Romanian educational system

According to the Law on Education adopted in 1995, the Romanian Educational System is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Research (Ministerul Educaţiei şi Cercetării — MEC). Each level has its own form of organization and is subject to different legislations. Kindergarten is optional between 3 and 6 years old. Schooling starts at age 7 (sometimes 6), and is compulsory until the 10th grade (which usually corresponds to the age of 17 or 16). Primary and secondary education are divided in 12 or 13 grades. Higher education is aligned onto the European higher education area.

Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the Romanian education system has been in a continuous process of reformation that has been both praised and criticised.
Aside from the official schooling system, and the recently-added private equivalents, there exists a semi-legal, informal, fully private tutoring system (meditaţii). Tutoring is mostly used during secondary as a preparation for the various examinations, which are notoriously difficult. Tutoring is wide-spread, and it can be considered a part of the Education System. It has subsisted and even prospered during the Communist regime.
In 2004, some 4.4 million of the population was enrolled in school. Out of these, 650,000 in kindergarten, 3.11 million (14% of population) in primary and secondary level, and 650,000 (3% of population) in tertiary level (universities).

Babes Bolyai University, Cluj:


Basic organization

The Romanian Educational System is divided along two main levels:
1. Pre-University Level (Învăţământul Preuniversitar) is structured in 4 cycles:
1. Kindergarten (Grădiniţa or Învăţământul Preşcolar) — composed of three or four grades (Grupa Mică, Grupa Mijlocie, Grupa Mare and, sometimes, Pregătirea pentru Şcoală)
2. Primary school comprises two 4-grade periods:
1. Elementary school (Şcoala Primară) — grades I to IV
2. Gymnasium (Gimnaziu) — grades V to VIII
3. High school (Liceu) — four or five grades (grades IX to XII/XIII)
4. Vocational education (Învăţământ professional şi tehnic), which can continue or supplant High School to prepare students for careers that are based in manual or practical activities.
2. Higher education (Studii Superioare) is organized (or in the process of being organized) according to the principles of the Bologna process, which aims at the construction of the European higher education area. It has the following four components:
1. Bachelor (Licenţă) 3 years in most disciplines (as of 2005)
2. Master (Masterat) 2 years in most disciplines (as of 2008)
3. Doctorate (Doctorat) at least 3 years
4. Lifelong learning (cursuri postuniversitare, formare continuă), which includes postgraduate education occurring outside the Master/Doctorate framework.
Primary school is compulsory for all eight year olds, from age seven through ten being known as "primary education", while age eleven through fourteen is known as "gymnasium education". Most elementary schools are part of the public school system. Private elementary education has a 0.5% market share, according to the Romanian Ministry for Education.

Gheorghe Lazar High School, Bucharest:

Education in Romania is compulsory until the age of 16. In practice, given that most Romanians start school at the age of 6, the first ten years have been made compulsory by the ministry, starting with 2002. The educational system is identical nationwide and very centralized.
The system gives the following diplomas: Absolvire (elementary school graduation, no exam), Bacalaureat (high school graduation, after the Bacalaureat exam), Licenţă (University undergraduate graduation, after an exam and/or thesis), Masterat (Master's degree, after a thesis and possibly an exam), Doctorat (Ph. D., after a thesis).

General assessment
In 2004 the Romanian adult literacy rate was 97,3% (45th worldwide), while the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools was 75% (52nd worldwide) The results of the PISA assessement study in schools for the year 2000 placed Romania on the 34th rank out of 42 participant countries with a general weighted score of 432 representing 85% of the mean OECD score. According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, up to 2006 no Romanian university was included in the first 500 top universities world wide. Using a methodology similar to that of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, Romanian scientists have found that the best placed Romanian university attained the half score of the last university in the world top 500.

University of Bucharest: