Education in Romania


Education in Romania is based on a free-tuition, egalitarian system. Access to free education is guaranteed by Article 32 in the Constitution of Romania. Education is regulated and enforced by the Ministry of National Education. Each step has its own form of organization and is subject to different laws and directives. Since the downfall of the communist regime, the Romanian educational system has been through several reforms.
Kindergarten is optional under the age of six. Compulsory schooling usually starts at age 6, with the "preparatory school year", which is mandatory in order to enter the first grade. Schooling is compulsory until the tenth grade. The school educational cycle ends in the twelfth grade, when students graduate the baccalaureate. Higher education is aligned onto the European Higher Education Area. In addition to the formal system of education, to which was recently added the equivalent private system, there is also a system of tutoring, semi-legal and informal.
Romania ranks 6th in the all-time medal count at the International Mathematical Olympiad with 316 total medals, dating back to 1959. Ciprian Manolescu managed to write a perfect paper for gold medal more times than anybody else in the history of the competition, doing it all three times he participated in the IMO. Romania has achieved the highest team score in the competition, after China and Russia, and right after the United States and Hungary. Romania also ranks 6th in the all-time medal count at the International Olympiad in Informatics with 107 total medals, dating back to 1989.

Overview

Education in Romania is compulsory for 11 years. With the exception of kindergarten and tertiary education, the private sector has a very low presence in the Romanian education system. Education became compulsory in Romania in the 19th century, in 1864, under ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza, when four years of primary school became free and compulsory for all children, regardless of social class and sex. Despite this, the law was not enforced, and mass illiteracy persisted well into the 20th century: in the 1930s, 43% of adults were illiterate. The Romanian literacy campaigns started in 1948 largely eradicated illiteracy in the 1950s.
The education system of Romania resembles the French education system. During the communist era, it was influenced by the Soviet education system, and it included political propaganda, as well as hours of compulsory physical work by school children.
As of April 2013, there were about 7,200 opened schools in Romania, a sharp drop from nearly 30,000 units in 1996. This is mainly because many schools were brought together in order to form bigger schools and eliminate paperwork. In the same year, 3.2 million students and preschoolers were enrolled in the educational system, 500,000 more than in 2012.

Compulsory education

Throughout the 20th century, compulsory education has oscillated between 4 years, 7 years, again 4 years, 7 years, 8 years, 10 years, and again 8 years. In the 21st century, it was raised to 10 years and then to 11 years. When the communists came into power in 1947, compulsory education was 7 years, but this was not enforced. Originally, the communist regime lowered compulsory education to 4 years, but with a strong enforcement. Next they increased it gradually to 7, 8 and ultimately 10 years. After the 1989 revolution, compulsory education was lowered again to 8 years. The new government cited as reasons the poor quality of education, high strain on the state budget, and inflation of diplomas. In 2003, compulsory education was raised again to 10 years, through Law nr. 268/2003, modifying Article 6 of Law nr. 84/1995.
During the 1990–2003 period, there was very little concern for education in Romania, and the generation who studied in this period is quite poorly trained, with illiteracy being higher than the previous generation, especially among the Roma population in rural areas. A new law come into force in 2011. This law came into force after years of political debate regarding not only the number of years in compulsory education, but also how they should be structured. The original form of the law, which would have moved the 9th grade to middle school, was never implemented.
With the adding of the preparatory school year as part of compulsory primary education in 2012, compulsory education consists of 5 years of primary school, 4 of middle school/gymnasium and 2 of high school/vocation school. There are 2 more optional high school years.

