In early 1972 the public education system included all levels of instruction from preschool or kindergarten through elementary, secondary, and higher polytechnical schools and universities (see fig. 6). At the beginning of the 1971/72 academic year approximately 4.5 million students were enrolled in the more than 16,000 schools operated throughout the system. Kindergartens and nurseries were organized on a voluntary basis, but attendance at elementary school and through the first two years of secondary school was compulsory for students between the ages of six and sixteen. Attendance at higher level institutions was voluntary, but admission was subject to selective procedures that included heavy emphasis on political reliability as well as scholastic achievement.
All schools were state owned, and tuition, textbooks, and other classroom materials were free at all levels. An extensive system of scholarships existed, sponsored by government agencies, labor unions, state enterprises, and mass organizations. These scholarships were awarded on a selective basis to students in both secondary and higher schools to help defray transportation costs, living costs, and recreational expenses. The state also operated hostels, low-cost boardinghouses, child care centers, dining halls, and canteens for students above the elementary level. A planned increase in the number of these facilities, however, had not been achieved, and the authorities were under pressure to both improve and expand them.
The educational system, in general, stressed technical, political, and economic subjects; and the classroom work in the elementary and secondary schools was underscored by the Pioneers Organization, whose extracurricular activities were considered an integral part of the educational program. The Union of Communist Youth and the Union of Student Associations performed similar functions in the higher schools. The academic year ran from October to September, and elementary and secondary classes ended at the end of May. At the university level all instruction was divided into two semesters, running respectively from October 1 to January 14 and from February 15 to June 30. The grading system at all levels utilized numbers from a high of ten to a low of one, five being the minimal passing grade.
Note.—Attendance is compulsary through grade X.
Figure 6. Romania, Structure of Education, 1972.
Administration and Finance
The Ministry of Education exercised overall control and direction of the educational system and implemented all party policies and directives concerning its management. In carrying out this broad mission, the ministry cooperated with other central organs of state administration and principally with the Romanian Academy of Social and Political Sciences. Under the country's highly centralized control system, the ministry's specific functions included: the determination of the number and kinds of institutions to be organized in the school network and the types of trades and specialties to be taught; the drawing up of plans, curricula, syllabi, and textbooks and teaching materials; the supervision over the training, appointment, promotion, and dismissal of all educational personnel; the general supervision of research plans at higher institutions of learning; and the coordination of the assignment of graduates to meet the planned requirements of the economy.