Romania

Last update: April, 2020

Regarding the governmental efforts to promote and stimulate the youth's artistic and creative capacities, the Ministry of Education has initiated a special alternative school, encouraging the development of usual skills, as well as of art and culture-related skills among children and youngsters, from elementary school to higher education. The programme lasts five consecutive days during the school year and it can carried out based on a schedule set by each education institution. 

The four most relevant strategies in the field of education are: the Strategy on education and training in Romania for the period 2016-2020, the National Strategy for lifelong learning for the period 2015-2020, the National Strategy for tertiary education for the period 2015-2020 and the National Strategy on research, development and innovation 2014-2020.

The Romanian education sector is an essential part in the Government's strategy to attain the Europe 2020 objectives. Most of the EU objectives focus on the improvement of the education sector due to its influence on the economic growth via employment, training for relevant skills, personal development. In order to achieve these objectives, there is a need for the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Culture and National Identity to cooperate as successfully as possible. 

Last update: April, 2020

In middle school (primary and secondary school), art education covers two fields: music and visual arts. From the first grade until the seventh grade, a pupil's weekly schedule contains one class of music and musical education and one class of art education. In high school, art education is compulsory only for the vocational programmes. Future kindergarten educators, primary school teachers or pedagogues take classes of music, art and performing art during high school. The number of hours dedicated to these classes varies, but usually there are three hours. In recent years, these students have also been taking classes on art and music pedagogy.

The percentage of instructional hours dedicated to arts education in the first two years of secondary school (grades 5-6) is 14.01%.The most common art subjects are music, visual and fine arts. This is considered quite low in Romania as compared, for example, to the percentage of hours dedicated to science (22%) in relation to the total number of instructional hours.  

In order to give a higher level of priority to arts education, the civil society organisations (NGOs) have developed several initiatives in the last years to support the link between education and culture and to fill in the gap between cultural and educational institutions. One of them is the initiative Supporting culture in education, which was financed between 2013 and 2017 by national and international funds. 

Related to the governmental efforts to promote and stimulate artistic and creative capacities of young people, the Ministry of Education has initiated a special programme (Alternative School) which encourages the development of competences and skills related to arts and culture among children from primary school to high school. The programme lasts five consecutive days during the school year and it is run on a schedule that remains the decision of each education institution (see chapter 6.1).  

In Romania, ICT (Information and Communications Technology) is part of the education curriculum, inclusively in schools with an artistic specialisation. According to the Order of the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports no. 5399/17.10.2006, ICT is part of the curriculum in the art high schools (architecture, environmental art and design). Moreover, according to the Order of the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports no. 4856/2009 regarding the approval of the educational framework plans for grades 9^th-12^th, vocational branch, artistic profile, specialisation conservation-restoration of cultural goods, full time courses, ICT is part of these high schools' educational plan. 

Last update: April, 2020

In Romania there are 25 faculties with courses related to cultural professions, from conservation and restoration courses, to film production and editing, cultural management and music production and distribution. 

As for the technical education, there are approximately 50 colleges in accredited higher education institutions with a technical profile in several cultural fields. However, these are mostly courses on music and visual arts, while the cultural management is not represented at all, which can explain the fact that the demand for professional training in culture is still high. The Training Needs of Public Cultural Institutions, a research carried out in 2016 by the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training, highlighted the main cultural areas with gaps in training: cultural management, cultural heritage, administrative management in culture, performing arts, librarianship and IT.  

Last update: April, 2020

Extracurricular activities are considered one of the favourite means of offering pupils the possibility to develop their talents or skills. In the out-of-schools arts and cultural education sector there are legal provisions that promote the extracurricular activities on a national level, as well as the cooperation between schools, museums and the artistic world in general. Order 5567/2011 approves the organisation and operation of the establishments providing extra-school activity, by providing a main legislative framework. In terms of partnership between schools and the artistic world, a system that fosters the cultural education of pupils is being developed. Therefore, within the framework of the administrative decentralisation, the cooperation between museums and schools is encouraged.

Last update: July, 2012

In the occupational field of culture, the studies show that the professional training and development of artists are particularly determined by the fact that a young artist has a better understanding of career opportunities and can follow different directions during his/her professional life and, therefore, can activate themselves in several markets or activity sectors, sometimes in parallel, other times successively. This occupational flexibility requires competences and skills that may be related to their activity field or transversal (The need for professional training within public cultural institutions).

The occupational sector of culture is mainly characterised by a low labour mobility, which results in a quite low interest in lifelong learning. Under these circumstances, the motivation for professional training is reduced in the case of persons with management positions, which could be a negative example for the rest of the employees. Although declaratively there is an increased interest in professional training, the percentages and number of employers who have attended such a programme in the last two years are quite reduced, with obvious differences depending on the cultural field.