Kindergarten

Kindergartens offer preschool education for children and are optional.
Kindergarten typically lasts for 3 forms – "small group" for children aged 3–4, "middle group", for children aged 4–5, and "big group" for children aged 5–6.
The "preparatory school year" is for children aged 6–7, and since it became compulsory in 2012, it usually takes place at school. The preparatory school year is a requirement in order to enter the first grade, being part of the primary education stage, according to Article 23 of the Education law no 1/2011. During the transition period after the new law was enacted transfers of teachers occurred in order to fill in the educational needs of this year.
Kindergarten services differ from one kindergarten to another, and from public to private ones, and may include initiation in foreign languages, introduction in computer studies, dancing, swimming, etc. All kindergartens provide at least one meal or one snack, some having their own kitchens and their own cooks, others opting for dedicated catering services. Many kindergartens provide children with transportation to and from kindergarten. Groups typically have 1–2 teachers and 10–15 children.
Most public kindergartens in urban areas offer parents three types of programs, in order to better suit the parents' schedules – a short schedule, a medium schedule and a long schedule. In rural areas, most kindergartens only have a short schedule. Rural kindergartens also suffer from underfunding and neglect.
The private sector has a very large role in providing kindergarten and day care services, having a large proportion in the market share for preschool education. Typical tuition fees for private kindergarten range between 400 and 1,600 lei monthly, depending on the town/city where the institution is located and on the services offered, whereas for public kindergarten there is no tuition fee. The private sector is quite expensive, catering to upper and upper-middle-class families.
The relative number of available places in kindergartens is small, many having waiting lists or requiring admission and formalities to be done at least six months in advance. The lack of available places is especially obvious in state-run kindergartens, that charge no tuition fees, especially given the relatively high tuition fees of private venues. Local councils, especially in larger cities, where both parents typically work, seeing an increase in demand, have begun investing in expanding existing kindergartens, building new ones or offering stipends for private kindergartens as to cover part of the tuition fees.

Elementary school

includes primary school and then four more grades. Most elementary schools are public; the Ministry of Education's statistics show less than 2% of elementary school students attend private school. Unless parents choose a school earlier, the future student is automatically enrolled in the school nearest to his or her residence. Some schools that have a good reputation are flooded with demands from parents even two or three years in advance. A negative consequence of this is that in many schools classes are held in two shifts lasting from as early as 7 a.m. to as late as 8 p.m. Education is free in public schools, but not entirely.
School starts in the beginning of September and ends in the beginning of June the following year. It is divided into two semesters. There are three holiday seasons 3 weeks in December–January; spring in April – 2 weeks; and summer, spanning from the 1–20 June to 10–15 September, with an additional free week at the end of October for students in the first 4 years. Additionally, during the week before the spring holiday, special activities replace classes. This week is known as săptămâna altfel.
A class can have up to 30 students, and there can be as few as one class per grade or as many as twenty classes per grade. Usually, each group has its own classroom. Each group has its own designation, usually the grade followed by a letter of the alphabet.

Grading conventions

For the first four years a system similar to E-S-N-U is used, known as calificative. These are Foarte bine – Excellent, Bine – Good, Satisfăcător/Suficient – Satisfactory, actually meaning passing, Nesatisfăcător/Insuficient – Failed. Students who get an N/I must take an exam in the summer with a special assembly of teachers, and if the situation is not improved, the student will repeat the whole year. The "qualifiers" are given throughout the year, in a system of year-long assessment, on tests, schoolwork, homework or projects. The average for a subject is calculated by the teacher taking into account the progress of the student and by using a 1–4 value for each qualifier. There is no average calculated for the whole year, but only per subject per semester.
For grades fifth to twelfth, a 1 to 10 grading system is used with 10 being the best, 1 being the worst and 5 being the minimum passing grade. The system of continuous assessment is also used, with individual marks for each test, oral examination, project, homework or classwork being entered in the register. There must be at least as many note for a subject as the number of weekly classes for that subject plus one. Some subjects also require a partial examination at the end of the semester. This requirement is however regulated by the Ministry as mandatory. The partial is valued at 25% of the final mark, and for grades 5 to 8 it applies to Romanian Language and Mathematics and only in the eight year, Geography or History, and in the case of a bilingual school or one with teaching in a minority language, that particular language. At the end of each semester, an average is computed following a four-step procedure: first, all marks are added and an arithmetical average is computed from those marks. If there is a thesis, this average, with 0.01 precision, is multiplied by 3, the mark at the teză is added, then everything is divided by 4. This average is then rounded to the closest integer and forms the semester average per subject. The next step is computing the yearly average per subject. This is done by adding the two semester averages per subject and divided by 2. This is not rounded. The last step is adding all the yearly averages per subject and dividing that amount by the total number of subjects. This forms the yearly grade average. This is neither weighted nor rounded. If the yearly average per subject is below 5 for a maximum of two subjects, then the student must take a special exam at the failed subject in August, in front of a school board. If he fails this exam, he must repeat the entire year. If the yearly average per subject is below 5 for three subjects or more, the student is no longer entitled to the special exam and must repeat the year.
Example: A student in the 7th year with 4 weekly classes of math may have the following marks: 6, 6, 7, 7 in class and 5 in semester paper. His semester average for math is round + 5) : 4) = 6. If he had 7 in the other semester, his annual average for math is 6.5.

