A procedure set up by the Ministry of Education stipulates that at the beginning of the education cycle, students will be randomly assigned to classes – in alphabetical order or by drawing lots.
The random distribution procedure in classes, published in the Official Gazette – Photo Archive
The order of the Ministry of Education by which school and high school students, as well as nursery and kindergarten children will be divided into classes or groups at the beginning of the level, was published in the Official Gazette, and according to the document, educational units have the right to choose the procedure: order alphabetically or by drawing lots.
“The procedure regulates the way of setting up the study formations in pre-university education, through the random distribution of preschoolers/preschoolers/students, respecting the principle of non-discrimination, ensuring equity and equal opportunities, transparency, inclusion, centering education on the primary beneficiaries of of it, of accessibility and availability, of the best interest of the child/student“, according to the Order of the Ministry of Education 3.945/2024.
Specifically, children will be randomly distributed in early childhood education institutions and in primary and secondary cycles, at the level of the beginning classes, such as the small group, the preparatory class and the 5th grade, either by drawing lots or in alphabetical order, and the final decision in this regard must be taken by the board of directors of each school, with the participation of parents' associations as observers.
Twins can be in the same class
Regarding the distribution of students entering the 9th grade, the document stipulates that their distribution by classes is done in descending order of admission averages, on two lists, according to the gender criterion (girls/boys). The document also specifies that the distribution of children to classes will be done in descending order of admission averages, one student in each class. Thus, for example, for each specialization (Philology, Mathematics-Informatics, Natural Sciences), the first student will be assigned to class IX A, the second student to class IX B, and so on. It should also be stated that the process of setting up the classes will also respect the principle of continuity of the study of the modern language L1 and L2 in the secondary school cycle.
On the other hand, in this process of random assignment, twins or triplets may have preferential treatment.
“The parent or legal representative submits/sends a statement to the educational unit stating whether they want the siblings to be assigned to the same group or to different groups. In the situation where the parent or legal representative wants to enroll siblings in the same group, they are assigned to the group in which the first sibling was assigned“, the document states.
Finally, children with special educational needs will be distributed equitably, across all grades, based on the type of disorder/condition/disability/learning difficulty they have, for all levels of study.
Bypassing the rules
Education expert Marian Staș claims that, in principle, the regulation is one that would have positive effects, but we still need to put it into practice correctly.
“Random allocation of children, without segregation, is ideal. Children will no longer attend a certain class, a certain teacher, for example. However, the system must also be implemented correctly. And the Romanians are specialists in not following the rules, in a kind of tricking them. And the chances of circumventing the rules are high, because parents are interested here, but some teachers are also inclined to pull the strings. I repeat, the regulation is a very good one with the exception that in some areas the behaviors will not be correct when we talk about the distribution of students. To give a prognosis, I see correctness in 60, at most, 80 percent of cases, and the rest on the PCR principle – files, knowledge, relationships“, stated Marian Staș.
