Compulsory education period extended from 11 to 15 years in Romania

The educational system in Romania will undergo major changes in the coming period, as the Senate passed on Monday, May 7, the bill on the extension of compulsory general education from 11 to 15 years. At present, compulsory education currently starts with the preparatory class, also known as zero grade, around the age of 6, and ends after tenth grade, namely around the age of 16-17. A total of 76 senators voted in favor of this bill and 27 voted against, local Digi24 reported. The project was initiated by MPs from the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), and was already adopted by the Chamber of Deputies. The bill sets “a new duration and a new composition of compulsory general education as follows: compulsory general education is of 15 grades and comprises the last two years of pre-school education, the primary school, the middle school, and the first two years of upper secondary education. Pre-school education and high school education become mandatory until 2020 at the latest." An amendment to this draft bill, which was approved, provides that compulsory education comprises two years of pre-school education, the primary school, the middle school, and the first two years of upper secondary education. High-school and the last two years of pre-school education (also known as grupa mare – for children aged 5-6) become mandatory by 2020 at the latest, the form of pre-school education named grupa mijlocie(for children aged 4-5) will become mandatory until 2023 at the latest, and the grupa mica pre-school group (for children aged 3-4) will become mandatory by 2030. The number of children attending kindergarten in Romania has dropped significantly in recent years. In 2016, only 500,000 children between 3 and 6 were going to kindergarten, namely about 60% of the total number, according to official statistics. The number of kindergartens in Romania has also dropped dramatically, from over 10,000 in 1990 to just over 1,000 in 2016. Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com