THE ROMANIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM
TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
ANCA CHITU and MARIANA SANDU – NATIONAL
COLLEGE “ION MAIORESCU”, GIURGIU,
ROMANIA
The legal framework of Romanian education
Fundamental principles and basic legislation
In Romania, the educational system is governed by four types of
laws:
• the Constitution of Romania (passed in 1991)
• the organic law of education (Education Act 84/1995)
• common specialized laws (Act 88/1993 regarding the
accreditation of higher education institutions and the recognition of
university diplomas and the Act regarding the Statute of the
Teaching Staff no 128/1997);
• Government decisions having the force of Acts of Parliament
over an established period.
• Orders of the Minister of Education
Basic principles
 Education is a national priority
 Education is based on democratic values
 Romania endorses the principle of equal chances in
education regardless of gender, individual characteristics –
physical or mental impairments, cultural or socio-economic
background, mother tongue, ethnic origin, religion etc.
 Minorities have a right to education in their own language
 Public education is tax free
In accordance with Education Act, the education system in
Romania includes:
PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
• Pre-school education, organized in groups for children aged 3-7
(lower, middle, upper, and preparatory group), in kindergartens
with standard, extended or weekly programme.
• Primary education (compulsory), which includes grades 1-4 and
is organized in schools as full-time education.
• Lower secondary education (gymnasiums), which includes
grades 5- 9, is compulsory and ends up with the taking of a “
national evaluation”; the pupils who pass this examination get a
“certificate”
• Higher secondary education (high school education) includes
grades 10-12, 13 – full time education and grades 9/10-13 – parttime education and evening classes. High school education has the
following branches: 1. Theoretical; 2. Technological; 3.
Vocational. Enrollment is made on the basis of the results in the
gymnasium. High school
studies end up with a “baccalaureate examination”. After passing
this examination, the graduates get the “baccalaureate diploma”.
• Vocational education (1-2/3 years), organized as full-time
education or as evening classes in “vocational schools” and
apprentice schools with a duration of 2-3 years and 1-3 years
respectively. Lower secondary education graduates whether they
are “capacity certificate” holders or not, can enroll in the
“vocational schools’ and in the apprentice schools.
Admission is granted on the basis of predominantly practical tests,
specific to the selected profession. The courses of “vocational” and
apprentice schools end up with a ‘graduation exam” followed by
the obtaining of a “graduation diploma” (occupational proficiency
certificate).
• Post-high school education (1-3 years), organized in post-high
school and foreman schools specializing the students in domains
required by various companies or institutions. Admission is
granted on a competitive basis. High school graduates, whether
they are baccalaurate diploma holders or not, can take part in the
entrance examination. The studies end up with a graduation
examination. If they pass it, the graduates get
a graduation certificate.
The pre-university education system includes related units:
logopedic centres, “Houses of the Teaching Staff”, offices and
County Centres for Pedagogical Psychology Assistance”.
HIGHER EDUCATION
• University education
- Short-cycle university education (3 years) is organized in
colleges. It ends up with a “graduation examination” after which a
“graduation diploma” is obtained. The graduates of “university
colleges” holding a “graduation diploma” can continue their
studies in the long-cycle education system within the specialization
followed initially or within a related specialization. This can be
done through passing a competitive examination under the
conditions established by the university senate.
After passing the competitive examination as well as the makeup
examinations, the candidates will enrolled in the long-cycle
university
educational system.
- The long-cycle university education (4-6 years, depending on
the domain) is organized in universities, institutes, academies. The
higher education institution commonly comprises several faculties,
university colleges, departments, units for scientific research, for
designing and small scale production, centres of excellence.
Admission in higher education is granted on a competitive basis,
following an entrance
examination; the students can simultaneously attend the courses of
two or several faculties, but only benefit from certain facilities
established by the law for one direction of study. High school
graduates, holding a baccalaureate diploma can take part in the
entrance examination.
Besides the enrollment figure financed from the budget, as of the
1998/1999 academic year, there are also fee-paying student places.
