New Changes in the Romanian Education System

Significant changes have been announced in the education system for the 2022-2023 school year. Changes are more to students’ liking than to make the system more efficient. From more extended vacations to the elimination of exams, here are the proposals made by the Romanian Minister of Education in a context where the education system has definitely failed.

Minister of Education Sorin Cimpeanu announced significant changes in schools after the Committee for Social Dialogue meeting. The content of the new Regulation on the functioning and organization of pre-university educational institutions (ROFUIP) was presented.

Thus, the semester grades and the semester exams will disappear, and only one general final degree will be required at the end of the school year.

The essential change that has already been agreed upon is that the semester grades are waived, the semester exams are required to be defended, a single general standard will be required at the end of the school year, and the teacher will have much more autonomy for a rhythmic assessment, throughout the school year. There were several work options. (…) For a discipline that has two hours a week in an entire school year, a minimum of five grades will be required. The teacher has total autonomy in the evaluation throughout the school year.

Sorin Cimpeanu, Romanian Minister of Education

The February holiday has also been established in the entire national education system. 30 Romanian counties have decided to hold the holiday in the last week of February, while ten counties have decided to keep it in the third week of February: Argeş, Bihor, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Călăraşi, Cluj, Dâmboviţa, Gorj, Hunedoara, Teleorman, and Prahova.

Cimpeanu also discussed the standardized tests that the students took the day before. At 8:00 a.m. on May 30, 50,000 math tests were given as part of the standardized assessment program for grades III, V, and VI.

The Romanian education system certainly needs changes, but these changes are reflected in the funding of schools, scholarships, the encouragement of extracurricular programs, and much more. We are not education experts, but fewer exams and low quality of teaching result in a low level of learning. In Romania, most students are illiterate, and this is not going to change overnight, not even if the Education minister tells teachers to hold fewer exams.