2022

The Ministry of Education continues to implement actions and programmes that will ensure, from a legislative standpoint, the organization and functioning of Early childhood education and care (ECEC) as integrated services to gradually become universal. 

The Ministry of Education has launched call for proposals, funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP): Development of complementary early childhood education and care services (I2- R. 2, Development of a unitary, inclusive and quality system of early childhood education and care services). Objective: Increase the capacity of the system and the quality of early childhood education and care services so as to improve the participation rates, both at ante-preschool and at preschool levels, through investment in the establishment and operationalisation of 412 complementary services. The investment provides for the allocation to public and private operators, in stages and by lots (2 lots of 200 and 212 units per lot respectively), of grants for establishing, equipping and operationalising 412 complementary services.  These services will serve approximately 20 600 children from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

In the Project on the reform of early childhood education and care, taking place in the period 2009 - 31 December 2023, the works for 336 kindergartens have been completed, the works for 63 kindergartens are in progress and 2 kindergartens are in the design phase. The objective of the project is to develop the school infrastructure by building and providing furniture for 401 new kindergartens, for kindergartens operating in buildings which are no longer safe for use, in buildings subject to retrocession or in inappropriate spaces for this type of education, as well as to improve the quality of preschool education through teacher training and the provision of educational resources. 

The document Organisational and operational rules and regulation of preschool education which was already drafted will be supplemented with information on early ante-preschool education contained in the documents to be developed in 2022, within the non-competitive project Inclusive and quality early education (ETIC). 

The ETIC project trained:

• 223 mentors for early education,
• 94 experts in curricular development (trained by the partner universities) and
• 2,283 teachers in preschool education - early education level (carried out the cascade training; 50 teachers/ county), who will work with children aged 2-3 years enrolled in kindergartens.

Between 12 August 2019 and 15 March 2022, 2,600 teachers were trained to teach in preschool and ante-preschool education.

The project was extended until late 2022, in order to complete the training activity, and a new project activity titled Expanding the skills acquired in training programmes with new approaches at European level – study visit to Reggio Emilia, Italy. This activity aims at organizing by the beneficiary of the project a round of specialized continuous training sessions for teachers in preschool education and the training of 44 teachers in pre-university education.  At the same time, the project activity titled National awareness campaign on the new institutional and curricular framework, opened to quality services for preschool children, as a prerequisite to prevent early school leaving was rescheduled for the end of project implementation period.

Through the projects under the project call Development of ante-preschool education services there will be funded projects designed to increase the participation rates in ante-preschool education of children aged 0-2 years, by setting up nursery groups. The implementation of the 36 selected applications started in January 2021 and will be completed at the end of 2023. Each project targets a group of minimum 52 beneficiary pre-schoolers, resulting in 1,872 children to be supported through these projects. After a period of project suspension (necessary to prepare the conditions for accreditation of nurseries), the activities of the project were resumed earlier this year.

On 28 April 2022, the Government adopted by GD  the Methodology for the organization and functioning of nurseries and other pre-school early education units, initiated by the Ministry of Education. This document sets the organization and functioning of ante-preschool educational establishments.

2021

In order to develop the measures regarding early education continue.

With regard to early childhood education and care (ECEC) services (0-to-6-year-olds), the Ministry of Education (MoEd) has continued to implement actions and programmes designed to ensure – in legislative terms – the organisation and functioning of such services as integrated services, so that they can gradually become universal. 

The Rules for the Organisation and Functioning of Preschool Education have been drafted and will be completed with information on ante-preschool education (day-care) included in documents which are to be developed in 2021 in the framework of the non-competitive project Inclusive and quality early childhood education and care (ETIC). The estimated deadline for the approval of the Rules is Quarter 4/2021. 

The National Committee for Supporting Early Childhood Education and Care (CNSET) was established in March 2020. In Quarter 1/2021 it developed and approved the document Diagnosis and forecast regarding the organization and operating of quality services in the field of early education in Romania and to support implementation thereof. This document will be a starting point in shaping macro level policies in ECEC and, implicitly, a basis for the revision and approximation of legislation in this field, which will be achieved through several ministerial orders.

Within the ETIC project, in the working meetings of CNSET, the following documents were approved:

• The analysis report of the current organisational and operational framework of early education and on good practices in this area.

• The SWOT analysis of educational, medical and social services provided in nurseries and kindergartens in Romania over the past three years for children aged fewer than 3 and their families.

