France launches pilot program to teach Romanian language in public schools

France has introduced a pilot program to teach Romanian as a mandatory foreign language in its public school system, marking the first such initiative in the country’s education sector, the Romanian Embassy in Paris announced. The project began at Collège Aimé et Eugénie Cotton in Blanc-Mesnil, a town in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, where many students come from Romanian-speaking families.

Under the program, led by France’s Ministry of National Education through the Créteil Academy, Romanian will be taught as a second mandatory foreign language (LV2), with plans to expand gradually to higher grades over several years.

The long-term objective is to develop a full Romanian curriculum that would run up to the equivalent of 12th grade in the French system.

The Romanian Embassy in France welcomed the initiative, describing it as an important step for cultural and linguistic integration.

“This is very good news at the start of the new school year,” the embassy said in the post on social media, adding thanks to the school’s leadership, teacher Alexandru Mardale, students and parents, as well as both central and local French authorities.

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