The Ministry of Education also defined general policy for, and supervised the work of, the educational sections of the various regional and district people's councils, which were assigned certain responsibilities for organizing and administering local primary and secondary schools. The operation of these schools was subject to periodic detailed checks by a body of inspectors general to ensure the uniform application of government regulations and policies. All institutions of higher learning were controlled directly by the Ministry of Education, which appointed and dismissed all rectors and their assistants. The ministry also employed an intertwined system of advisory councils and commissions to ensure compliance with party and government directives and guidelines.
The overall budgeting for the educational system was also coordinated by the Ministry of Education and consisted of the budgets submitted by the various people's councils for primary and secondary schools as well as the ministry's own estimated budget needs for vocational and higher schools and for operating the entire system. In 1969, the latest year for which official statistics were available, approximately 6 percent of the state budget was allocated to education.
Preschool Education
Preschool education, consisting principally of kindergartens, was available on an optional basis for all children between the ages of three and six. Attendance was free, and enrollment was encouraged by the government as an essential step in the communist educational system of developing "correct" socialist values and attitudes in youth. Kindergartens were organized by districts and were located at the facilities of local enterprises, state organizations, and cooperative agencies. In certain areas, day nurseries attached to kindergartens provided care for the children of working mothers, for which a fee, generally in proportion to the parents' wages, was charged.
If the school was large enough, classes were generally organized on an age-group basis, each with a teacher or supervisor. The number of children attending kindergartens has steadily increased since 1960. During the 1969/70 school year more than 428,000 children, approximately 40 percent of all those eligible, were enrolled in about 10,000 kindergartens and nurseries. Official estimates anticipated that this attendance figure would increase appreciably in future years as more working mothers were added to the labor force.
Primary Education
Primary education was provided, in early 1972, to all children between the ages of six and sixteen in eight-year elementary schools as part of the compulsory education program. During the 1969/70 school year enrollment was about 3.3 million students in about 15,000 schools throughout the country. Instruction was conducted principally in the Romanian language, but in those areas with large minority populations Hungarian- or German-speaking teachers were employed, and special texts were also available in those languages.
Courses taught throughout the first four years, in addition to stressing the Romanian language, included history, geography, arithmetic, elementary biology, art, music, and physical education. Classes usually met six days a week for periods ranging from four to five hours, depending on the type of subject matter to be covered. Grades five through eight emphasized the development of the pupils' ability to express themselves orally and in writing through the intensified teaching of many of the subjects presented in the first four grades. In addition, foreign-language instruction was introduced in the fifth grade, offering a choice of French, German, Russian, or English. In all grades the foundation of political education was laid within the scope of Marxist-Leninist tenets concerning the materialistic development of society, usually presented as part of other general subjects.
Examinations were held in each area of study at the end of the school year. Promotion to the next higher class required a passing grade of five (on the one-to-ten scale) in the substantive work covered, as well as a minimum grade of six for general conduct. A student was permitted to repeat an examination before being failed in a course but, if he failed that too, the entire course had to be repeated.
At the end of the eight-year program all graduates were required to pass written examinations in history, geography, and literature as well as oral tests in other selected subjects. Those successfully completing both examinations were awarded diplomas and became eligible to take the competitive entrance examinations for secondary school. It was at this point that students were grouped into general categories according to their aptitudes for advanced education: ultimate university-level study, teaching and technical training, the professional arts, and vocational training.