New school year starts in Romania with lowest number of students in 30 years

The new (2019-2020) school year starts in Romania on Monday, September 9. This year, school starts almost one week sooner than the usual date (September 15). The school year has two semesters: one between September 9 and December 20 and the other one between January 13 and June 12. All students will have a two-week spring holiday in April, around Easter, while primary school students will also have a one-week break at the end of October.

The number of students enrolled in the local pre-university education system was 2.82 million at the end of the 2018-2019 school year (June 2019), down from 3.01 million at the beginning of the same school year (in September 2018). However, the drop may be explained by the fact that end-year statistics don’t also count the students who graduated 12th grade, according to EduPedu.ro.

However, the school population in Romania has dropped constantly over the last ten years, from almost 3.4 million at the beginning of the 2009/2010 school year to 3.01 million at the start of the 2018/2019 school year, and likely went under 3 million at the beginning of the 2019/2020 school year. This is the lowest level recorded after 1990 and the main causes are demographic decline (fewer babies born each year) and migration (many school-age children leaving the country to join their families living abroad).

Like every year, the start of the school year also brings under the spotlight the deficiencies of the local education system. Government statistics show that more than 1,100 schools in Romania had outdoor toilets not connected to running water or sewage, according to EduPedu.ro. Most of the schools in this situation are in rural areas.

Moreover, the new textbooks that have been commissioned this year, won’t be available for the start of the school year, a situation similar to past years.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)