Introduction

Introduction

Early Childhood Development

Early Childhood Development

Quality Education for Vulnerable Groups

Quality Education for Vulnerable Groups

 

Introduction

© UNICEF/Romania013/

Girl at the end of school year

Many Romanians are proud of their educational system, quoting the large number of well qualified individuals who find good jobs. Nevertheless there are children, especially from rural or poor communities who are not enrolled in the school system at all.  Among Romania’s poorest people are the Roma, accounting for over a million inhabitants, and their children face serious difficulties in getting enrolled in school.
 
One of the major difficulties is that the education system is unable to meet the needs of the children who speak only the Romanian language. This makes their integration very difficult and also contributes to their losing interest in school. Furthermore, few Romanian children have much knowledge about Roma tradition and history, and this contributes to the perpetuation of stereotypes and the exclusion of Roma students.

A UNICEF funded research study  established in 1998 that only 61% of Roma children aged 7 to 16 were attending school, compared to 98% of Romanian children. The rate is even lower for pre-school children, where a mere 20% of Roma children under the age of 7 go to kindergarten.

In 2003 the Geneva-based International Committee on the Rights of the Child stressed the need for the school curricula and teaching methodologies to be child-centered and to include the development of critical thinking and problem-solving. There is also a real need for children to be taught about life, about the environment in which they live, and about their own rights.

The transition has meant that Romanian teachers have continued to be among the country’s worst paid professionals. This is a serious problem, because with ever-increasing prices many are changing their careers or becoming demotivated by their work. This, in turn, seriously affects children; without sufficient stimulus many children end up resenting school and must call on private tutors to help them pass exams. There are many unqualified teachers, especially in rural areas; 68% of unqualified Romanian teachers work in villages.