Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Letters, History and Arts of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Constantin Augustus Bărbulescu criticizes the elimination of history, geography and Latin from the common trunk from the high school, according to the framework plan for high school.
Constantin Augustus Bărbulescu, teacher at Polytechnic Bucharest PHOTO Personal Archive
The proposal of the Ministry of Education is a controversial one including in the context of three very important disciplines first for the general culture of any student. And the lack of a general culture becomes a fertile ground for manipulation and extremism.
Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Letters, History and Arts of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Professor Constantin Augustus Bărbulescu analyzed together with his colleagues the framework for high school education, put into public debate, and has more criticisms regarding the elimination of history, geography and Latin in the common trunk for high school.
Expert in archeology and teacher for over two decades, Constantin Augustus Bărbulescu also criticized by the specialists of the Ministry of Education, regarding the disappearance of the hours of history, Latin and geography.
“The argument of the specialists from the Ministry of Education that these three disciplines will be found in the specialized curriculum (CS) or in the curriculum at the school decision (CDOȘ) is a totally wrong one. The disciplines in CS and CDOș have the role of completing the disciplines in the common trunk. First of all, these three disciplines are the basis of the formation of general culture and the critical spirit, and to say that you will form it only in the 9th and 10th grades is again an approach. The idea of training specialists from the 11th and 12th grades is invoked by the Ministry of Education. Probably the very essence of the high school is lost, namely the formation of the basic skills (general culture), which contributes to formation of key skillsincluding functional literacy ”States Constantin Augustus Bărbulescu.
“If until now I had enough insults, from now on it will be tragic. The situation will become tragic, because in big cities there is a chance that choosing the disciplines will be a little more rational – although I do not believe there (all parents want robotics, infromic believing that students have skills for this). In the small cities and in the village, the choice will be as the mayor and the possible director named or the parents who do not know what they want. I am afraid that the decentralization of the decision at the community level, which in the US goes, will only be a new experiment with us, we have no communities yet! A community is formed in decades, the communist era has destroyed the community, and for 35 years – against the background of migration, lack of jobs, active involvement, lack of education, they have fallen even more. In Europe, the Latin language has been studied for years and not only at the humanistic, history and geography chain, the problem is not reduced. It is incomprehensible even the removal of the time of Mathematics from the human (in classes XI-XII) ”Professor Constantin Augustus Bărbulescu told “Adevărul”.
“The manipulation is done starting from elements of general culture”
This is of the opinion that “The impact of the type of national-communism (from the Ceausist era) and later of ignorance (the last 35 years) brought us to the situation where the humanist history and disciplines were called with human contempt.”
“We notice that the manipulation is done starting from elements of general culture. The knowledge of history, geography, linguistics are used to mystify the truth and to re-educate a large mass of people in Romania. The accession to the European and Euro-Atlantic values implies the civic consciousness, Tolerance, freedom, critical thinking and rule of law. The common trunk for all the chains and specializations ”, says the teacher.
In the opinion of the teacher, history, geography and Latin are essential to understand what is the basis of the formation of peoples and languages of current Europe, but also the importance of freedom we enjoy. It argues that Latin is essential in law, biology, anatomy, botany, zoology, physics, chemistry, and its study “It must be done in all areas and specializations, not just where they would be required. Its study offers a considerable advantage in understanding specialized terminologies. The elimination of history from the 11th and 12th grades, the integration of the history of Romanians/Romania in the 9th and 10th grades shows us, once again, the lack of understanding of reality, even by those who propose this plan -framework. The ease with which young people are attracted to extremism and conspiracy theories derive from eliminating step by step everything that means history and geography. Geography is indispensable for understanding the global context, economic and political interdependencies, as well as challenges related to climate change and natural resources ”.
Professor Constantin Augustus Bărbulescu also states that “Reducing the importance of humanistic disciplines risks transforming high school into a simple technical training, ignoring its fundamental role to form informed, responsible and capable citizens to exercise their rights and obligations in a democratic state.”.
He appeals to the faculties of profile, professional organizations and teachers, specialists, students and students to solidarize, to support the hours of the history of Romanians, the Latin and Geography in the framework plans, regardless of the chain and specialization.