Primary school

The "preparatory school year" became compulsory in 2012, and is a requirement in order to enter the first grade. According to Article 23 of the Education law no 1/2011 the preparatory class is part of the primary school and is compulsory.
Primary school classes are taught by a single teacher for the most subjects. Additional teachers are assigned only for a few specialized subjects. At the end of primary school, curriculum is diversified. For instance, a 4th grade student may have on a weekly basis:
Notes:

† These subjects may or may not have teachers other than the main teacher.

‡ These subjects almost always have teachers other than the main teacher.

Gymnasium

Classes are reshaped at the end of the 4th grade, often based on academic performances. Many schools have special classes. Selection for such classes is done based on local tests. Assessing the students' performance is also different between primary and gymnasium cycles. Starting with the 5th grade, students have a different teacher for each subject. Furthermore, each class has a teacher designated to be class principal, besides teaching his or hers usual subject. Additional counseling may be provided by a special counselor or by a school psychologist.
An 8th grade schedule may contain up to 30–32 hours weekly, or 6 hours daily, thus making it quite intensive, for instance:
In addition, schools may add 1 or 2 subjects at their free choice. This possibility gave rise to Intensive English Classes or Informatics Groups, accessible only by special exams in the 5th grade.

Curriculum in elementary schools

There are up to 15 compulsory subjects and up to 5 optional subjects. However, unlike in the United Kingdom or France, these optional subjects are chosen by the school and imposed on the student – they are known as School Decided Curriculum and are usually extensions to the compulsory subjects.
For the duration of the elementary school, each student must take:

