Area Handbook for Romania Part 10

As a result of these increased efforts, the 1956 census showed an overall increase in the literacy rate to about 90 percent. According to this census the greatest proportion of illiterates was still to be found in the rural areas and among women. Literacy courses were continued until late 1958, when the government officially declared that illiteracy had been eliminated. Despite this authoritative statement, Western demographers consider that, although illiteracy has been significantly reduced, it probably still exists among older segments of the population, particularly in remote areas of the country.

THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

In early 1972 the public education system included all levels of instruction from preschool or kindergarten through elementary, secondary, and higher polytechnical schools and universities (see fig.

6). At the beginning of the 1971/72 academic year approximately 4.5 million students were enrolled in the more than 16,000 schools operated throughout the system. Kindergartens and nurseries were organized on a voluntary basis, but attendance at elementary school and through the first two years of secondary school was compulsory for students between the ages of six and sixteen. Attendance at higher level inst.i.tutions was voluntary, but admission was subject to selective procedures that included heavy emphasis on political reliability as well as scholastic achievement.

All schools were state owned, and tuition, textbooks, and other cla.s.sroom materials were free at all levels. An extensive system of scholarships existed, sponsored by government agencies, labor unions, state enterprises, and ma.s.s organizations. These scholarships were awarded on a selective basis to students in both secondary and higher schools to help defray transportation costs, living costs, and recreational expenses. The state also operated hostels, low-cost boardinghouses, child care centers, dining halls, and canteens for students above the elementary level. A planned increase in the number of these facilities, however, had not been achieved, and the authorities were under pressure to both improve and expand them.

The educational system, in general, stressed technical, political, and economic subjects; and the cla.s.sroom work in the elementary and secondary schools was underscored by the Pioneers Organization, whose extracurricular activities were considered an integral part of the educational program. The Union of Communist Youth and the Union of Student a.s.sociations performed similar functions in the higher schools.

The academic year ran from October to September, and elementary and secondary cla.s.ses ended at the end of May. At the university level all instruction was divided into two semesters, running respectively from October 1 to January 14 and from February 15 to June 30. The grading system at all levels utilized numbers from a high of ten to a low of one, five being the minimal pa.s.sing grade.

Administration and Finance

The Ministry of Education exercised overall control and direction of the educational system and implemented all party policies and directives concerning its management. In carrying out this broad mission, the ministry cooperated with other central organs of state administration and princ.i.p.ally with the Romanian Academy of Social and Political Sciences. Under the country's highly centralized control system, the ministry's specific functions included: the determination of the number and kinds of inst.i.tutions to be organized in the school network and the types of trades and specialties to be taught; the drawing up of plans, curricula, syllabi, and textbooks and teaching materials; the supervision over the training, appointment, promotion, and dismissal of all educational personnel; the general supervision of research plans at higher inst.i.tutions of learning; and the coordination of the a.s.signment of graduates to meet the planned requirements of the economy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER POSTGRADUATE STUDY POLYTECHNICAL INSt.i.tUTES ----------------------------------------------------------------------- AGE---------------------------------------------------------------GRADE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 SCHOOLS FOR SCHOOLS VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL AND XII UNIVERSITY FOR THE ARTS SCHOOLS TEACHER TRAINING 17 PREPARATION SCHOOLS XI 16 X 15 IX ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 VIII 13 VII 12 VI 11 8-YEAR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS V 10 IV 9 III 8 II 7 I ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 NURSERY SCHOOLS AND KINDERGARTENS 5 4 3 ----------------------------------------------------------

Note--Attendance is compulsory through grade X.

