A draft order by the Ministry of Education sparked controversy after three grammatical and spelling mistakes were found in a sentence of just 12 words. Confronted with the document during a visit to Oradea, Minister Daniel David acknowledged the problem and explained what measures he had taken.
Minister of Education Daniel David PHOTO: Mediafax
Published on November 19 on the website of the Ministry of Education, the draft order regarding homework includes only 14 articles, spread over several pages. However, the document appeared with mistakes that would not be tolerated even at the elementary school level.
In Article 2, paragraph 1, the following phrase appears: “The compulsory topic, has a medium level of difficulty, for all students of the class“. The sentence contains three errors: a comma between the subject and predicate, an unwarranted comma after “difficulty” and the incorrect form “students” instead of “the students“.
The minister, faced with mistakes
In the press conference held on Thursday in Oradea, the eBihorean handed Minister Daniel David a printed copy of the document. Asked if he recognizes the mistakes and what he thinks about this situation, the minister admitted that he knows about the problem.
“That’s right, I know what it’s about. We took action and those who wrote that text got a warning. I know it’s been corrected since last night”, said Daniel David.
Half done corrections
Asked if the language level of the employees in his cabinet is representative of the Romanian school, the minister avoided a direct answer. “It is a ministerial order that circulates in the minister’s cabinet from an administrative point of view. It’s a problem, and the people who handled it, I repeat, have been warned“, he said, closing the subject.
However, the document on the website at the time of the conference still had two of the three mistakes. Only the form “the students” had been corrected, while the commas remained wrong.
“Incredible!” exclaimed the minister after the reporter showed him that the problem persisted. Immediately, Daniel David checked his phone, a sign that he intended to request a full correction.
What the homework order provides
The minister specified that the order under public debate represents an update of an act issued in 2016, which regulated homework even then.
The new project stipulates that primary and secondary school students will no longer receive holiday homework, and high school students will only receive optional homework. In addition, the document sets clear limits on the daily homework time: a maximum of one hour for primary school students and two hours for middle school and high school students.
“Yes, I think so it is very important to regulate the activity related to homework. Anyway, you have seen that the regulation is flexible, it is indicated, it is suggested. We want to help both teachers and students. After all, homework, if you don’t enjoy doing it and if it’s not seen as adding value, you’re giving it for nothing”said the minister.
