unicef education in romania

8/7/2019 UNICEF Education in Romania

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/unicef-education-in-romania 1/41Education in Romania Country Profle

Context

Romania, a member o the EU since 2007, has mademuch progress toward achieving universal primaryschool completion and has taken huge strides to-

ward achieving the EFA goals. ‘However, while thegross completion rate or students in grades 1-8has increased steadily over the last decade there isa signifcant and increasing rural-urban disparity.

Learning achievements in mathematics, scienceand literacy are somewhat lower among Romanianstudents than that o their peers rom Central and

Eastern European countries. These issues presentRomania with its current educational challenges.’ 1

Reversing the trend o the 1960s and 70s – at whichtime Romania’s child population was one o the larg-

est in Europe - ‘Romania is now experiencing a dra-matic decrease in its child population - rom about6.6 million children below 18 years o age in 1990 to

about 4.4 million in 2005. According to orecasts thisfgure may reach 3.7 million by 2015. The inant andunder fve mortality rates are still ar above those

ound in the European Union and all other Centraland Eastern European countries.’2

Romania’s transition economy is supporting the de-mographic trend and increasing economic growth.Romania has a GNP (PPP) per capita o $8,980 USD,

with an annual growth rate o 7.7%, which is morethan three times that in 2000. However, this GNPis the lowest in South-eastern Europe ater Alba-

nia among countries or which there is data avail-able.3 UNDP ranks Romania 60th out o 177 countrieson the Human Development Index with a value o

(0.813). Despite the ast growing economy, povertyis endemic or many Romanian amilies, with about55% o the population living on less than $4.00 a

day and 22% o the country living below the na-tional poverty line.4 Youth unemployment is a ma-jor problem in the country with about 21% o young

people being unemployed compared to about 8% o

the general population. The lack o job opportuni-

ties is causing income inequality to rise or the nextgeneration. Romania’s gini coefcient is .31, which

is the highest in South-eastern Europe.

Education Reform

Romania has made enormous strides toward im-proving education or all its children. Some impor-tant education reorms are as ollows:

• In 2008 all political parties represented in theParliament signed a National Pact on Educa-tion, in order to boost sustainable reorm. It

has eight objectives, including modernizationo the education system by 2013 increase o

education spending to 6% o GDP by 2013, de-centralization o education fnances, curriculumand human resources, adoption o a ‘funding

follows the student ’ plan and a charter o rights

in education and an extension o the LielongEducation base to 2013.

• The Ministry o Education, Research and Youth

(MoERY), in close par tnership with UNICEF, theNational Authority or Child Rights Protectionand the Ministry o Public Health, developed a

set o Early Learning and Development Stan-

dards (ELDS) to support monitoring and expan-sion o Early Childhood programs. The MoERYis currently developing a curriculum or early

education based on the ELDS.

Education in

Romania

Country Profle

Box 1. Quick Facts about Education in Romania

Romania SEE

Total Population 21.7 50.7

Youth unemployment rate as percentage o unemployment rate 261 x

Percentage o GDP spent on Education 3.60% 3.60%

Net Pre-Primary School Enrolment, 2005 (Gender Parity Index (GPI) (Girls/Boys)) 60 55

Net Enrolment in Primary School, 2005 (GPI) 93 92

Net Enrolment in Secondary School, 2005 (GPI) 80 (1.03) 82

Gross Enrolment in Tertiary Enrolment, 2005 (GPI) 45 (1.26) 35

Student/Teacher Ratio, 2005 17 17

Out o School Children (% girls) 34,000 (52) 80,000

Number o reugees and internally displaced persons o concern 2720 690,000

PISA Score (mathematics (regional rank/17), reading ( ‘ ’’ ’ ), science ( ‘ ’’ ’) ) 415 (14), 396 (14), 418 (14) x

Source: UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008. Innocenti.



• The government in partnership with UNICEFcarried out a national media campaign and tele-thon to advocate or the rights o disabled chil-

dren and raise money or their beneft. In 2004,the government extended compulsory school-ing rom eight to 10 years.

• Romania is a leading signatory o the Decade

for Roma Inclusion and has carried out a ‘Sta-tistical Baseline or Monitoring Roma Inclusion’

in cooperation with the EUMAP.5 The MoERY isin the process o creating a more coherent andunifed vision or Roma inclusion strategies, es-

pecially with regard to girls.• The MoERY, in close partnership with UNICEF

and the National Authority or Child Rights Pro-tection, is currently placing as a top priority the

development o a National Strategy on Parent-ing and is developing a General Strategy orMainstreaming Children with Disabilities in theEducational System.