Admission to high school

At the end of the 8th grade a nationwide test is taken by all students called Evaluarea Națională and can be taken only once, in June. The subjects are Romanian Language and Literature and Mathematics. Many high schools provide classes with intensive study of a foreign language, such as English, French, German or Spanish; a two-part examination is required for them. The passing mark is 5 for each of the exams. The finishing grade is computed, taking into account for 20% an average of all the Yearly General Averages starting with year 5 and for the rest of 80% the mark obtained at the National Test. Despite the exams are being published and the marks are public, lists being placed both in schools and on the Internet. After the 8th grade, students go to secondary education, for at least two years. Various types of vocational schools exist in Romania for students who do not have a sufficiently high grade to enter academic high school, because the first two years of secondary education are compulsory. Between 2003 and 2010, the main type of such education were Schools of Crafts and Trades, but these have been abolished. The structure of vocational education is under constant reform, in an attempt to be connected to the work market.
In order to enroll in a high school, the student must choose a list of high schools he or she desires to attend, based on his mark and options by filling in a nationwide form. A national computer system does the repartition, by taking into account students in the order of their preferences and their "admission grade". Thus, somebody with a 9.85 average will certainly enter the high school he or she desires, while somebody with 5.50 has almost no chance to attend a top-ranked high school. However, based on this system, the last admission averages for some prestigious high schools are over 9.50 or 9.60.
There are five types of high schools in Romania allowing access to university, based on the type of education offered and their academic performance. All of these allow for a high school diploma, access to the Bacalaureat exam and therefore access to University studies. Unlike the Swedish or French systems, the choice of high school curriculum does not limit the choices for university. For example, a graduate of a Mathematics-Computer Programming Department of a National College may apply to a Language Department of a University without any problem. However, because of the subjects taught, the quality of education and the requirements for admission in universities, artificial barriers may appear: for example, a graduate of a Humane and Social Studies Department will find it very hard to apply for a Mathematics Department at a University because the admission exam for that university department requires knowledge of calculus, a subject not taught in Humanities and Social Studies. But there is no formal limitation: if that student manages to understand calculus, he or she is free to apply.
High school enrolment is conditioned on passing the National Test and participating in the National Computerized Repartition.
High school studies are four years in length, two compulsory, two non-compulsory. There are no exams between the 10th and the 11 years. There is also a lower frequency program taking 5 years for those wishing to attend high school after abandoning at an earlier age.
The Romanian secondary education system includes:
Each type of high-school is free to offer one or more academic programs. These are:
Theoretical program
Both Science and Humanities can provide bilingual programs which reward the students with a translator's diploma. The Math and Computer programming branch can also provide an intensive course in programming which also ends with a diploma. These are not, however, available at every highschool and the majority of students make their highschool choice based on what classes they want to take. Every student has a fair chance of entering a higher level of education regardless of the chosen profile.
Technical programs — Profil tehnic will give a qualification in a technical field such as electrician, industrial machine operator, train driver, and mechanic, etc. A lot of subjects are technically based, with some math, physics and chemistry and almost no humanities.
Natural resources and the protection of the environment programs — Profil resurse naturale si protectia mediului, will give a qualification in agriculture, sylviculture, protection of the environment, food industry. Like the technical programs, it is focused more on training for a job, and is lighter on academics.
Vocational programs — Profil vocațional will give a qualification in a non-technical field, such as kindergarten educator, assistant architect, or pedagogue. A lot of subjects are based on humanities, with specifics based on qualification and almost no math, physics or chemistry. Art, music, and design high schools are grouped here. High schools belonging to religious cults are also included. Usually, admission in these high schools is done by a special exam besides the National Tests in music or art.
Services and Economics programs — Profil economic will give a qualification in the fields of services, such as an economic, tourist, commerce, administrative operator, or a waiter, chef. Offering a quite balanced program, similar to the real studies in the theoretical program, but a bit lighter, and giving a valuable qualification, this program is very sought after. Some economic high schools, such as Colegiul Economic Virgil Madgearu, are more academically focused; while others focus more on the vocational specializations.
The following high-schools forms did not allow entrance to universities:
Optional subjects are either imposed by schools on the students or, at best, students are allowed to choose a package of two or three subjects at group level. Usually optional subjects provide additional hours of the hardest subjects, through "extensions" and "development classes". Some high schools may offer unique classes
In addition, there are also a large number of specializations. A student can be, for example, enrolled in a National College, study a real program, specializing in mathematics-informatics.

The Baccalaureate exam

High school students graduating from a College, Liceu or Grup Școlar must take the National Baccalaureate Exam. Despite the similarity in name with the French word Baccalauréat, there are few similarities.
The Bacalaureat comprises 2 or 3 oral examinations and 4 or 5 written examinations, usually spanning the course of one and a half weeks in late June and September. It is a highly centralized, national exam. Usually the exam papers are taken to a centralized marking facility, sometimes even in another city, under police guard. The exam supervisors cannot teach in, or otherwise be related to, the high school they are sent to supervise.
The 6 exams are :
Except for the languages exams, the subjects are provided in any language desired by the candidate. Braille can also be provided.
Each exam is marked from 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, using two decimals for written exams and an integer for an oral exam. Each exam is corrected and graded by two separate correctors agreeing on the mark based on a nationwide guideline. The total mark for the Bacalaureat is the arithmetic mean average of the six or eight marks obtained. To pass, a student must obtain an average score of at least 6.00 and at least 5.00 at each of the individual exams. A student scoring a perfect 10 will be awarded with special honors, a monetary award from the government and in the last few years free entrance at two of the biggest music festivals in the country. In July 2018, 132 candidates out of a total 123,619 scored a perfect 10 while 86.162 students passed the Bacalaureat. In case of failure, the student is allowed to retake only the exams he failed, until he manages to graduate but no more than 5 times. A September session is held especially for those failing in the June/July session or for those unable to attend the exam in the summer. In case a student is not content with the mark received, one may contest it in 24 hours after finding his or her score. If passed, unlike the case with most high school completion exams, he or she may not retake it.
The Baccalaureate is a requirement when enrolling in a university, because, technically, without passing it, the student is not a high school graduate. However, the importance of the actual admission score varies between universities, with its relevance being minimal for universities that require a separate entrance exam.