_Figure 6. Romania, Structure of Education, 1972._]

The Ministry of Education also defined general policy for, and supervised the work of, the educational sections of the various regional and district people's councils, which were a.s.signed certain responsibilities for organizing and administering local primary and secondary schools. The operation of these schools was subject to periodic detailed checks by a body of inspectors general to ensure the uniform application of government regulations and policies. All inst.i.tutions of higher learning were controlled directly by the Ministry of Education, which appointed and dismissed all rectors and their a.s.sistants. The ministry also employed an intertwined system of advisory councils and commissions to ensure compliance with party and government directives and guidelines.

The overall budgeting for the educational system was also coordinated by the Ministry of Education and consisted of the budgets submitted by the various people's councils for primary and secondary schools as well as the ministry's own estimated budget needs for vocational and higher schools and for operating the entire system. In 1969, the latest year for which official statistics were available, approximately 6 percent of the state budget was allocated to education.

Preschool Education

Preschool education, consisting princ.i.p.ally of kindergartens, was available on an optional basis for all children between the ages of three and six. Attendance was free, and enrollment was encouraged by the government as an essential step in the communist educational system of developing "correct" socialist values and att.i.tudes in youth.

Kindergartens were organized by districts and were located at the facilities of local enterprises, state organizations, and cooperative agencies. In certain areas, day nurseries attached to kindergartens provided care for the children of working mothers, for which a fee, generally in proportion to the parents' wages, was charged.

If the school was large enough, cla.s.ses were generally organized on an age-group basis, each with a teacher or supervisor. The number of children attending kindergartens has steadily increased since 1960.

During the 1969/70 school year more than 428,000 children, approximately 40 percent of all those eligible, were enrolled in about 10,000 kindergartens and nurseries. Official estimates antic.i.p.ated that this attendance figure would increase appreciably in future years as more working mothers were added to the labor force.

Primary Education

Primary education was provided, in early 1972, to all children between the ages of six and sixteen in eight-year elementary schools as part of the compulsory education program. During the 1969/70 school year enrollment was about 3.3 million students in about 15,000 schools throughout the country. Instruction was conducted princ.i.p.ally in the Romanian language, but in those areas with large minority populations Hungarian- or German-speaking teachers were employed, and special texts were also available in those languages.

Courses taught throughout the first four years, in addition to stressing the Romanian language, included history, geography, arithmetic, elementary biology, art, music, and physical education. Cla.s.ses usually met six days a week for periods ranging from four to five hours, depending on the type of subject matter to be covered. Grades five through eight emphasized the development of the pupils' ability to express themselves orally and in writing through the intensified teaching of many of the subjects presented in the first four grades. In addition, foreign-language instruction was introduced in the fifth grade, offering a choice of French, German, Russian, or English. In all grades the foundation of political education was laid within the scope of Marxist-Leninist tenets concerning the materialistic development of society, usually presented as part of other general subjects.

Examinations were held in each area of study at the end of the school year. Promotion to the next higher cla.s.s required a pa.s.sing grade of five (on the one-to-ten scale) in the substantive work covered, as well as a minimum grade of six for general conduct. A student was permitted to repeat an examination before being failed in a course but, if he failed that too, the entire course had to be repeated.

At the end of the eight-year program all graduates were required to pa.s.s written examinations in history, geography, and literature as well as oral tests in other selected subjects. Those successfully completing both examinations were awarded diplomas and became eligible to take the compet.i.tive entrance examinations for secondary school. It was at this point that students were grouped into general categories according to their apt.i.tudes for advanced education: ultimate university-level study, teaching and technical training, the professional arts, and vocational training.

Secondary Education

In late 1971 the necessary adjustments in the secondary school structure to accommodate the changeover from eight to ten years of compulsory education, as provided in the 1968 educational law, had not yet been completed. Although the extension of the program through the tenth grade began with the 1969/70 school year, shortages in funds, educational personnel, and facilities needed for higher student enrollment still existed and were not expected to be overcome until 1973. Secondary schools of all types numbered about 800 in 1970 and had an enrollment of about 370,000 students, roughly one-quarter of those of secondary school age.