Access

General access to education in Romania is rela-

tively high or the region, when looking at nation-ally aggregated data. Primary net enrolment ratesare 93%, which is on par with regional and sub-

regional averages and the secondary school NERis just below these averages at 80%. Pre-schoolnet enrolment is the highest in the sub-region and

among the highest in the CEE/CIS region at 74%.Tertiary enrolment is also above the regional andsub-regional levels. See Figure 1. There are an es-

timated 34,000 out-o-school children in Romania.6

Equity

With high national enrolment fgures, Romania’sbiggest challenge is in reducing sub-national in-

equities and extending access to education at alllevels to those who are currently excluded. This isa major task because equity gaps are growing.

The equity gaps mirror those in other transitioncountries. The urban-rural gap in educational ac-

cess and quality is increasingly prevalent in Roma-nia’s education system, with children rom remoteareas experiencing lower access to education,

especially pre-primary and secondary education.

Children with special needs and minority children,especially Roma children, are more likely to be out

o school or receive poor quality education. Romachildren are less likely to enrol and complete edu-cation at all levels. See Box 2.

Source: UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008

Figure 1. Net Education Enrolment Ratios in

Romania, Southeastern Europe and the

CEE/CIS Region

90

4143

35

74

83

82

92

55

80

93

45

30

50

70

90

Primary Secondary Pre-Primary Tertiary

NER

CEE/CIS Regional Avg.

Southeastern Europe Avg.

Romania

Figure 2: Romania's Performance on the PISA 2006 Compared to Participating Countries in the CEE/CIS

Region

Poland, 508

Poland, 49

5

Poland, 498

Estonia, 5

01

Estonia, 515

Eston

ia, 531

Slovenia, 494

Slovenia, 504

Slovenia, 519

Czech Repu

blic, 483

Czech R

epublic, 510

Czech R

epublic, 513

Hungary, 48

2

Hungary, 4

91

Hungary, 504

Latvia, 479

Latvia, 486

Latvia, 490

Croatia, 477

Croatia, 467

Croatia, 49

3

Lithuania, 470

Lithuania, 4

86

Lithuania, 4

88

Slovak Republic, 492

Slovak Rep

ublic, 488

Turkey, 447

Turkey, 424

Turkey, 424

Russian Federation, 440

Russian Federation, 476

Russian Fed

eration, 479

Bulgaria, 402

Bulgaria, 413

Bulgaria, 434

Serbia, 401

Serbia, 435

Serbia, 436

Romania, 396

Romania, 415

Romania, 418

Montenegro, 392

Montenegro, 399

Montenegro, 412

Azerbaijan, 353 A

zerbaijan, 476

Azerbaijan, 382

Kyrgystan, 285

Kyrgystan, 311

Kyrgystan, 322

Slovak Repub

lic, 466

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

Reading Mathematics Science



As a result o new policy initiatives, DDD childrenand ‘institutionalized children have been rapidlymainstreamed in Romania. Boarding schools have

been transormed into ‘placement centres’ andinstitutionalized children have been enrolled inpublic schools. Yet this overnight transition has

let many children, teachers and amilies withoutadequate support in classrooms and has actuallyincreased the dropout rate. Furthermore, ‘even i

some o these children could be brought back intothe system, it may by then be ‘too late’ or many;

or example, i a student is three or more years old-er than his class peers he/she is regarded as ‘over-age’ and reerred to adult classes.’ While DDDchildren’s traditional exclusion rom education isa violation o their rights, rapidly mainstreaming

them without adequate support is only a short-term solution.

School Quality and Learning Outcomes

Proxy indicators o school quality show that edu-cation quality in Romania leaves much to be im-

proved. Dropout rates are high in primary schooland higher still in secondary school. About 9.4% o

students drop out beore grade fve, the majorityo whom drop out ater the frst grade.7 Another

3% do not complete primary school. Inrastruc-tural problems also plague Romania’s outdatedschool buildings.

School violence is also becoming a ormidablethreat to students’ saety in Romanian schools.

‘A number o incidental fndings also indicate an

alarming trend o violence in schools, with per-petrators being either teachers or other children.

Research fndings indicate the presence o sexualabuse and drugs in schools (11% o children).’8

As in other transition countries, education qualityis a major challenge acing policymakers, especial-ly with increasing pressure to match the learning

standards o other EU countries. Romania has tak-en part in three international learning assessments– TIMSS, PISA and PIRLS. Their results show that

Romania lags behind themajority o countries inthe region and alls in

the bottom quartile o allcountries participating inthe test.

On PISA 2006, Roma-nia scored ourth to last

out o participating CEE/ CIS countries in reading,mathematics and science.

In all three subjects, itscored just ahead o Mon-tenegro and Kyrgyzstan

(See Figure 2). It ranked

in the bottom quintile inall three subjects out o

57 participating countries,

Figure 5. Distribution of Reading Achievement on PIRLS Assessment

Overt ime, 2001-2006

400

450

500

550

600

R us s i an F ed er at i on

H ungar y

B ul gar i a

L at v i a

L i t h uani a

S l ov ak R

epub l i c

S l ov eni a

P ol and

Mol d ov a

I nt l ' A v er age

R omani a

Geor gi a

Mac ed on

i a

T ur k ey

2001

2006

Figure 4. Distribution of Overall Mathematics

Achievement on TIMSS Over time, 1999-2001, grade 8

400

450

500

550

Estonia

Hungary

S

lovak Republic

Russian Fed.