Students' life in Romanian schools

In Romania, there are major differences between rural and urban areas with regard to educational opportunities. These begin early on: while the offer of preschool education is quite rich in big cities, including public kindergartens as well as various types of private kindergartens, this is not the case in rural areas. Many villages have improvised facilities, with very poor conditions, and suffer from a lack of teachers. Life in a city school is very different from life in a rural school. Urban schools are much larger, and usually have over 100 or 200 students per year, science labs and well-stocked computer labs, clubs based on different interests, teaching assistants and psychologists, free speech therapy and academic programs for gifted students. By contrast, rural schools are usually tiny, with some, in villages, providing only 4 years education having only one teacher for all students – a situation almost identical to the one existing at the turn of the 20th century. Transportation to and from school is almost never provided – and in extreme cases, in remote villages, students as young as six must walk up to 10 km to school if there is no bus or train. Only starting in 2003 was a very limited rural transportation service introduced. Public transport for all students is in theory free, but, because of a very awkward system, students end up paying half the price for a season ticket. Students also pay half price at all commuter trains operated by Căile Ferate Române.
Most schools follow the tradition of school shifts. Thus, school starts for some groups at 7:30 or 8:00 and ends at 12:00–14:30, while other groups start at 11:00–13:30 and end at 17:00–19:30. Normally, a class lasts 50 minutes, followed by a 10-minute break. From November until March, some schools reduce classes to 45 minutes and breaks to 5 minutes, for fear that 6:30 or 7:30 in the evening is a too late and a too dangerous hour to leave school during the dark. School days are Monday to Friday.
Schools do not usually serve lunch, although in recent years after-school programs that may include lunch have been introduced. There are also private after-school programs in urban areas.
Both urban and rural schools may organize clubs, but this is left to teachers. Dance clubs, school sports, traditions and story telling, drama, music, applied physics or chemistry and even math clubs are popular, depending on the teachers organizing. However, participation in these clubs will not be mentioned on any diploma or certificate, nor is it required. Contests between schools exist, as well as nationwide academic contests being used to promote the best students. These contests are highly popular, as they bring many advantages to the students taking part in them with whole classes taking part in the lower phase of such contests. Additionally, many Physical Education teachers organize intramural competitions and one or two day trips to the mountains. Other teachers usually also organize such trips and even whole holidays during the summer – camps – this being a Romanian school tradition. However, field trips or research trips are not common, and are usually visits to museums or trips to natural habitats of various animals or plants, to gather information for a school project.
As stated above, most high schools are in urban areas; because of this many rural school children, who must commute to school, end up abandoning school.
Most of the rules and regulations of elementary school apply to high schools, too. Uniforms are a local issue, according with each school's policies. Few high schools have uniforms, and in case they do, these are only used on special occasions. Many high schools have their own radio stations, monthly or biannual magazines etc.
Unlike the elementary school, there are no clear guidelines for marking. That means that typically grade averages are not comparable betweens schools or even between different teachers in the same school. The communication between students and teachers is minimal. Usually students have no decision-making powers in the running of their high school, and school councils are rare. All administrative decisions are taken by one of the principals. Usually, each high school has at least two principals.
School uniforms are not compulsory in Romania. However, each school is allowed to set its own dress code, which may include a uniform. Such decisions must be taken together with the parents. Usually, the younger the students are, the more likely they are to be required to wear a uniform.
As such, most primary schools have a uniform. In recent years, school uniforms have become more common for middle schools, and even some high schools have introduced them. School uniforms are more common in urban areas. School uniforms are not without controversy. Critics argue that some parents cannot afford them, that some schools send children at home or lower their grades if they do not comply, or that there are illicit agreements between school administration and clothes producers. The 2018 regulations state explicitly that children cannot be punished or denied access to education for not wearing a uniform.

