My work is my future

System of pre-vocational and vocational education

C.S.E.I. ,, Alexandru Rosca,, Lugoj Romania

Summary

Basic of the Romanian Education System

Structure of the Education System in Romania

Priorities of the Education Policy

Curriculum Framework

Class size, school year & timetable

The structure of special and special integrated

education

Center for Inclusive Education

Children with special needs

Inclusion or Integration?

Enrolling children with special needs to Special

schools

Special conditions for educations of children

with special needs

Pre-vocational education – key subjects –

numbers of lessons per week

Possibilities of further education of students

with special needs after compulsory schooling.

R O M A N IA

Basic of the Romanian Education System

Since 1989 the Romanian Education System is changing and developing, from nationwide education policy to international partnerships that open the doors to new opportunities at Romanian schools.

Public pre-university education (pre-primary, primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education) is part of the local decentralized public services and is subordinated to the Ministry of Education trough the County School Inspectorates.

The County School Inspectorate ensure at the local level observance of the legislation and evaluation of the educational system and process as well as the implementation of the educational policy established by the Ministry of Education.

Structure of the Education System in Romania

Age Grade Educational Levels

>19

Post-graduate education Higher education and post-graduate educationHigher Education

Post-high school Post-secondarynon-tertiary education

19 XIII High schoolUpper Cycle Upper secondary education 18 XII High school

Upper Cycle17 XI Completion Year16 X High school

Lower CycleArts and Trades

School

Lower secondary education

15 IX

14 VIII

General / middle school(Gymnasium)

13 VII

12 VI

11 V

10 IV

Primary school Primary education

9 III

8 II

7 I

6Preparatory

class(zero class)

5 Advanced

Kindergarten Pre-school education4 Middle

3 Beginner

Priorities of the Education Policy

Equal and improved access to educationHigh educational standards and training for a

knowledge-based societyDecentralizing of the education systemTurning education into a basic tool in the

modernisation process of RomaniaInvestment in human resources as the most

profitable long-term investmentReconstruction of rural educationCombining excellence and general education in an

efficient wayIT contribution to educationEnhancing the European dimension of educationInstitutional development of permanent education

Curriculum FrameworkNational Curriculum

- Seven Curricular Areas:

- Core Curriculum (75%)- School-based Curriculum ( 25%)

• Children with special needs may attend normal school curriculum, curriculum adapted or special school. They enjoy social assistance and education, the ultimate goal is educating, training and recovery, compensation and social integration.

School Educational Offer- Extracurricular activities- Special Needs for students with disabilities or high performance capacity

• LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION• MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCE• PEOPLE AND SOCIETY• ARTS• PHYSICAL EDUCATION• TECHNOLOGIES• COUNSELLING AND GUIDANCE

The content of the special education and integrated special education is regulated by:a) a distinct curriculum especially designed for the special education;b) a curriculum for the mainstream education adapted for the integrated special education;c) specific methodologies and handbooks, elaborated and approved by the Ministry of Ministry of Education.

The education framework plan is the main document regulating the official type - part of the national curriculum - and, thereby, a basic tool in promoting educational policy at national level. The education framework plans establish educational curriculum framework, differentiated by level of schooling, the subjects studied by the students in school and the number of hours allocated to each.

Class size, school year & timetable

Class sizes - depend on the educational level:15 20 25 … 30 (in special schools 8 – 12

students per classes for moderate disabilities, or 4 – 6 students per classes for severe or associated disabilities)

School year:34 to 36 weeksStarting date:15th of SeptemberEnding date in 22th June

Timetable:50 min. classes / 10 min. breaks (in special schools

45 min. classes / 15 min. breaks)Morning or afternoon classes

The structure of special and special integrated education

Special and special integrated education in Romania is part of the national education system and includes:a) special kindergartens (which may include early intervention groups);b) special kindergarten groups organized in the special schools;c) special schools for all types and degrees of deficiencies/disabilities;d) groups/classes for children/pupils with autistic spectrum disorders;e) professional special education units;f) special high-schools;g) special schoolastic centers;h) classes / special post-high-school;i) daycare school centers for inclusive education;j) special education centers;k) curative pedagogy centers;l) groups/classes for children/pupils with multiple sensory impairments (deafblind);m) re-education schools for pupils with behavioral deficiencies;n) classes organized in hospitals, preventoriums and prisons;o) daycare centers for early education/development;p) sheltered workshops.