Latvia

Lithuania

Slovenia

Armenia

Serbia

Bulgaria

Romania

Intl' Average

Moldova

FYR Macedonia

Overall Average Sca

le Score

1999

2003

Figure 3. Distribution of Overall Science Achievement

on TIMSS over time 1999-2003, grade 8

440

480

520

560

Estonia

Hungary

Slovenia

Lithuania

Slovak Republic

Russian Fed.

Latvia

Bulgaria

Intl' Average

Moldova

Romania

Serbia

Armenia

F

YR Macedonia

Overall Average Scale Score

1999

2003



coming in 47th, 45 th and 48th in science, mathematics

and reading, respectively.

On TIMSS 2003, Romania’s perormance in the re-

gion was similar. It ranked ourth to last in math-ematics out o participating CEE/CIS countries.However, it scored just below the international

average, ranking 27th o 46 participating countries.

In mathematics, Romania’s perormance declinedbetween 1999 and 2003. In science, Romania

ranked third to last in the CEE/CIS region, scoringjust ahead o Moldova and Macedonia. In science,Romania placed just above the international av-

erage. Romania’s perormance in science stayedrelatively stable over time, increasing slightly. SeeFigure 3.

On PIRLS 2006, Romania scored third to last in theCEE/CIS Region in 2006, ater Turkey, Macedonia

and Georgia, and ranked in the bot tom quintile outo all 57 participating countries. Romania’s scoreon the test declined signifcantly between 2001and 2006, dropping by 24 points; this was the larg-

est decline in the region.

Results rom all three tests show that Romania has

much work to be done to improve learning out-comes so as to rival Central and Western Europe.It seems that reading is an area o particular con-

cern. Education Financing

In 2008, Romania allocated 6% o its GDP to educa-tion or 10.6 billion USD.9 This is an increase rom

2005 when Romania spent only 3.5% on education.

Education Priorities in Romania

While many educational challenges remain or Ro-mania, its priorities lie in the ollowing initiatives:• Improving education coverage or Roma chil-

dren at all levels o schooling.• Decreasing dropouts at the secondary school

level, especially or Roma children.

• Enhancing the learning outcomes o its primaryand secondary school students.

• Raising education standards in Romania to

meet those laid out in the EU’s Lisbon Strategy.

1 UNICEF. 2005. Vulnerable, Excluded and Discriminat-ed Children: A Focused Situational Analysis o Chil-dren in Romania.

2 UNICEF. 2005. Vulnerable, Excluded and Discriminat-ed Children: A Focused Situational Analysis o Chil-dren in Romania.

3 No data is available or BiH, Serbia and Montenegro.4 UNDP Human Development Index Web Site 2008.5 Monitoring Education for Roma. 2006. Budapest:

OSI/EUMAP.6 UNESCO. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008.7 MoERY and the Institute or Educational Sciences.8 UNICEF Romania Web Site.9 Minister o Fiannce.

Box 2. Roma Education in Romania

Romania has the largest Roma population in theCEE/CIS region. Some estimates number up to

two million, which makes up about 10% o the

country’s total population. Roma enrolment andcompletion rates are ar below the national aver-

age or non-Roma children. In primary school,only an estimated 40% o Roma children enrolcompared with the national average o 93%. Ad-

ditionally only about 30% o those who enrol,complete primary school. By secondary school,enrolment estimates drop to around 25%.

‘There are a number o social, economic, cultur-al and systemic causes resulting in non-enrol-ment, non-attendance and school drop-out rates

among Roma children. Poverty and discrimina-tion are two o the most important barriers to

access or Roma children. Some child-relatedcauses include: precarious health conditions,delays in psycho-intellectual development, gen-der-based dierences (according to which girls

get married early, and their social role is to raisechildren and take care o the amily) and poorsel image. The combination o these actors

leads to high dropout rates among Roma chil-dren. Roma children who have dropped out re-port having negative school experiences, which

serve to exacerbate dropout rates.

Low enrolment rates among the Roma are ur-

ther exacerbated by the poor quality o segre-gated schools. When Roma are separated romthe main population in separate schools, they o-

ten receive a poorer quality education than oth-ers. ‘‘Roma school buildings are older and moreovercrowded than other schools, and oten lack

a library. Such schools also have ewer qualifedteachers and signifcantly higher teacher trans-er rates, especially in those with grades 1-4;

67% o Roma schools had a defcit o qualifedteachers, and among schools with 50% or moreRoma students, the defcit was over 80%.’

Source: The participation to education of

Roma children – problems, solutions and actors, 2002; UNICEF Romania home page.

UNICEF Pirozzi

unicef education in romania

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