• The Framework document for diagnosis and forecast on the organization and operating of quality services in early education in Romania and to supporting their implementation.

Through the ETIC project, some data:

• Between November 2020 and February 2021, 223 mentors for early education were trained.

• Between January 2021 and March 2021, 94 experts in curriculum development were trained.

• Between 12 August 2019 and 11 August 2021, 2,600 teachers in early preschool education were trained.

Through the projects within the project call Development of early pre-school education services, projects will be financed to increase the participation rates in early pre-school education of children aged 0 to 2, by setting up nursery groups. The implementation of the 36 selected projects started in January 2021 and will be completed in Quarter 4/2023. Each project targets a minimum group of 52 beneficiary pre-schoolers, the 1,872 children being granted support.

Elements of the draft National Strategy for Early Childhood Education and Care will be undertaken in the public educational policies to be applied over the period 2021-2027, which are founded on the project Educated Romania of the Presidential Administration.

2020

In order to develop the measures regarding early education continue.

The Ministry of Education (MoEd) published on the website the guides for organising and carrying out the activities in school education establishments in the 2020/2021 school year, in the context of the COVID-19 epidemics. 

After the opening of the 2020/2021 school year on 14 September 2020, the Ministry of Education and Research initiated the procedure for monitoring the dynamics of the scenarios related to the functioning of the school education establishments, at national level, which is influenced by the evolution of the epidemiologic situation in each county.

With regard to early childhood education and care services (0-6 year-olds), the Ministry of Education and Research has implemented actions to ensure, in legislative terms, that such services are organised and function as integrated services so they can gradually become universal services. To that end, the draft Regulation for the organisation and functioning of preschool education was completed and presented to public debate in October 2019.

The Methodology for the organisation and functioning of crèches and other ante-preschool education services has been reviewed in accordance with the new legislative provisions of 2018 (Government Decision no. 9/2018 and Law 201/2018). Furthermore, the Specific Childhood Education and Care Curriculum has been approved by the Order of the National Education Minister no. 4694/02.08.2019. This is the first review of the curriculum for this education level since 2008 to date. This curriculum contains provisions and recommendations from strategic documents promoted at European level on key competences for lifelong learning and propose a unitary and systemic approach to early education, adjusting the fragmented approach to early education in place so far. Curricular design and systemic approach encompass ante-pre-school and pre-school education and ensures an appropriate balance between learning and harmonious personality development.

Within the non-competitive project Inclusive and Quality Early Childhood Education and Care, to be funded by European funds, a joint order of MEN, MDRAP, MMJS and MS on the elaboration and submission to Government approval of the Methodology of inter-institutional collaboration to support early education services. The project is to be implemented in the period 2018- 2021 and it seeks the implementation of the specific curriculum for the preschool education, the unitary training program for teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as the piloting of the teaching resources related to the specific curriculum for the preschool education in the kindergartens and nurseries from four counties (Alba, Dolj, Galati, Suceava) and the city of Bucharest having children of early education age enrolled. At the same time, within this project, the national operational framework will be developed to foster the participation of children aged under 3 in early education services in nurseries and/or kindergartens. The National Support Committee for Early Childhood Education and Care(CNSET) has been established in the project Inclusive and Quality Early Childhood Education and Care. CNSET will provide a framework for the development of the Methodology for inter-institutional cooperation to support ante-preschool education and care services (ETA). Under the same project, CNSET shall complete the elaboration of the National Strategy for Early Education.

The proposal for the project Developing preschool education services (the new name of the project Quality education in crèches at national level will be soon completed; the project will provide training to 2600 teachers/ support staff who will deliver crèche services (education and care) for children aged 0- 2. Following this call for proposals, it is foreseen that at least 14,000 children aged between 0 and 3 (less than 3) will be supported so that they are included in the early childhood education and care system.

The draft Strategy for Early Childhood Education and Care has been drawn up by the Ministry of Education and Research with support from UNICEF and the contribution of Step by Step Centre for Education and Personal Development.

The program Tickets for kindergarten continues in the 2019/2020 school year, the program being aimed at encouraging the participation of children from disadvantaged families in pre-primary education (50 lei/month for attendance more than 50%).

The Ministry of Education and Research has developed and approved the Framework Plan - Early Intervention for children with deaf-blindness/ multiple sensory processing disorders.