INTEGRATINGChildren/student

with SENis done:

through special classes and groups – for the children and students with disabilities – from the special education schools or from the mainstream schools;(The students with medium, severe, profound and associated disabilities)

through mainstream education schools, individual education, with or without educational support services (Students with learning, adjusting or integration disabilities, and those with little or moderate disabilities)

thorugh groups or classes from the medical facilities where children, students and young persons with chronic diseases or diseases that require a longer period of hospitalization than 4 weeks are admitted

at home (itinerant schooling), during a determined period of time(students which cannot be displaced)

through other school structures ( for e.g. Reeducation facilities from prisons)

Center for Inclusive Educationa) is involved in the early tracking and ensures an early

intervention in case of SEN ;b) is schooling children/students/young persons with different

degrees and types of deficiencies;c) elaborates specific therapies for SEN from special education

and mainstream education;d) evaluates and follows up the school performance of the SEN

with the help of the internal commission of complex expertise;e) prepares the files of the children/student/young persons with

special needs and send them to the County Center for Resources and Educational Assistance;

f) makes suggestions for a reorientation from the special school towards a maistream school and viceversa, with the help of the internal commission of complex expertise, according with the provisions of art. 54 alin. (1) Law nr. 1/2011;

g) makes and applies plans of personalized services for each evaluated child/student;

h) adjusts the curriculum and ensures psychological and educational assistance for the integrated children/students with special needs, with the help of itinerant and support teachers;

i) proposes support services and/or specific therapies, where necessary ( through County Center for Resources and Educational Assistance, School Center for Inclusive Education, Special schools, Integrating mainstream schools ) ;

j) offers counselling and psychological and educational assistance for the teachers from mainstream education that provide programs for corrective education;

k) promotes the inclusive education;l) ensures schooling and educational and therapy

assistance for the children/students which cannot be displaced, offering home schooling programs, with reduced attendance, with attendance waiver, merged etc.;

m) monitors the performance of the SEN;n) offers social assistance and services like a partial

boarding school/boarding school/day center for SEN which apply for such services; informs and offer counselling to the families of the children/students with special needs concerning the education of these children/students;

Children with special needsInclusion or Integration?

Children with special needs must be evaluated by the Commission for educational and vocational guidance who can turn to :a Special school or

a mainstream school with the support structure from an itinerant teacher.

Itinerant teachers of Special schools belong in public schools and go to work with children with special needs.

There are schools that have their own support teacher to work with students with special needs.

Enrolling children with special needs to Special schools

• First step - recommendation from teachers / class master of class;

• Parents decide if they agree to enroll the child in a special school;

• Family doctor , psychiatrist and psychologist should evaluate the child and recommend school orientation to the problems identified;

• The final decision is taken by the Commission for educational and vocational guidance of the county of residence of each student.

In conclusion:

- students with special needs in mainstream schools are helped if learning disabilities are mild (inclusion) or enrolled in a special school if there have been identified problems in several areas ;

- after the evaluation, family can choose- to enroll the child in a special school ,- to remain in a public school and work with a

support teacher or/and a itinerant teacher, - to lead the child to a private speech

therapist, - to enroll him in a rehabilitation center.

Special conditions for educations of children with special needs

Romanian special educations system uses a variety of specific methods for recovery and offsetting deficiencies children with special needs.