The long-cycle university education ends up with a first degree
examination, following which a first degree diploma is obtained.
The students and graduates who opt for the didactic profession
must take part in the activities of the Department for the Teaching
Staff Training.
When they graduate from these courses they get graduation
certificates
that grant them the status of teachers.
• Postgraduate studies
- advanced studies in the specialization certified by the diploma (23
semesters);
- master studies: the integration of several domains of
specialization (2-4
semesters);
- doctoral studies;
- refresher courses
Admission in the postgraduate study programmes is granted on a
competitive basis (for advanced studies, master studies, academic
postgraduate studies, doctoral studies) or on request (for university
postgraduate specialization studies and for proficiency studies).
Curriculum
The curricular framework includes:
 The core curriculum (common core and differentiated
curriculum), containing the compulsory subjects and the
number of allocated hours, designed and approved at national
level
 The school based curriculum, designed at the level of the
school
The syllabus
 for the core curriculum subjects, the syllabus is elaborated by
commissions of specialists, it is endorsed by the National
Board for Curriculum and approved by the minister of
education
 For school based curriculum, the syllabus is designed at the
level of the school and approved by the specialty inspector of
each county
Text books
 Alternative textbooks can be elaborated for the same syllabus
 The ministry approves the textbooks which can be used in
schools
 The teachers have the right to choose the appropriate
textbook, from the approved list
Teacher guidelines are usually elaborated by the National Board
for Curriculum
TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
TRAINING
TVET is delivered through the formal education and training
system and, in the near future, also through apprenticeship
schemes by enterprises in cooperation with education and training
providers.
Policies for TVE should be seen as integrated:
- within the overall national development context defined through
the strategic papers referring to the economic and social
development at national, regional and local level
- within the education and training system – LLL perspective
(secondary general education, HE, CVT)
The Policy Paradox of Secondary Education: ambiguous and
complex policy choices because of the intrinsic duality of
secondary education, which is at once:
- terminal and preparatory
- compulsory and post-compulsory
- uniform and diverse
- meritocratic and compensatory
- geared to serving both individual needs and interests and societal
and labor market needs
- involved in integrating students and offsetting disadvantages but
also, within the same institution, in selecting and screening
students according to academic ability
- charged with offering a common curriculum for all students and
a specialized curriculum for some”.
TVE main goals mirroring the double role of education and
training – social and economic
1. assurance of students personal and professional development
so that they are able to become active citizens of their
community;
2. assurance of equal chances/equitable access to technical and
vocational education, as well as professional development of
each student, depending on her/his individual aspirations and
learning potential;
3. assurance of professional development chances for each
student for achieving qualification and competences in line
with existent employment opportunities, and in a lifelong
learning perspective;
4. assurance of the quality conditions in organization and
development of education and training processes in every
school providing TVET.
 TVE system structure is facilitating
 Career development (progressive pathway with no dead ends)
 lifelong learning through multiple exists and entrances, based
on prior learning acquisitions (not yet operational the
recognition of achievements from non formal and informal
learning contexts)
 Lifelong learning due to its organisation based on the NQF
(under construction) – TVE is design as part of a training
package: job readiness means adding on-the-job training
 TVE curriculum premises:
 Comprehensive curriculum (academic and vocational)
 Double qualification opportunities, academic and
professional recognition – upper secondary TVE graduates
passing academic examination (baccalaureate) entitle to
continue studies through tertiary university education
The quality of technical vocational education and training (TVET),
in the Romanian education system, is defined as the totality of
characteristics of a learning programme and of its provider,
through which the expectations of the beneficiaries and the quality
standards are met (QA in education Law).