General education secondary schools were of the college preparatory type, offered a four-year program, and had the most rigid entrance requirements. Students could select a course either in the humanities or in the natural sciences. The humanities course included such subjects as the Romanian language, a modern language, Latin, history, psychology and logic, and the history of literature. The science course covered mathematics through advanced algebra and probability theory, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and economic and political geography.

Physical education and art were included in both courses, as was a subject called sociopolitical science, which covered elements of political economy, "scientific" socialism, and the history of the Communist Party and the labor movement in Romania.

After satisfactory completion of either course of study, all students were required to take the state baccalaureate examination, which qualified them for admission to higher schools or for district employment in middle-level positions in government or in industry. The number of entrants to schools of higher education was determined by the Ministry of Education each year in the light of the needs of the various sectors of the economy and of cultural life. Since the number of applicants usually exceeded the number of s.p.a.ces allocated to each higher inst.i.tution, compet.i.tive examinations were held, and candidates were selected on the basis of marks received and their general political att.i.tude. Those who either failed the entrance examination--that is, did not receive marks sufficiently high to qualify for a university or polytechnical inst.i.tute--or were considered politically apathetic were usually placed in short-term vocational courses to qualify them for employment as technicians.

Specialized secondary education was conducted in schools for the professional arts and in technical and teacher training schools. Studies in art schools lasted one or two years and consisted of combined courses of general subjects and specialized training in cultural activities, including various forms of art and drama. Technical schools specialized in industrial fields, agriculture and its a.s.sociated subfields, forestry, socialist economics, and public health. Courses offered covered four or five years, the time depending on the area of specialization, and included basic courses in general education.

Graduates in these technical fields were designated for employment in intermediate-level positions. Teacher training schools, also of four or five years' duration, trained students exclusively for teaching positions at the preschool and elementary levels.

Vocational secondary education encompa.s.sed the largest number of schools and was reported to enroll almost 50 percent of all secondary school students. These schools provided a one- or two-year program of combined general education and vocational training in all the trades necessary for the national economy. Vocational schools were usually organized at the locations of industrial enterprises and socialist cooperatives, and students were trained as skilled workers. Additional vocational training was also provided in the form of apprentice or on-the-job training to workers already employed in industrial installations. The bulk of these trainees had either completed the compulsory level of education and then dropped out of school or had failed to be selected in the compet.i.tive examination for entrance into secondary school. Vocational training had not kept pace with increasing industrialization, and in 1972 the demand for trained workers continued to surpa.s.s the supply (see ch. 16).

Higher Education

The system of higher education was comprised primarily of universities and polytechnical and specialized inst.i.tutes, which in 1971 had a total enrollment of approximately 150,000 students. All inst.i.tutions were under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education and were geared to produce specialists in the humanities, in the social, natural, physical, and engineering sciences, and in education as needed to fill positions in government and all sectors of the economy. The schools of higher learning were generally headed by a rector (university) or a director (technical inst.i.tute), who was appointed by the Ministry of Education for a period of four years.

Schools were divided into faculties, headed by deans; faculties, in turn, were divided into departments, each headed by a chairman.

Collectively the rector, deans, chairmen, and certain other selected faculty members were grouped into an advisory council, which had broad authority in carrying out the government's educational policies, approving the faculty work programs, supervising the instruction carried out by the departments, and granting degrees at the graduate level.

Students were admitted to all higher schools on the basis of compet.i.tive examination and a.s.signed to particular faculties according to government-directed areas of study. Most degree courses at universities required three to six years to complete, and those at polytechnical inst.i.tutes, from two to three years. Medical and dental degrees were granted at inst.i.tutes attached to universities and required six years of study.

