Religious Education in România: Romania
Introduction
Religious Education (RE) in Romania is mandatory in all state funded schools. This means that all such schools have to guarantee that pupils aged from 6 to 18 have an opportunity to study RE, although, in order to do so, their parents (or guardians) have to complete an application in which to opt them into it. The obligation to complete this application is a new regulation relating to RE, which came into effect in 2015. Previously, only the parents of pupils who expressed their desire for them not to attend RE classes had to complete such an application, citing their decision to opt out their sons and daughters. In 2015, about 90% of pupils were enrolled to study RE in these classes.
In state funded schools, a significant problem remains in determining what should replace RE for those pupils who have not been opted in. Generally, these pupils do not attend alternative classes and of course, do not receive marks for RE.
RE is a part of an area of the curriculum entitled "Human Beings and Society”. The RE syllabuses have a confessional character and are organised according to a scheme that is given by the Ministry of Education. There are 18 confessions or faith traditions recognised by the State, which are authorised to organise RE classes in state funded schools. For each new school year, parents choose which confessional RE their child will attend and this does not have to be their own confession. All confessions and religious communities that are accredited by the state can offer RE in state funded schools. Of course, the majority of parents choose Orthodox Christian RE, because 86.5% of the population in Romania is Orthodox.
The actual legal status of RE is based on Education Law no. 84/1995, which stipulates that RE teaching in primary education is compulsory, optional in secondary school and elective in high school and vocational schools. There is one hour of RE per week. A New Education Law no. 1/2011 confirmed this status for RE in Romania.
In private schools, RE is either taught in the same way, or is replaced by other optional disciplines such Philosophy or Ethics.
The common objectives for RE confessional syllabuses are:
The RE teachers
The training of RE teachers takes place in the theological faculties at the state universities. RE teachers have to meet the legal requirements placed on all teachers. The universities provide future RE teachers with a pedagogical module of 5 semesters (3 for ‘licence’ and 2 more for a masters degree), besides the subjects taught in the respective faculty. After following this module, the graduate receives a qualification in RE teaching, obligatory for teaching RE. The General Inspectorate organises exams to fill the vacancies for RE teachers, in every area. Candidates must have the permission of the local religious authorities to take part in the exam. RE teachers are paid by the state.
The historical development of RE in Romania
In 1948, with the establishment of communism in Romania, theological and religious education was removed from the official educational system, the first being left in the Church’s charge, monitored and marginalised, and the second, not only being removed completely but replaced with an “atheistic-scientific” education. The result was that, for theological schools, recruitment was controlled, restrictive and discriminatory on grounds of political affiliation, social origin and social status. In this absence of RE within the curriculum, young people were losing their religious, moral and cultural identity.
After the Revolution of December 1989, things started to re-enter normality. Religious education was first organised in the churches, and was elective in schools. Interest in the study of religion has increased. During the academic year 1990-1991, the Ministry of Education and Science introduced "religious-moral education" as an object of study in primary and secondary schools, with an optional and elective status, for one hour every two weeks. In 1991, recording the increased interest of the students and their parents for this discipline, the Ministry of Education and Science increased the teaching of this discipline to one hour per week.
For the academic year 1992-1993, the Ministry of Education and Science regulated a number of issues regarding the teaching of Religion in Primary School and Gymnasium, as well the employment and the salaries of those who teach this discipline. Since 1993, the Ministry of Education has agreed that the subject should be called “religie” (Religion).
The curricula for classes in Primary School and Gymnasium were approved in June 1999, and in 2000, for the Upper Secondary School (9 to 12 grade). The last revision of RE curricula for all levels and religions was accomplished in August 2008.
RE Challenges
RE has gone through times of challenge and difficulties in the last few years. For example, in 2006, there began a real campaign to withdraw icons and other religious symbols from schools. In November 2006, at the request of the philosophy teacher Emil Moise from Buzau, the National Council for the Struggle against Discrimination (CNCD) decided that the presence of the icons and of the religious symbols in state schools would constitute discrimination against the atheistic and agnostic persons or those of other religions/denominations than the Orthodox.
The decision was contested both by the Ministry of Education and Research, (as a state institution directly affected by the recommendation of CNCD) and the "Coalition for the Respect of the Religious Freedom”, a body without legal personality, consisting of over 150 non-governmental organisations and thousands of Romanian citizens.
After a public debate on this subject and the decision of the High Court of Justice (11 June 2008), the presence of religious symbols in the school was considered a legitimate one and is now permitted. Paradoxically enough, the icons’ debate started in Buzau, an area with an Orthodox majority (98.79% of the people are of Orthodox confession) and not in a multiethnic and multi-confessional society such as the region of Transylvania.
Recently, in Romania a debate began about the content of RE textbooks. This time, the debate was on a reduced scale and had no real effects. According to a non-governmental organisation, some RE textbooks promote an increased degree of intolerance, through the images they display (the way in which they present God and the divine justice). Facing this accusation, teachers of RE demonstrated that there is nothing wrong with the content of RE textbooks, but they respect Christian moral values, which are of high importance within the civic space.
The last debate took place in 2014. This time, the procedure to opt out of RE classes was repealed. As a result, from 2015, in order for them to study RE, the parents or guardians of pupils have to fulfil an application in which to opt for it. When young people reach the age of 18, they can make this decision for themselves. But there is an initiative to change this and reduce the age to 14, so that younger pupils have the right to sign themselves up for RE and ask for RE classes.