In TVET, quality is directly related to the achievement of the
learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and competence achieved at
the end of the learning process) that fulfil the key stakeholders’
expectations:
- students
- parents
- employers
- community, in general
for students:
- student-centred teaching and learning process;
- equal opportunities;
- good information about educational and training offer;
- responsibility regarding own academic and professional
evolution;
- learning programmes that meet their expectations (mainly as a
result of their active involvement in the self-assessment process at
school level);
- increased capacity of employment.
for employers:
- confidence in the quality of vocational education and training,
and in the validity of the professional certificates;
- correlation of the provision of initial vocational training to the
demand of the employers;
- adjusting the content of the training provision to the needs of the
employers.
for TVET providers:
- higher legitimacy and acknowledgment;
- confidence in own offer of vocational education and
training;
- increased satisfaction of beneficiaries (students, employers,
parents);
- higher chances of employment for graduates;
- development of a culture of reflection and of continuous
improvement for all staff members;
- responsibility and greater autonomy (by emphasizing the
importance of the self-assessment process);
- facilitation of inter institutional cooperation and dissemination of
good practice between TVET providers;
- access to information about good practices and experiences of
success for community:
- transparency of the TVET programmes’ quality;
- responsibility of TVET providers as key element in TVET quality
assurance;
- supporting the decentralisation process in technical and
vocational education and training;
- greater public responsibility of TVET providers;
- increasing TVET programmes’ attractiveness
for community:
- transparency of the TVET programmes’ quality;
- responsibility of TVET providers as key element in TVET
quality assurance;
- supporting the decentralisation process in technical and
vocational education and training;
- greater public responsibility of TVET providers;
- increasing TVET programmes’ attractiveness
The vocational education reform through the Phare VET project
The specific program objectives guided the vocational education
and training process towards:
- the achievement of vocational education through school at the
level of the training standards of the European Union;
- the mutual acknowledgement with regard to the vocational
qualifications on the Internal Market of the European Union;
- the accomplishment of the European integration conditions that
were assumed through the European Agreement for associating
Romania with the European Union and through the National
Strategy of Preparing the accession of Romania to the European
Union through adopting the “acquis communautaire”;
- the achievement of vocational education adapted to the
democratic society , based on the market economy with social
participative character, in accordance to the occupational structure
specific to the dynamic evolution of the labour market in Romania;
- the adjustment of the structure of the vocational education
through school (types of school) to the needs of qualifications
identified on the basis of the individual and community
interests/demands, in the conditions of maintaining and even
stressing the educational system objectives;
- the synergetic decentralisation of the vocational education
subsystem through making the social partners co-responsible;
- the more diverse financing resources for the vocational
education;
- the logical and coherent information flew regarding the
vocational education in a permissible informational system through
the co-operation with the institutions, programs and projects which
operate in this field.
The pre-university vocational and technical education proposed the
pupils qualities development that is needed within an open society.
 creativity and entrepreneurship abilities;
 critical thinking;
 the consciously assumed responsibilities;
 the civic and community sense;
 the communication abilities;
 the team-work abilities;
 the skills needed when solving the problems/conflicts;
 the ability to develop self and professional capacities
which are specific for the trades/specialisations.
The reality of an economy in transition towards a market
economy, determined us to develop, for the vocational school, a
“tree like” training structure (Fig. 1), starting from 15 basic
training fields in the first school year, ramifying to 84 types of
training in the second year (on groups of related trades) and ending
in the third school year with 193 types of training, according to the
number of relevant trades identified during the opportunity study.
Based on an opportunity study, carried out by the project, the
relevant trades were identified. Next step was to develop, based on
Social
Partnership
LABOR
MARKET
DEMAND
Enterprises
Institutions
Other employers
Employment
Law
in Romania
VOCATIONAL
OFFER (VET)
FUTURE
LABOR FORCE
(Students)
Multi level structure
Modularization
Vocational guidance
Educational policies
Occupational policies
Curriculum development
Unemployment policies
Law of
Education in
Romania
the Occupational Standards (OS)1, the Training Standards (TS). TS
was a new concept introduced by Phare-VET Project and was
supposed to be an intermediate step between OS and curricula,
briefly showing the competencies (theoretical, practical and social
ones) the school was supposed to transfer to the student in order to
fulfil the requirements of the OS (Fig.2).
Fig. 2 - Analysis Model: Demand of the Labor Market- Offer of
the Educational and training system
1
Occupational Standards are developed by an independent Romanian agency: COSA (Council for
Occupational Standards and Assessment) and are referring to the skills and tasks a qualified person is
supposed to accomplish and is based on the labor market demands.
ADVANCED
SPECIALISED TRAINING
- Total number: 30
- Duration: 1 year
Compulsory
Optionally
SPECIALISED TRAINING
......................................
- Total number: 193
- Duration: 1 or 1,5 years
ADVANCED TRAINING
- Total number: 84
- Duration: 0 or 1 year
BASIC TRAINING
- Total number: 14 "fields"
- Duration: 1, 1,5 or 2 years
Fig.1 – Vocational Training Structure in Phare - VET RO
Regarding the evaluation and certification, we must say PhareVET Project acted in following directions:
 introduction of an intermediate evaluation after the first
two schoolyears, certifying general competencies for a
group of related trades;
 involvment of social partners in evaluation;
 introduction,
“Competencies
beside
the
usual
Certificate”,
diploma,
showing
of
the
the
key
competencies achieved by the graduate. This certificate is
useful both for employers and regional departments of the
Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, in case of retraining the unemployed people. It is an intermediate step
towards the introduction of a “transferable credit system”.
As structure, the curricula were developed close to the
traditional way - syllabi for each subject – for basic and advanced
training. For the specialized training, curricula were developed on
“modules”. A “module” meant an independent (fully independent
desirable) unit of study including theory and practical training,
focused on a possible purpose of activity of the future graduate.
The modular system (beside the previously mentioned
structure of training) increased the adaptability and mobility of the
system. The reason for that is because the contents could be easily
changed, according to the labor market demands: modifying
contents of modules, replacing modules, eliminating modules.
Such a structure offers the schools a better chance to become
more active in the activity of further training and retraining, by
offering short term courses, easily adaptable to the demands of the
employers.
Curriculum is formed by a core curriculum and the school
based curriculum. The balance between them changes from a year
to another, like this: in the 9-th grade they are studying more from
the core curriculum and than starting with the 11-th grade the
importance of the school based curriculum grows.
The school based curriculum is – in the vocational and
technical education, a local development curriculum, which means
the participation and the join efforts of many actors, involved in
the educational process: pupils, teachers, parents, social partners
(economical agents, local or regional institutions/ organisations).
The option for such a curriculum component is integrating to the
decentralisation strategy, according to that the local public
authorities have to play an important role in the vocational and
technical education, due to the responsibility and commitments for
the citizens.
The school based curriculum is elaborated in a partnership
frame between school and community and refers to :
 local resources for training ( the material base for schoolar
groups, the frame of colaborating with the economic agents);
 local requirements for training in a various occupations,
professions and specialisations, which serve to the
economical activities developed in the area.
The content of the local development curriculum for the
specialty training is elaborated by mixt teams of teachers and
specialists from the field in which the students are preparing.
The goal of the local development curriculum could be
represented by the following:
 the extension of the occupational field, but making deeper
the key competencies, beside the personal competencies
and the social ones: communication, team work, critical
thinking, the taking of the responsibilities, the creativity
and the entrepreneurial spirit;
 the obtaining of the knowledge and skills of developing
their own business, starting from the vocational training in
a profession, groups of occupations or specialization;
 the promoting of the democratic values in the curriculum,
which can permit to the future graduates to become
responsible citizens of an open society.
The education training plan for the high school has been
achieved as a frame training differentiated pathways to the pupils.
The differentiated pathways are achieved through the school based
curriculum, which is proposed from local level, according to the
goals of vocational training, the local requirements of labour
market and the human and material resources of school. The option
for the subjects from the school based curriculum belongs to the
pupils, guided by parents and teachers.
The “tree-like” training structure for technological high
school starts from 3 profiles in the 10-th grade and ends in the 12th grade in 19 specializations. Each profile
12th GRADE
......................................
11th GRADE
......................................
