Association of Teachers of Romanian Language and Literature Ioana Em. Petrescu sent to the Minister of Education, Daniel David, an open letter requesting at least three hours a week, obligatory for all high school classes, regardless of profile, chain or specialization.
The Romanian language teachers ask Minister David to allocate several hours in high school. Archive
The arguments, say the teachers, are based on the Constitution of Romania, on the recommendations of the OECD and the European Commission, on the law of pre -university education, on the profile of the graduate, on the status of the mother languages in Europe and on the history of the Romanian language and literature.
“The mother tongue is the support of any learning act, formal, non -formal and informal, and its knowledge conditions the learning of all other disciplines. Literature in the mother tongue is a fundamental component of the students’ identity profile, and its knowledge allows to assimilate the stable values of civilization ”, is shown in the open letter. Also, the teachers say, in the Constitution of Romania, the Romanian language is the official language of the state, therefore, it must be known and used correctly by all citizens: “Therefore, a major objective of the school must be the rational and functional practice of the language ”.
France allocates the mother tongue 7 hours a week
The Romanian language, is shown in the statement, has the status of mother tongue for most citizens of the country, being a fundamental identity element and vehicle of cultural values: “In the over 160 years of the national education system, Romanian language and literature has been considered a fundamental discipline. Also, the place conferred on the national languages in Europe reflects the exceptional formative value of the maternities, the results being visible in the quality of expression, reception and text construction, as well as in the outline of the identity profile. For example, France and Italy allocate the mother tongue a number of 7 (seven) hours/week, and Poland – 4 (four) hours/week. From the perspective of the new framework plan projects, the Romanian language, as a mother tongue, studied 2 hours/week, is severely depreciated and has, in the 11th and 12th grades, a similar status to a foreign/modern language (L1) ”.
The control of functional illiteracy, in all forms of manifestation, cannot be achieved by diminishing the number of hours allocated to the Romanian language and literature, considers the priests: “The results of international PISA type tests highlight the deficient formation of literature competence, as it is defined in the reference frames and in the national legislation, which would require the increase, in no case the number of hours in the common trunk ”.
Framework plans conflict with the pre -university education law
The 2 hours/week stipulated in the new framework plans are insufficient to cover the five areas of content (oral communication, reading, writing, communication construction elements, intercultural elements), which the new Romanian high school language program and literature should develop. “Regarding the transfer of purchases from gymnasium to high school, it is impossible to achieve by reducing the number of hours. In this case, the provisions of the framework plan projects are in contradiction with the Law on pre-university education no. 198/2023, which stipulates that the school syllabus covers 75% of teaching and evaluation hours, 25% remaining available to the teacher. Therefore, in the 11th and 12th grades, in about 52 hours (ie 75% out of a total of 70 hours/year, counting on average 35 weeks of course), the formation of the specific competences of the discipline will be endangered ”, the teachers also sent.
Only two hours a week does not provide effective training for baccalaureate
From the perspective of the baccalaureate exam, the 2 hours/week provided in the new framework plans cannot ensure an effective training in the only discipline where two distinct tests are held (oral test – communication in the mother tongue, respectively the written test). “There is also the situation of the students admitted to high school with notes below 5 (five), for which the promotion of the baccalaureate, necessary to admit in higher education or insertion in the labor market, will become difficult or even impossible to achieve.”
In the situation of diminishing the number of hours to the terminal classes (referring here, stricto sensu, to what I understood through the upper cycle of the high school), it cannot be ensured, at the in-depth level, the contextualization of the Romanian literary phenomenon, by reference to European currents/of world circulation or by connections with the universal literature. Moreover, a deficient hourly allocation would harm the study of contemporary literature, necessary in the global understanding of the Romanian literary phenomenon and the values specific to the contemporary world.
“The new profile of the high school graduate (2023) gives an important role to humanistic sciences and, implicitly, the study of language and literature in the mother tongue, school discipline that the new Plans; It endangers it. In this way, the profile of the high school graduate will lose considerably in the substance. From the perspective of the key skills established at European level and assumed by the Romanian language and literature discipline, 2 hours/week are insufficient to ensure the formation and transfer of these skills in various learning and life contexts ”, the Romanian language teachers say.
The petition was signed by 186 teachers.
