Romania Education Overview

The education in Romania is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Research. The public education system in Romania is free. The Romanian educational system is split up into different levels: 

Preschool education consist of kindergarten for children aged 3-6 years organised in three groups: lower, middle and upper. 

Primary education encompasses kindergarten preparatory group and covers grades I to IV.  Students enroll in primary school when they turn 6 or 7. 

Secondary education comprises of: 

Professional education: This form of education is organised by technical and vocational high schools and prepare pupils for the employment. The studies at this level conclude with a qualification examination. 

Post high-school non-university education: The length of this level of education is 1 to 3 years and is carried out in post-high schools. It prepares pupils for job market.

Higher education: The higher education is Romania is provided by the universities, university colleges, institutes and academies.

Children begin attending the kindergarten in Romania as early as 3 years old and can stay until they are 6 or 7 years old. Unlike public kindergartens, many private kindergartens provide special programmes/courses such as dance programmes, foreign languages, mainly German, English or French, and sports. Children are required to attend 1 year of pre-school education before getting into public schooling. 

Generally, children spend about 3-4 hours a day in kindergarten. Some of the kindergartens have all-day programmes as well. 

Education in Romania is compulsory from the age of 6 until the age of 16. Compulsory education is of 9 years in Romania.

The primary education in Romania is of 4 years. The first 4 years of education are taught by one teacher for the majority subjects, while additional teachers teach only some of the specialised subjects. 

Grades: 1-4

Age: 7 (or 6)-11

Curriculum: Math, language and communication- Romanian language and a foreign language; sports; sciences, technology- practical abilities and technological education; human and society-civic education, history, geography; religion, and arts- fine arts and music

In the secondary education the curriculum covers the following topics:

The secondary education in Romania is split up into:

During high school, pupils can choose from the following areas: arts- philology, foreign languages; science-mathematics, informatics, physics; economic college, military college, or professional school.

High school studies are four years in length, two compulsory (9th and 10th year), two non-compulsory (11th and 12th year). 

National College (Colegiu Naţional):  The types of the high schools are the most prestigious in Romania.  These high schools are theoretical. 

Military College (Colegiu Militar):  There are 3 high schools controlled by the Ministry of National Defense. These schools are strict and possess the same regime as army units. Pupils have to comply with those rules. 

Economic College or Technical College (Colegiu Economic or Colegiu Tehnic):  These schools emphasize on technical education or services.  

Liceu (Standard High school): These are an average high school, offering one of the available academic course/programmes.

Grup Şcolar (a group of two schools): These high schools provide study programmes in the area of technical or services education, and also consist of Crafts and Trades schools. 

The professional education is of 1-3 years and prepares pupils for a particular vocation.  

In Romania, tertiary education is offered in universities, education and research institutions, academies, institutes, university colleges and conservatories.

Romania has restructured its higher education system as per the Bologna process. It organizes the teaching activities and examination as per the European system of credit transfer. Romania follows three degree cycle:

First cycle degree-Bachelor: This consists of short-term and long-term courses that last for 3-4 years. Students must have at least 180 to 240 ECTS credits, and if transferred, 60 credits.

Second cycle degree-Master: These lasts for 1-2 years and students must possess a bachelor’s degree from a higher education institution other than a university college.  It holds between 90 and 120 ECTS credits. 

Third cycle degrees-Doctoral: These last for 4-6 years and are offered in most of the fields. Students must possess a Master’s degree in order to get into doctoral programme.