Religious Education (RE) in Romania is mandatory in all state funded schools. This means that all such schools have to guarantee that pupils aged from 6 to 18 have an opportunity to study RE, although, in order to do so, their parents (or guardians) have to complete an application in which to opt them into it. The obligation to complete this application is a new regulation relating to RE, which came into effect in 2015. Previously, only the parents of pupils who expressed their desire for them not to attend RE classes had to complete such an application, citing their decision to opt out their sons and daughters. In 2015, about 90% of pupils were enrolled to study RE in these classes.
In state funded schools, a significant problem remains in determining what should replace RE for those pupils who have not been opted in. Generally, these pupils do not attend alternative classes and of course, do not receive marks for RE.
RE is a part of an area of the curriculum entitled "Human Beings and Society”. The RE syllabuses have a confessional character and are organised according to a scheme that is given by the Ministry of Education. There are 18 confessions or faith traditions recognised by the State, which are authorised to organise RE classes in state funded schools. For each new school year, parents choose which confessional RE their child will attend and this does not have to be their own confession. All confessions and religious communities that are accredited by the state can offer RE in state funded schools. Of course, the majority of parents choose Orthodox Christian RE, because 86.5% of the population in Romania is Orthodox.
The actual legal status of RE is based on Education Law no. 84/1995, which stipulates that RE teaching in primary education is compulsory, optional in secondary school and elective in high school and vocational schools. There is one hour of RE per week. A New Education Law no. 1/2011 confirmed this status for RE in Romania.
In private schools, RE is either taught in the same way, or is replaced by other optional disciplines such Philosophy or Ethics.
The common objectives for RE confessional syllabuses are:
- Love of God;
- The use of language based on religious values;
- The teaching of the Holy Scripture, of the tradition and of the Church history;
- The development of Christian virtues;
- Education towards acceptance and respect towards other peoples’ belief.
The RE teachers
The training of RE teachers takes place in the theological faculties at the state universities. RE teachers have to meet the legal requirements placed on all teachers. The universities provide future RE teachers with a pedagogical module of 5 semesters (3 for ‘licence’ and 2 more for a masters degree), besides the subjects taught in the respective faculty. After following this module, the graduate receives a qualification in RE teaching, obligatory for teaching RE. The General Inspectorate organises exams to fill the vacancies for RE teachers, in every area. Candidates must have the permission of the local religious authorities to take part in the exam. RE teachers are paid by the state.
The historical development of RE in Romania
In 1948, with the establishment of communism in Romania, theological and religious education was removed from the official educational system, the first being left in the Church’s charge, monitored and marginalised, and the second, not only being removed completely but replaced with an “atheistic-scientific” education. The result was that, for theological schools, recruitment was controlled, restrictive and discriminatory on grounds of political affiliation, social origin and social status. In this absence of RE within the curriculum, young people were losing their religious, moral and cultural identity.
After the Revolution of December 1989, things started to re-enter normality. Religious education was first organised in the churches, and was elective in schools. Interest in the study of religion has increased. During the academic year 1990-1991, the Ministry of Education and Science introduced "religious-moral education" as an object of study in primary and secondary schools, with an optional and elective status, for one hour every two weeks. In 1991, recording the increased interest of the students and their parents for this discipline, the Ministry of Education and Science increased the teaching of this discipline to one hour per week.
For the academic year 1992-1993, the Ministry of Education and Science regulated a number of issues regarding the teaching of Religion in Primary School and Gymnasium, as well the employment and the salaries of those who teach this discipline. Since 1993, the Ministry of Education has agreed that the subject should be called “religie” (Religion).
The curricula for classes in Primary School and Gymnasium were approved in June 1999, and in 2000, for the Upper Secondary School (9 to 12 grade). The last revision of RE curricula for all levels and religions was accomplished in August 2008.
RE Challenges
RE has gone through times of challenge and difficulties in the last few years. For example, in 2006, there began a real campaign to withdraw icons and other religious symbols from schools. In November 2006, at the request of the philosophy teacher Emil Moise from Buzau, the National Council for the Struggle against Discrimination (CNCD) decided that the presence of the icons and of the religious symbols in state schools would constitute discrimination against the atheistic and agnostic persons or those of other religions/denominations than the Orthodox.
The decision was contested both by the Ministry of Education and Research, (as a state institution directly affected by the recommendation of CNCD) and the "Coalition for the Respect of the Religious Freedom”, a body without legal personality, consisting of over 150 non-governmental organisations and thousands of Romanian citizens.
After a public debate on this subject and the decision of the High Court of Justice (11 June 2008), the presence of religious symbols in the school was considered a legitimate one and is now permitted. Paradoxically enough, the icons’ debate started in Buzau, an area with an Orthodox majority (98.79% of the people are of Orthodox confession) and not in a multiethnic and multi-confessional society such as the region of Transylvania.
Recently, in Romania a debate began about the content of RE textbooks. This time, the debate was on a reduced scale and had no real effects. According to a non-governmental organisation, some RE textbooks promote an increased degree of intolerance, through the images they display (the way in which they present God and the divine justice). Facing this accusation, teachers of RE demonstrated that there is nothing wrong with the content of RE textbooks, but they respect Christian moral values, which are of high importance within the civic space.
The last debate took place in 2014. This time, the procedure to opt out of RE classes was repealed. As a result, from 2015, in order for them to study RE, the parents or guardians of pupils have to fulfil an application in which to opt for it. When young people reach the age of 18, they can make this decision for themselves. But there is an initiative to change this and reduce the age to 14, so that younger pupils have the right to sign themselves up for RE and ask for RE classes.
This report was written by Florin Tomoioaga, the EFTRE representative for Romania - August 2016