projects with a clear set of objectives, financed partially by this program, for the maximum duration of three years. The development is considered in small steps, successful small projects. Tempus also provides Individual Mobility Grants (IMGs) to faculties to help them improve their activities. In addition, non-governmental organizations, business companies, industries and public authorities can receive financial help from Tempus. CEEPUS, Central European Exchange Program for University Studies, was founded in 1994 by countries from actual and EU candidates. The program provides grants for students, graduates and university teachers participating in intensive courses, networking, and excursions. Project eLearn is being developed by European countries to accelerate and share their strategies in e-learning. Monet is a project which aims to facilitate the introduction of European integration studies in universities. The term “European integration studies” is taken to mean the construction of the European Community and its related institutional, legal, political, economic and social developments. The project targets disciplines in which community developments are an increasingly important part of the subject studied, i.e.

  • Community Law
  • European Economic Integration
  • European Political Integration
  • History of the European Construction Process

The Erasmus Mundus program is a cooperation program intended to support high-quality European master courses. These courses are purposed to engage postgraduate studies at European universities. It targets another characteristic, educational mobility, through projects that try to establish consortia for integrated courses of at least three universities in at least three different European countries which lead to a double, multiple or joint recognized diploma.

[edit] Graduate programs, researchers and professors

Graduate programs might be the highest level of inefficiency. Unfortunately, in selecting a graduate program, the best students already have chosen other offers from a foreign country. After all, in graduate studies, people are responsible to produce the most sentient about inefficiency of programs. Usually, as was the situation for the undergraduate studies, there is a scarcity of courses to choose for future specialization. However, the lack of experience in researches, counseling, and management are more severely resented. There are weakly designed programs for graduate students. The chief direction for graduate studies are totally out-of-date designed. First, it consists of some courses and less researches than their counterparts from North-America. They mistakenly identify the assimilation of courses (often old-fashioned also) with creativity involved in researches, compulsorily required in graduate studies. One could argue that this is often involved in European countries, when graduates studies remained far behind their US forms, but the difference in Romania is far greater than other European countries. Often, it has been noticed plagiarisms, or just valueless compilations. Even though the number of graduate students rocketed, the quality of graduate studies remained shaky. There is also the question: who will conduct these graduate programs. Especially in the case of Romania when people were so much isolated, this question is difficult to answer. In fact there are two situations: The first situation signaled is a deficiency in qualified researchers. There was a lack of experience since 1990, which was not passed yet. In the well-recognized academic centers, some academic programs succeeded outstandingly. This was the case of the University of Bucharest or the University of Cluj. Some doctoral programs like Mathematics had a long established tradition. Many professors and researchers emigrated or obtained work contracts from the US, France, Germany, Australia, New Zeeland or Canada and maintained there a valuable tradition. For instance, George Palade obtained Nobel Prize in 1974, in biology. In other domains, especially where a costly technique is involved, Romanians researches encounter many difficulties. Starting with courses and preparations, now the difference between advanced countries in higher education and Romania is huge. The outdated materials among the professors and graduates are almost a rule and so the design of courses. Consequently, there are a multitude of researches without value. Because of a lack of experience of the coordinators and because of lack of documentation, the research sustained by Romanian graduates are considered in consequence of low academic quality.

Second argument: even though they have had some remarkable achievements, Romanians have not received sufficient recognition around the world.

  • For instance, the most recent sample that occurred in 2003 year: a Romanian professor Gheorghe Benga, from the University of Cluj, was two years ahead of Nobel laureate in cellular protein channel researches for the human body. Even from 1986, the Romanian professor started to publish his researches in Biochemistry and European Journal. The American laureate, Peter Agre, who started to publish his researches two years after, didn’t quote Benga and claimed the absolute priority in this field. Unfortunately, the American is considered to have the absolute priority in this discipline of the cellular membrane while the international committees never did consider the Romanian professor even as one of the pioneers in this discipline.
  • This was not the first time: in medicine Nicolae Paulescu discovered insulin in 1921. Two Canadian researchers, Frederick Banting and Charles Best, working in physiology laboratory of Professor James MacLeod from the University of Toronto, published the same results in 1922. In 1923, the Canadians obtained Nobel Prize. These situations made many people skeptical about the realistic chances that someone had in order to achieve international recognition in a mid-sized country.

MEC established the National Authority for Scientific Research (Autoritatea Naţională pentru Cercetare Ştiinţifică). This agency emerged from specific requirements designed to promote the development of a knowledge-based society. As in all Eastern European countries, the higher education system witnessed major transformations after 1990. In Romania's effort to adapt its national educational framework for the European Union, the educational system has achieved many improvements, yet there are still many difficulties to overcome.

[edit] General assessment

In 2004 the Romanian adult literacy rate was 97,3% (45th worldwide), while the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools was 75% (52nd worldwide)[2] The results of the PISA assessement study in schools for the year 2000 placed Romania on the 34th rank out of 42 participant countries with a general weighted score of 432 representing 85% of the mean OECD score.[3] According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, up to 2006 no Romanian university was included in the first 500 top universities world wide. [5]Using a methodology similar to that of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, Romanian scientists have found that the best placed Romanian university attained the half score of the last university in the world top 500.[4]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Şpagă la capacitate", Evenimentul Zilei, 16 June 2006.
  2. ^ UNO Human Development Report 2006 [1]
  3. ^ PISA - PROGRAMUL INTERNAŢIONAL OECD PENTRU EVALUAREA ELEVILOR, RAPORT NAŢIONAL, Bucureşti, 2002 p. 10 - 15, [2]
  4. ^ Răzvan Florian, Universităţile din România şi clasamentul Shanghai, Asociaţia Ad Astra a cercetătorilor români, Centrul de Cercetări Cognitive şi Neuronale (Coneural), Cluj-Napoca, România, p. 7 - 9 [3]

[edit] External links

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