Acces road to education:

• Consistent education that respects the rights of children• Effective support services for all types of disabilities• Filling teaching skills through initial and ongoing training in

special education

Availability in scholls:

- Physical accesibility: access ramp, handrail, sound signals, visual signals.- Accesibility to the system and educational process

Pre-vocational education – key subjects – numbers of lessons per week

a) Creation of personal autonomy• Stimulation and development of individual psychosocial

availability in order to form independent basic behaviors• Training and education of skills for maintenance and

personal hygiene and of the living space• Developing and training of independent basic behaviors

for social integration

b) Socialization• Learning and practicing of conduct orientation,

knowledge and adaptation in the environment• Training and development of adaptive behaviors in

relation with the social and natural environment• Practice the independent conduct for social integration

c) Occupational therapy

• Development and training of general psychomotor skills, through actions of sensory exploration of the environment

• Acquisition and application of work techniques with different materials and instruments

• Realization and appreciation of simple and useful products• Practice the independent conduct for social integration

d) Cognitive stimulation

• Propellent and sensory exploration of the environment in order to form orientation conducts, knowledge and adaptation to the environment

• Stimulation and development of individual psychosocial ability in order to form independent basic behaviors

• Developing independent basic behaviors for social integration

e) Ludotherapy• Stimulation for self-knowledge, for knowing others and

the environment• Stimulation and development of individual psychosocial

ability in order to adapt in the environment• Training of manual and applicability skills• Developing independent basic behaviors for social

integration

Possibilities of further education of students with special needs after compulsory schooling

According to the law, the compulsory education ends after 10th grade to the lower cycle of high school or the school of arts and crafts.

The lower cycle of high school Graduates acquire law graduation certificate, personal portfolio for lifelong learning and on request the transcript.

Arts and crafts schools graduate promote certification exam to acquire professional skills and professional qualification certificate, level 1.

Class graduates of the school of arts and crafts, with the graduation certificate and certificate of professional qualification, level 1, may continue their studies, upon request, in the year of completion.

After the year of completion, graduates with graduation certificate and vocational qualification certificate, level 2, can continue their studies, upon request, in the upper school.

In Romania there are about 650,000 people officially certified the National Authority for Disabled Persons (NADP) as having a disability (including children). For the general population, people with disabilities represent about 3%, which is relatively low compared to other countries, but these data should be analyzed with caution. The employment rate of disabled people has never been analyzed.

Moreover, employment of disabled people has never been the subject of an active and coherent policy addressing the special needs of persons with disabilities. Therefore, no data are available for 1999 and 2002, describing the evolution of the employment rate of people with disabilities. At 31 December 2004, according to statistics NADP they were employed 11 872 people with disabilities. The records are based on data from public social services in the country and in Bucharest and Romanian Association of the Blind.

Romania Academic Society has conducted a study named „Diagnosis: excluded from the labour market. Obstacles to employ persons with disabilities in Romania "(2009). The study was based on two main pillars, a study on a sample of persons with disabilities (1555, aged 18-55 years old) and a qualitative part consisting of 4 focus groups and interviews with 40 people with disabilities, representatives of non-governmental organisations, employers and public institutions.

The results of this study show that: the main factor affecting the employment of people with disabilities is education. Unfortunately, from this point of view, the educational system from Romania creates major drawbacks for people with disabilities. Thus it appears that the incidence of uneducated and early dropout is seven times and two times greater for people with disabilities compared to the general population.

According to the law 448/ 2006, every employer :• has to offer jobs in a quantum of 4 % if he has over 50

employers or• has to pay for every unemployed person with disabilities 50%

of the minimum salary or• has to buy monthly products and services from a shelterd units.

Also, a person with disabilities has a posibility to establish his own shelterd unit, having multiple benefits ( for example lower taxes).

Some NGO give the posibility to acces jobs by helping them with courses and offering support in the procces of social and professional integration.

The law supports special schools in establish shelterd workshop.

Thank you for your attention!

This project has been funded with support from the European

Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may

be made of the information contained therein.