3.2 million Romanian children start school today

Newsroom 17/09/2012 | 13:20

September 17 is the official date for the start of the 2012-2013 pre-university academic year in Romania, and 3.2 million children will be start school this week. For this year, two changes to the local school system were introduced: the ‘zero’ class and the vocational baccalaureate.

The pre-school class – or class ‘zero’ – consists of moving the first day of school for 6-year old children from kindergarten to school. There are still strong debates on the class; use. The Minister of Education pointed out the rush of the decision, arguing that an evaluation for these children will be made after the first semester. Also, PM Ponta, who attended a school opening ceremony in Targu Jiu, said that this pre-school class should have been left as part of the kindergarten, considering it a rush and “a headache to parents”.

The other change of the school year is the vocational baccalaureate, for high school students who wish to enter the labor market directly, thus obtaining a certification for the professional world.

The school year will have 36 weeks with the first semester finishing on December 21. This will be followed by a three-week winter holiday and then the second semester, which will last until June 21.

Photo courtesy of olimpiade.ro website