Higher education

In Romania, higher education is provided by universities, institutes, study academies, schools of higher education, and other similar establishments, collectively referred to as higher education institutions or universities. HEIs can be state-owned or private; they are non-profit, apolitical in nature and focused on the public interest. Romania has a central government office that authorizes and approves educational institutions. The Romanian Ministry of Education is the national institution to which all higher education institutions look for guidance and report to.
There are 56 accredited public institutions, and 41 private ones. Universities are divided into three tiers:
Based on this classification, the Ministry of Education has published a detailed ranking of Romanian universities. Some of the most prominent Romanian universities are also the oldest modern Romanian universities:
Romania follows the Bologna scheme and most of its tertiary level programmes is made of three cycles: a three-year bachelor's degree, followed by a two-year master's degree, and a three-year doctoral's degree. However, some programmes take longer to complete, for example those in engineering fields, or some bachelor's and master's degree are combined into a unique six-year programme. Master's programs are a prerequisite for admission to PhD programs. Vocational education is handled by post-secondary schools with programmes lasting two years.
The entire system is based on the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. Since multiple-major programs are not available at Romanian universities, a student wishing to specialize in several areas of study is allowed to simultaneously attend several universities as a full-time student. Accreditation and diploma certification is in the hands of the National Center for Diploma Certification and Equivalency, and ARACIS, the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, both coordinated by the Ministry of Education.
In 2016, 531,586 students were enrolled in Romanian's 97 universities, in all three cycles, of which 464,642 were in public institutions. 76.3% of the students were enrolled in the first cycle, 20.1% in the second cycle and 3.6% in the third cycle.
Romanian universities have historically been classified among the best in Eastern Europe and have attracted international students, especially in the fields of medicine and technology. Foreign students accounted for 27,510.
Universities have full autonomy, in stark contrast from the pre-university segment. Each university is free to decide everything from their management to the organization of classes. Furthermore, many universities devolve this autonomy further down, to each department.
The Ministry of Education established the National Authority for Scientific Research. This agency emerged from specific requirements designed to promote the development of a knowledge-based society. As in the other Eastern European countries, the Romanian higher education system has witnessed major transformations after 1990, in order to adapt its national educational framework to the European Union.

Admission

The admission process is left to the Universities, and, as of 2007, there is no integrated admission scheme. Some universities will give an "admission exam" in a high-school subject that corresponds best to the training offered by the university. Others, however, due to the lack of relevance of the system have begun implementing a different scheme, based on essays, interviews and performance assessments. This was done because in most cases tests, especially multiple choice ones, offered just a superficial assessment and a limited outlook of the students' actual performance.

International programs

The professors have been trying to adapt curricula to that of their counterparts from North America or Western Europe. After 1990, Romania has started many projects supervised by countries from the European Union and also in collaboration with the US, obtaining some projects and bursaries.
The main goal of the country has been to adapt to the European Higher Education System. Especially notable has been the effort for having their academic diplomas recognised by other European countries and for developing international programs such as: Tempus, CEEPUS, Socrates/Erasmus, Copernicus, Monet, and eLearn. With the US, Fulbright programs have been developed.
Tempus is a program for cooperation in Higher Education started between EU member states and partner countries. There are four subprograms. Tempus III is actually a pledge for cooperation in higher education which states to deepen the cooperation on higher education, strengthening the whole fabric of relations existing between the peoples of Europe, bringing out common cultural values. The program allows fruitful exchanges of views to take place and facilitates multinational activities in the scientific, cultural, artistic, economic and social spheres.
More specifically, the Tempus program pursues the establishment of consortia. Consortia implements Joint European Projects with a clear set of objectives, financed partially by this program, for the maximum duration of three years. The development is considered in small steps, successful small projects. Tempus also provides Individual Mobility Grants to faculties to help them improve their activities. In addition, non-governmental organisations, business companies, industries and public authorities can receive financial help from Tempus.
CEEPUS, Central European Exchange Program for University Studies, was founded in 1994 by countries from the EU and EU candidates. The program provides grants for students, graduates and university teachers participating in intensive courses, networking, and excursions.
Project eLearn is being developed by European countries to accelerate and share their strategies in e-learning. Monet is a project which aims to facilitate the introduction of European integration studies in universities. The term "European integration studies" is taken to mean the construction of the European Community and its related institutional, legal, political, economic and social developments. The project targets disciplines in which community developments are an increasingly important part of the subject studied, i.e.,
The Erasmus Mundus program is a cooperation program intended to support high-quality European master courses. These courses are purposed to engage postgraduate studies at European universities. It targets another characteristic, educational mobility, through projects that try to establish consortia for integrated courses of at least three universities in at least three different European countries which lead to a double, multiple or joint recognised diploma.

