Romania ranks first in Europe in terms of the number of students assigned to one teacher, according to Eurostat data. We practically have the most crowded classes in primary education, although there would be a law to regulate the situation. However, it does not apply to all classes. Ileana Ionescu, teacher and director of the “Scufița Roșie” kindergarten in Bucharest, explained to “Adevărul” the reasons for overcrowding in educational units and the solutions that would perhaps solve the problem.
In many schools in Romania there are more than 25 children in classes. Photo source: archive
According to the latest Eurostat report, Romania ranks first in Europe in terms of the number of children studying in a class. In primary education, for example, the average is 18.5 students. In second place after us is France with 18.2 children for one teacher. That, over time, the average of the European Union is 13.2 children.
As far as kindergartens are concerned, we are a little better off, but even so, we still rank above the European average. We are in sixth place, after the Netherlands and ahead of Sweden. The country with the most crowded kindergartens is France, with 21.9 children for a single educator.
We can’t even boast about nurseries. Romania is in third place, after France and the Netherlands. In our country, the average rate is 14.5 children/educator, and in France 21.9 children/educator. At the level of the European Union, the average is 10.8 children/educator.
In secondary education, Romania is the first country below the EU average, this being the only education cycle where we are better. In high school, we are again above the European average, in seventh place in terms of the number of children in a classroom, relative to the teacher.
Teacher: “At this year’s registrations, there was no longer a battle for places”
Prof. Ileana Ionescu told Adevărul that, despite these data, Romania is doing quite well in terms of school overcrowding. “And I say this because in recent years the birth rate has dropped a lot. It is the reason why there was no longer the same battle for places at registration. And this was also seen this year, both in kindergarten and in the preparatory class. I also noticed it at kindergarten. With us, places are usually filled from the first round of registrations. This year we have about two or three unoccupied places left. Or, as a rule, this does not happen. I have noticed that in recent years there are fewer and fewer children”.
In the kindergarten, the director continued, in a class, regardless of the group, there can be up to 20 children, with the possibility of adding two more places. “I don’t think there are many. And I’ll tell you why: maybe 22 seems like a big number on paper, but in reality, these children don’t all come to kindergarten every day. As an average, we have around 15 with daily attendance. This is the reason why I would not enroll fewer children because, after that, I would have too little attendance. And in kindergarten, children must first of all socialize, get used to the community, to each other. Logically, there must be more. Kindergarten has a social role. This is the first function it has and it is the first step for the development of the child’s personality and character. Or, if I don’t have a consistent social group, I can’t meet this criterion”says the teacher.
“More than 23 students becomes a problem”
However, things are different in primary education, because here a large number of children require an additional effort from the teacher. “There are between 23 and 25 children in the primary classes. And indeed, this is no longer just about socializing, but also about academic acquisition. But if you have the homogeneity of the working group, if all those children attended kindergarten, went through all the stages up to that age and were trained and prepared for school life, then this number should not be a problem.”
The situation becomes complicated in classes where the number of students jumps to 23.If we have more than 23 children, we are already facing a problem. It feels And there are many examples of this kind. Sometimes even parents insist. I request the addition of the number of seats. But I don’t understand that the higher the number of students in a class, the lower the quality of the educational act. The teacher does not have time to allocate to everyone as he should”, continues Ileana Ionescu.
And then, let’s not forget an extremely important aspect: in a class there can be big differences between students. “Some are very good, others average, others do not master the subject very well. The teacher’s role is to help, guide, teach everyone. But if you have 35 students, how do you cope?”added the directory. “More than 25 students in a class should not be, in my opinion.”
Causes and solutions
Why did I end up in such a situation? For several reasons, considers teacher Ileana Ionescu. “First of all, there is not enough space for schools to organize more classes. Automatically, having more classes, we would have even fewer students”.
In Romania, many students study in shifts: some in the morning, some in the afternoon. There are extremely many cases when the school, also due to lack of space, makes containers available to the children or relocates them to other buildings. “Then, we don’t even have specialized teaching staff anymore. We have very few teachers and teachers”.
And one more aspect, the director draws attention: there are overcrowded schools and schools where no one gathers, “where the school population does not even occupy all the places. The reason? Because there are schools that have a certain reputation and everyone gets a floating visa to get to that school. We should stop allowing this. We should be a bit stricter with school enrollment. Floating visas should be given more consideration. And when I say that I mean the authorities. Some changes should be made here.”
The teacher gives as an example other European countries where the legislation is very clear, the rules are known and respected exactly. “If we look at the states of the European Union, we will see that, from the moment you move to a certain area, you are assigned to a certain school. You can’t go to another school. Have you been allocated that educational unit? Your child will go there! You don’t have this possibility to move to whichever school you want. Automatically, in these countries the school population is balanced”, Ileana Ionescu explains.
What does the law say?
According to the new Law on pre-university education, in the nursery, in the small group, there must be between 5 and 9 children, in the middle group between 8 and 15 children, and in the large group a minimum of eight, a maximum of 20. In the kindergarten, the number of preschoolers in a group must be a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20. In primary education, a class can have between 10 and 22 children, and in secondary education between 10 and 26 students. At the high school, the situation is the same: the maximum number of students in a class is 26, compared to 30, as previously planned.
These provisions apply only to certain classes: the small group from the kindergarten, the preparatory class and the 9th grade. The rest of the classes, because they are already closed, will remain with the same number of students until the end of the education cycle. For example, if there are 35 students in a grade V, the same number of children will remain until grade VIII. Likewise, if there are 32 students in a 10th grade, that number will remain until the 12th or 13th grade.
