Minister of Education and Research Daniel David signed on Thursday the order approving the upper secondary school curricula, following the opinion of the Social Dialogue Commission.
'Although I assumed my mandate as minister with a clearly defined time limit, until May, to conclude the transition of the presidential institution, it was extended in stages for other key objectives, including curriculum reform. The reform of the upper secondary education curriculum, being a complex process that I initiated, it was natural for me to complete it as well. What remains at the approval stage is the curriculum for Romanian Language and Literature, where I expect the integration of proposals formulated during the debates and, taking into account the pronounced constructivist nature of the literature area, flexible pathways within fundamental benchmarks based on competencies and representative authors. The content may be structured in various ways, and the list of representative authors may be supplemented depending on the interests of the teacher-student pair,' the minister of Education is quoted in a press release as saying.
Daniel David said that, at the end of January, the curricula for grades ten to twelve will also be launched for public consultation.
'The major gain of this entire endeavour, beyond the modernisation after approximately 20 years of curricular content, which has thus become more relevant and less overloaded, with subjects better coordinated with one another and with other educational levels, including through a stronger scientific component, not only knowledge but also how it is acquired, is the fact that 25% of the time allocated to each subject will be reserved for educational and remedial activities,' the minister said.
Daniel David considers that, insofar as these activities are well implemented, they will have a major impact on reducing functional illiteracy by forming competencies that should have been acquired during the standard period but were not, consolidating and reinforcing acquired competencies and teaching students how to use these competencies in everyday life, as well as developing them further, where desired, for performance.
The minister also said that this stage will be followed by the development of textbooks and the training of teachers for the implementation of the curriculum using modern methods.
'Last but not least, this process will finalise the national assessment standards for each school curriculum, at primary, lower secondary and upper secondary level, starting with grade nine. In this context, I recommend that the ministry evaluate these new curricula over time through their impact on students' performance in national and international tests. As I have stated before, following this reform, I believe that the generation of students who will have the opportunity to be educated at upper secondary level through the new curriculum, starting with grade nine in the 2026-2027 school year, will reach the educational standards expected by the country, and functional illiteracy, which in recent years has become a national security risk, will be drastically reduced,' Daniel David added.
In conclusion, the minister thanked the more than 1,500 specialists who developed the curricular content and took part in the debates on it, in committees and or in the public sphere.
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