International validation of studies and degrees

In the Netherlands

The Netherlands has accepted starting with May 1, 2008 the articles II.2, IX.2 and XI.5 of the Lisbon Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region. Usually, Romanian university diplomas, are granted in the Netherlands either the title baccalaureus or ingenieur, which are specific to Dutch higher professional education. But there are instances wherein titles like meester and doctorandus, specific for the Dutch research universities, have been granted based upon Romanian license diplomas. In this respect it is a prejudice that one had to do a Romanian university depth study in order to get Dutch titles like drs. and mr. In the post-Bologna Dutch educational system, the title mr. has been replaced by and it is equal in value with the degree LLM, and the title drs. has been replaced by and it is equal in value with the degrees MA or MSc. According to the Dutch law, Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, a service of the Dutch Department of Education, service which was formerly called Informatie Beheer Groep, gives the permission to bear a recognized Dutch title to holders of foreign diplomas who graduated from recognized educational institutions, with the condition that a similar faculty and curriculum exists in the Netherlands and that there are no substantial differences between the two educational paths.

FEANI

The European Federation of National Engineering Associations grants the title European Engineer through its Romanian member to AGIR members who graduated a faculty recognized by FEANI and had at least two years of engineering activity.

Social involvement

After 1990, universities were the first kind of institution to start the reforms for democratization of education. They achieved autonomy, an impossible goal during the socialist regime. Students had been a very active social category participating in the social protests in the years 1956, 1968, 1987, and 1989. After 1990, they formed a very radical offensive campaign aimed against communist politicians. The University Square movement began when, around the University of Bucharest, these students proclaimed a ‘communist free zone’, installed tents around the area and protested for over 40 days demanding that communist statesmen be dismissed from public functions. Additionally, they demanded the autonomy of mass-media.
However, Romanian students’ movements were a model for other neighboring countries. For instance, Bulgarian students made an alliance with union syndicates and protested through marathon demonstrations and strikes. The difference in that case was that their union syndicates were strong allies of students. Also, their movement was less radical but more powerful and realistic. In this case, they succeeded to dismiss some communist leaders. In Ukraine, the social movements from the end of 2004 against electoral frauds had the same structure.

General assessment

In 2015 the Romanian adult literacy rate was 98.8%. In 2004, the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools was 75%
According to the prestigious QS World University Rankings, in 2012, four Romanian universities were included in the Top 700 universities of the world : Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Babeș-Bolyai University, University of Bucharest and West University of Timișoara.

The situation of rural education

The rural population experiences significant hardship, and many rural children have their right to education severely affected - about 16% of children aged 7–10 and 25% of children aged 11–14 from rural areas do not attend school, according to Save the Children. The situation becomes even worse after eighth grade because children must change schools to go to high school, and many villages do not have high schools, and therefore parents must make arrangements for their children to commute to the nearest locality or for the child to move there, which is difficult, and as a result many children abandon school. In one study, a third of rural school children said they planned to drop out of school after eighth grade.

Religious education

The teaching of religion in schools is a controversial issue in Romania, and it is a political topic regularly debated in the public space. Various politicians or NGOs have been vocal on this issue. In 2014, the Constitutional Court of Romania ruled that parents of students who want to study religion must submit an opt-in application for this class. Before 2014, all students were enrolled automatically, unless their parents opted-out, with pressure to attend being high. There are also debates on whether religion should be taught in a confessional way or in a history of religion way. Another issue is whether children aged 14–17 should choose themselves whether to study religion, or whether their parents should make the decision.

Studying abroad

Since the fall of communism, the trend to study abroad has come back. The numbers of youth studying abroad has been constantly increasing, with about 50.000 youth studying at universities in foreign countries. This contributes to emigration and to the brain drain of the country.

Funding

Secondary education is underfunded in Romania. Parents typically contribute about 100 LEI per student per year as "class fund" which is used to buy chalk, etc. These contributions, amounting to about 70 million euros per year for the whole country, are currently illegal, but near universal.