The labour market in the cultural and creative sectors recorded a positive trend in the period 2002-2009, with an evolution from 100,000 to 140,000 employees. In 2009, the richest cultural sectors in terms of human resources were written culture (24,110), cinema, TV and radio (8,964) and performing arts (2,310). This ranking is kept in the case of cultural sectors' contribution to the national economy, which confirms the premise that the specialised human resource and the investment in the quality of the human resource are sine qua non conditions for the development of an activity sector and even of a national economy. The Government Ordinance no. 102/1998 on the organisation and functioning of the system of ongoing education through educational institutions, approved with modifications by Law no. 133/2000, lists the general rules and principles underpinning the adult education system, as well as the objectives of continuous education and its main domains:

• fulfilling the basic education, through recurrent or compensatory education;
• civic education;
• education and cultivating the citizen's individual abilities and interests in order for him/her to perform with an active social role;
• ongoing professional training.

Law no. 1/2011, known as the Law on Education, defines the concept of lifelong learning or permanent education, which comprises the early education, the secondary and tertiary education, the ongoing professional training and education of adults. This law reiterates the right of any Romanian citizen to forms of instruction and development, as defined in the Constitution of Romania. According to this law, the professional training and education of children, youth and adults have as main goal forming competences, concept defined as a multifunctional and transferable ensemble of knowledge, abilities / skills and aptitudes, necessary to: a) personal development and fulfilment, by attaining the individuals' own objectives in life, according to their interests and aspirations and desire to learn during their whole lives; b) social integration and active citizen participation in the society; c) employment and participation in the functioning and development of a sustainable economy; d) shaping a view on life based on humanistic and scientific values, on the national and universal culture and on the promotion of intercultural dialogue; e) education in the spirit of dignity, tolerance and observance of fundamental human rights and freedoms; f) cultivation of sensibility towards human problems, moral and civic values, of respect for nature and for the natural, social and cultural environment.

Among the indicators used by the Culture for Development Indicators UNESCO-funded study, the Education Dimension examines the relationship between education, culture and human development through the assessment of inclusive education, valorisation of intercultural actions, cultural diversity, creativity and opportunities to acquire professional skills in cultural areas. Thus, the percentage of instruction hours dedicated to arts education in the first two years of middle school (grades 5-6) is 14.01%. The most common art subjects are music, visual and plastic arts. This percentage is quite low in Romania as compared, for example, with the percentage of the number of hours dedicated to science (22%) in relation to the total number of instruction hours.

In order to give more importance to arts education, the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have developed in the last years several initiatives with the purpose to support the link between education and culture and to fill in the gap between cultural and educational institutions. One of them is the initiative Supporting culture in education, which was financed between 2013 and 2017 by national and international funds.

In terms of governmental efforts to promote and stimulate artistic and creative abilities of young people, the Ministry of Education has initiated a special programme, Alternative School, which encourages the development of competences and skills related to arts and culture among children and youth from primary, middle and high schools. The programme lasts five consecutive working days during the school year and can be run on a schedule that remains the decision of each education institution.

Projects targeted on the "Education through culture" area have received funds from AFCN amounting to 1.4 million lei of the total funding amount (10.78 million lei).  

Referring back to the UNESCO Culture for Development Indicators, the Index of professional training in culture is very high (0.90/1) and it shows the presence of cultural courses available in tertiary and technical education in Romania. 

In Romania there are 25 faculties with courses related to cultural professions, from conservation and restoration courses, to film production and editing, cultural management and music production and distribution. As for the technical education, there are around 50 colleges in technical higher education institutions accredited in several cultural fields. However, most of these courses are mainly dedicated to music and visual arts, while cultural management is scarcely represented which can explain the fact that the demand for professional training in culture is still quite high. 

“The Training Needs of Public Cultural Institutions”, a research carried out in 2016 by the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training, highlighted the main cultural areas with gaps in training: cultural management, cultural heritage, administrative management in culture, performing arts, librarianship and IT.  

Considering that the National Strategy for Lifelong Learning 2015–2020 sees the ongoing training as a major component of the cultural policies, with the overall objective of increasing competitiveness and supporting the development of the knowledge-based society, there is a need for an adequate human resource in order to achieve there is a need for the authorities to work increasingly towards achieving these objectives.

The most important Romanian institution accredited and specialised in professional training in the field of culture is the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training (INCFC). The strategy of the Professional Training Department of INCFC proposes the development of an accessible, attractive professional training system, relevant for the demands of the labour market in the field of culture, which should offer high-quality professional training and education services in order to relevantly and quickly respond to the demands of the public cultural institutions and creative sectors, with a view to an efficient management of the available cultural resources (Full offer of INCFC’s cultural training programmes).