The establishment of detention rooms and the expulsion of students are two of the most important, but also controversial provisions of the new Statute of Students, a project launched in public debate by the Ministry of Education. The proposed measures have caused dissatisfaction and even revolt among parents who accuse, above all, the lack of prevention of acts of violence and aggression. “We're going back to education with the whip,” say the people who inflamed social media.
Students could be expelled again, the Ministry of Education proposes. Photo source: archive
The internet exploded. Parents who are part of Whatsapp groups and those organized on Facebook have caught fire. People are outraged by the provisions of the new student status that brings coercive education back into the system, they say.
Specifically, the Ministry of Education proposes the establishment of special rooms for students who disrupt classes. At the teacher's decision, these children could be kept in another class under the supervision of a teacher and where they can be given different activities: to read, write, solve worksheets, etc. But this punishment could lead to many abuses, parents say.
Here is what the document says: “In the case of students who during the lesson show behaviors that harm the teaching-learning-evaluation activity, the teacher can decide that they carry out activities in the school, during the respective lesson, under the supervision of a teacher or an auxiliary teacher , in a room in the educational unit established for carrying out, as a rule, activities such as: additional reading, completing worksheets, etc. In this case, the student's parent/guardian/legal representative will be informed in writing. By exception, students with special educational requirements are taken over to carry out activities with specialized staff”. The document does not specify whether or not the students will be absent at the time they were dismissed. We don't even know from what age children can be subject to such a sanction.
Parents' voice: “We want prevention, not punishments that would do worse”
Iuliana Constantinescu, the president of the Sector 2 Federation of Parents, told “Adevărul” that she is basically returning to education with the whip, a method that will not work. On the contrary. It will be worse! “I see from this document the desire to start punishing children excessively. It seems to me that we are moving very much in this direction, to find methods of sanction, given that today's generations can no longer be educated with the whip and given that we do nothing to prevent violence and aggression in schools” .
The authorities, the parent also says, should focus their efforts on establishing school counseling offices and not detention rooms. “We don't have space in schools to set up school counseling offices, we don't have enough school counselors to talk to the children, to support them, to support them. Instead, we are interested in where we will punish the naughty ones. We are not interested in why we ended up in the situation of having to punish them, nor how to solve this problem”
School detention rooms also exist in other European education systems. It would not be a novelty for us. But, unlike other countries, in Romania the idea is not supported by a well-designed program. “That detention room doesn't come with what the other education systems offer. A child who will end up in that room must not only be punished and that's it. He must also benefit from counselling, intervene in this regard with specialists, he must understand why he ended up there and be supported to change his behavior“, Iuliana Constantinescu also declared.
However, we are talking about counseling that the Romanian school offers only to a small extent or not at all. Because, in most cases, the responsibility of a problem student is passed on to the family from which he comes. And when the school finally takes action, it does so only to sanction, to punish, not to correct inappropriate behavior.
President of the College of Students: “Detention room prevents temporary absenteeism”
Bianca Ivan, president of the National Student Council, is much more temperate in her statements. She stated for “Adevărul” that this so-called detention room would to some extent prevent temporary absenteeism.. “Students perceive this idea of detention as it has been delivered to them over time by American movies: two extra hours after school, during which you are made to work on something. Then you go home. However, in the State of the Student under debate with us, it is specified that the detention takes place during class hours. More precisely at the time from which the student was kicked out. Basically, he stays in school. He moves from one class to another and still works on worksheets, exercises, reads, is given something to do. Something educational. This prevents temporary absenteeism. In what sense? Currently, if a student disrupts class, they are kicked out of class and given an absence. The student can stay in the school but, in most cases, chooses to leave the premises and the yard. He goes home and never comes back that day. The detention room would force him to stay in the school until the end of that class, and then go to the next classes he has on the schedule.” But, continues Bianca Ivan, it is also very important what activities the student will have in that room. “I think he should work on the subject he was kicked out of. If he was kicked out of math class, in the detention room to work on math exercises. If he got kicked out of Romanian, he could read a book or write an essay. This, so that the respective student does not lose from the taught subject. To stay focused there”.
The President of the Student Council is of the opinion that without the involvement of a school counselor such a student who constantly disrupts classes will continue to do so with or without detention. “In general, students who disrupt classes and who do so consistently have some deeper issues behind them. And the school should be more involved in solving these problems and supporting that child”. This is exactly what Iuliana Constantin, the representative of the parents, also says. “That problem child, instead of being kicked out of class and punished, had better be helped and supported to correct his behavior. We need to understand why that child ended up in that situation. Any specialist and any psychologist will tell us that aggressive behavior does not appear out of the blue, it does not appear overnight and it always has a cause behind it. Let's discover the cause, let's prevent aggression and violence”.
The detention room could come, says the student representative, and with disadvantages. Many teachers may abuse this new power. “Students and teachers should also learn more from each other. Let's respect each other, understand each other. There should be beneficial communication. We learn a great deal from our teachers, and they, in turn, should take a few things from us. It seems to me that in this case we could be a little more specific. What does it mean, concretely, to disturb a class, to disturb the time?“, the student asks.
A school principal's reaction: “We don't have the space, we don't have the staff!”
The detention room in Romanian schools is, for now, just an idea put on paper and which will be intensively debated. Because from idea to reality, it is a long way. Among other reasons, the lack of space in the schools and the lack of staff. Romeo Zamfir, the director of the “Vasile Alecsandri” National College in Galati, explained to “Adevărul” that at the moment, he does not have any free room where students can serve their detention. “All the spaces we have are used. With us, they learn in one shift. That means we need about 50 classrooms. Where can I make the detention room? There is no room in the library. We have 1,000 students. Then, let's also think about who is supervising these children. Because we also lack staff. And the duty teacher has other duties, not to sit with them. It's an extra hassle for us, like the school.”
Ex-matriculation of students, a gross violation of children's right to education
The Ministry of Education wants to reintroduce the expulsion of students, a sanction that conflicts with the law, say both parents of students and teachers. “Children have a constitutional right to education. What they want to do is against this right“, believes Iuliana Constantinescu. Let's take a concrete example: a student expelled in November and who will have the right to re-enroll only in the next school year will lose almost the entire current year. But education in Romania, from the preparatory class to the 12th grade, is, in addition to a fundamental right of children, also mandatory. The right to education is not negotiable. “We have to look at things in a balanced way. Expulsion should be the last measure taken against a child and only if he has committed an extremely serious act or represents a real danger to those around him.” says the representative of the parents.
The authorities are also trying to come up with changes regarding the establishment of the performance grade that could be given at the end of each module and not at the end of the year, as before. “I can't agree with that. It seems to me that we are sliding dangerously far into the realm of potential abuse. The threat of low performance could become a regular, permanent thing to control the kids. Students could end up under a slight terror,” is the opinion of the representative of the parents from sector 2 of the Capital. On the other side of the barricade are the teachers. Romeo Zamfir, director of the “Vasile Alecsandri” National College in Galati, considers the idea to be a good one. “I think it is a beneficial matter. Currently, the student, if he makes a mistake in October, let's say, feels the effect, the consequences, only in June. It's very late. Being punished after so long he doesn't even remember what he did and when he did it. That way, if I give him a mark on his behavior in each module, he will have appropriate behavior throughout the school year. We are talking about an immediate sanction that will make him revise his attitude during the following modules. He will be much more careful. So..he did something, nothing happens, he can repeat it…maybe the teacher forgets until the summer…the deed itself, punished late, loses its gravity”.