- Total number: 19 specialisations
- Duration: 1 year
- Total number: 15 specialisations (3 to 8 for each
profile)
- Duration: 1 year
10th GRADE
- Total number: 3 profiles
- Duration: 1 year
9TH GRADE
- Total number: 1 path way
- Duration: 1 year
Fig. 3 – Training structure in technological high school
from the 10-th grade split into 3-8 specialisations.
The structure of the vocational training follows a tree-like
path.
9-th grade , the technical pathway, represents the final of the
orientated cycle, of the awareness of the vocational training path. It
is the same, from the core curriculum point of view, for all the
paths which derives from the technical pathway.
Pathing from the 9-th grade – an orientation grade, which has
as frame-objectives an inferior level of secondary school- to the
10/th grade, as the first specialized superior level, is facilitated by
the complementary packages of optional subjects. There is also the
opportunity to make extensions of the curriculum from the core
curriculum in the school based curriculum from the 9-th grade.
In the 10-th grade the training is a general type in one field
from the three ones (services, natural resources and environmental
protection, technical).
The profiles and specialisations which derive from the
curricular path, applied according to the Phare Vet Programme
strategy are:
a) services field:
specialisations:
 economic;
 administrative;
 tourism and catering;
 post.
b) natural resources and environmental protection field:
specialisations:
 food industry
 agricultural
 mountain and agricultural
 vet
 silvicultural
 wood processing
 industrial chemistry
 environmental protection
c) technical field:
specialisations:
 textiles and leather;
 mechanic;
 electrotechnics;
 electronic
and
automation
(including
computation
technics);
 telecommunications;
 civil works- constructions.
School based curriculum for the 10-th grade contains
optional packages, extensions or specific in-depth studies of the
curricular pathway and the specialization of a certain profile.
In the 11-th grade and 12-th grade the basic training becomes
deeper and it ends in a specialization (achieving an extent training
in a specialization). School based curriculum for the 11-th grade
and 12-th grade contains optional packages, extensions or in-depth
studies specific to the specialization taken from a certain profile.
After graduate the 12-th grade the pupils can receive , not
only the baccalaureat diploma, but also a specialized training
certificate of 3 level, technician, with the specification of the
specialization contended in the training structure for 12-th grade.
As far as the post high school concerns we can affirm that :
 it can develop through advanced study and specialization
in the fields of the technological high school: technical,
services, natural resources and environment protection, or
in the particular fields of the post high school
specialisations, which are specific to the non-technological
branches (it certified the level 3 of qualification for the the
qualification areas that require theoretical capacities (e.g.
laboratory technicians, assistants for the administrative
sectors, banks, media-advertising);
 it represents the secondary level of advanced study and
specialization for the graduates of the technical high
school:
it lasts 1-2 years, with technician certificate, qualification
level 3 admitted in the European market;
 it represents an advanced study and specialization level for
the high school graduates coming from the nontechnological branches: the duration is 2-3 years (the
training is preceded by attending an integrated course of
specialization culture, theoretical and practical).
It may be financially supported of alternative sources, through
the social agents and economic enterprises or at the individual
request and financing.
There was also a proposal regarding the curricula reform in the
VET system and there were alternative structures.
Conception over curriculum in VET system
 it is based on the occupational standards (elaborated by
COSA) and on the vocational education standards (Phare
VET), built up on the integrated competency principle
(knowledge, occupation and social development);
 it is pre-determined by the studies on the economic market
and on the mobility of the labour resource force;
 it was modular at the level of the vocational school
regarding the distribution of the knowledge areas, a
tendency to integrate the disciplines in learning areas
which should express the specific way of the VET
knowledge development-through intuition and experience
and competencies based at the level of technological high
school;
 it is spirally developed-starting from field observation and
practice in order to generalize the experience and to enable
the abstract approach;
 it is centred on "technological modules" (from the levels
of the vocational standards) or competencies, depending
on the type and performances of the related field
technology;
 it is influenced by the curricula development in VET in the
European context;
 it is a target of specialization on the levels of qualification
and specialization, as a response and training to the
qualification need on both the internal and European
market;
 it is developed within the social partnership with the social
agents (economic agents, authorities, experts).