After completing all course requirements and pa.s.sing a comprehensive state examination, graduates of the various inst.i.tutions were a.s.signed to positions in the government or industry as dictated by their specialized work. Students who graduated with distinction were given preference in a.s.signment to positions and in the selection of candidates for postgraduate study. Two higher degrees were available: the Candidate of Science, which required an additional three years of study, the pa.s.sing of several examinations, and the successful defense of a thesis that made an original contribution to the student's field of specialization; and the Doctor of Science, which also required extensive study, the pa.s.sing of oral and written examinations, and the successful defense of a thesis based on original and extensive research work in the student's selected field.

Adult Education

Adult education as a supplementary form of instruction was considered an integral part of the educational process. Initiated in the early 1950s, the program was intended to give the workers and peasants the opportunity to improve their level of education and skill and, at the same time, to provide the government with the means of intensifying the ideological and political indoctrination of the general population.

A variety of schools was established throughout the country that offered evening and correspondence courses to volunteer enrollees, mostly between the ages of forty and sixty. The courses consisted of lectures given by volunteer instructors in the social, natural, and political sciences; although no degree or diploma was offered, those who successfully completed courses were eligible, after pa.s.sing a state examination, for certificates as elementary or higher school graduates.

In 1958 the program was revised and expanded. In that year people's and workers' "universities" were established under the guidance of labor unions, local committees on art and culture, and committees of the Union of Communist Youth. These universities were established at cultural centers, in libraries, in museums, and at collective farms and industrial enterprises. The enrollment age was lowered to twenty to attract youthful school dropouts, and a greater variety of basic general educational and technical courses was introduced. Despite these changes, in 1967 the press reported a general lack of public support for the program. Deficiencies in the system included a lack of adequate cla.s.srooms and equipment, the low quality of instruction, and the absence of a vigorous recruitment program.

After the enactment of the new law on education in 1968, the system was again revised; extensive modifications were made in the curricula, and closer supervision of the program was undertaken. In rural areas the school year was shortened to four or six months during the winter, and additional general cultural courses were offered, as well as special courses in foreign languages and modern agricultural techniques. In urban schools the program was reduced to eight or nine months, and modern courses in stenography, television repair, and automatic data processing were made available. As a result of these efforts, official reports in 1970 claimed that the number of schools providing adult education had increased to 171 and that student enrollment totaled almost 100,000.

Teacher Training

Teachers and educators were considered important elements in the ideological and political conditioning process directed toward the country's youth. In addition to their primary task of teaching, they were relied upon to supplement the educational program by acting as disseminators and interpreters of the communist line and by encouraging and influencing young students to partic.i.p.ate in state-sponsored activities. In 1971 there were approximately 200,000 teachers a.s.signed to the 16,000 schools throughout the country, and this number was expected to increase with the continued emphasis on ma.s.s education.

Teacher training was accomplished at three main levels: pedagogical schools for training preschool and elementary teachers; pedagogical faculties or departments at universities and teachers' inst.i.tutes for training secondary teachers; and a postgraduate studies program to prepare lecturers and professors for higher educational inst.i.tutions.

There were also refresher training courses conducted at various centers, which all teachers were required to attend once every five years until they had acc.u.mulated twenty-five years of experience in the profession.

These courses varied in length and generally stressed advances in pedagogical science, counseling techniques, and utilization of modern teaching aids.

As evidence of the importance it placed on the teaching profession, the government, since 1967, has inst.i.tuted many practices intended to improve the social position of teachers in the community as well as to increase their personal benefits. Among these innovations was the creation of the t.i.tles of professor emeritus, educator emeritus, outstanding professor, and outstanding educator in order to honor individuals for exceptional work. The government also authorized several orders and medals to be awarded to teachers for outstanding service and accomplishments.

Teachers were also nominated for places on local people's councils, and increasing numbers were declared eligible for election to the Grand National a.s.sembly. To raise the standard of living for the teaching corps, a new wage system was introduced in 1969, which granted pay increases at all teaching levels, improved promotions, and raised retirement benefits. Government a.s.sistance was made available to all teachers for the construction of individual homes in either urban or rural areas in which they were a.s.signed.