Education information for Ukrainians in Romania

Education in Romania

Unlike other Western European countries, Romania did not have a clear plan and, above all, experience on how to integrate refugees into its national programs.

The EU has issued operational guidelines for the implementation of Council Decision 2022/382, which establishes the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC and has the effect of introducing temporary protection (2022/C 126 I/01). Thus, EU Member States grant access to their education system to persons under the age of 18 who benefit from temporary protection status under the same conditions as their nationals and EU nationals.

Ensuring access to education for children of Ukrainian refugees is a challenge, as most of them do not know the language of the host country. In Romania, only 10% attend public school courses, most of them have online classes in their native language. There is a strong desire to continue education in the Ukrainian system, but in special classes organized in Romanian schools, since most refugees intend to return home after the end of the conflict. Until then, the government’s efforts are doubled with the support of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

According to UNICEF’s assessment of the needs of Ukrainian refugee families and children living in Romania, 57 percent of accompanied and 85 percent of unaccompanied Ukrainian children have started learning Romanian. The data is confirmed by a recent survey conducted by the organization Save the Children in Romania. Regarding the level of Romanian language proficiency among Ukrainian children, the survey showed that almost three-quarters of Ukrainian children (71 percent) do not know Romanian at all, while 28 percent have started to learn Romanian. However, they did not reach a level that would allow them to continue their education in Romanian, and only one in 100 Ukrainian children had learned or knew Romanian well before arriving in Romania.

Only a small part of Ukrainian children study in schools in Romania.

A week after the start of schools, the Ministry of Education of Romania indicated that only 10% of the total number of Ukrainian children in Romania (4,031 children) are registered as students. Of them, 1,255 are preschoolers, 2,776 are students. Student status means that children can attend classes in Romanian schools without being graded and without the obligation of daily attendance. As a rule, these are children who already speak Romanian or have attended language courses. The rest of them are still connected to their schools in Ukraine through online platforms. In Romania in September, there were only 10 secondary and 26 primary schools that organized education in the Ukrainian language.

Before the start of the new academic year, there was a survey conducted and presented by the Save the Children organization, which showed that the majority of Ukrainian children in Romania continued their education online, according to the Ukrainian curriculum, 7% interrupted their education completely, while 6% attended Romanian schools, where special classes with Ukrainian curriculum and teachers from the country of origin were organized. Only 1% were enrolled as students in the Romanian education system. 344 mothers who came from Ukraine and are in Romania with their children (610 people in total), included in the organization’s humanitarian aid program, took part in the survey.

What documents are required for enrollment in kindergarten?
  • application for registration
  • a copy of the child’s birth certificate
  • a copy of the temporary protection and passport of the parent/guardian/legal representative
  • medical records

General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection.

The role of these institutions is to ensure that both educators and children receive the necessary help. If you are not registered in such an institution, please contact the General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection in your district.

So, I would like to send my child to kindergarten. What do I have to do besides collecting the documents?

https://www.edu.ro/inspectorate-scolare-judetene

Step 1: You must contact the school inspectorate of the district. See here for a list of contact information for all County School Inspectorates in Romania.

Step 2: Fill out an application for enrolling a child in extracurricular activities without obtaining student status. In addition, if you want your child to receive psychological and pedagogical help and counseling, be sure to check this option from the list. You can download the application here or get it in physical form at the district school inspectorate you applied to. You should also know that for Ukrainian children who want to learn the Romanian language, the School Inspectorates of the country will create the necessary conditions and provide the personnel resource corresponding to the request. You can apply at the headquarters of the county school inspectorate to which you applied, or online by emailing the county school inspectorate.

Step 3: The application will be processed within one day of its submission and the responsible committee will contact you about where your child has been sent for further education. After the committee has reviewed your application and held a meeting with you, you will decide together which group/class your child will be enrolled in. You need to know that participation in these activities is carried out according to the schedule and order established by the relevant educational unit.

What about school?

The procedure is the same as with kindergartens.

What else is worth knowing?

Do you want to enter grades I-XII? – In accordance with Ministerial Order No. 5638/2020, applications for the recognition of study periods spent abroad are submitted to district school inspectorates.

https://cnred.edu.ro/en/ukrainian-citizens

Do you want to continue your studies at one of the Romanian universities?

Apply directly to the university for recognition of incomplete periods of study for a degree.

Contact CNRED for recognition of bachelor’s, vocational, post-secondary, master’s or doctorate degrees.

European Refugee Qualifications Passport

European Refugee Qualifications Passport – if you cannot provide documents for your studies, contact CNRED for a recommendation on your level of studies, issued in cooperation with the Council of Europe and other member states. 

Please note that the passport does not replace the certificate / decision on the recognition of studies!

  • On March 2, 2022, the Minister of Education issued an order on the academic mobility of students to help young people studying in higher educational institutions of Ukraine.
  • The order stipulates that students who cannot confirm their studies according to the documents issued by the higher educational institution in which they studied in Ukraine, can enter Romanian higher educational institutions based on the results of the evaluation, in accordance with their own criteria and in compliance with good international practice.
  • Thus, based on this evaluation, Romanian universities can decide on the recognition and granting of transferable study credits. Before completing their studies, students from Ukraine will have to present to the Romanian higher education institution the diplomas that allowed them to gain access

Academic mobility for citizens from outside the European Union, who have arrived from higher educational institutions of Ukraine, is carried out as a result of the student’s approach, with the consent of the host institution.

What is the European Refugee Qualifications Passport?

The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees provides information on academic training, professional experience and language skills.

This information may be relevant if the refugee wants to get a job, complete an internship, a qualification course or enter college.

This information is accepted in any European country.

  (The project was launched in 2017 to promote the integration of refugees, is implemented by the Council of Europe, and also has the support of the UN Refugee Agency)

https://cnred.edu.ro/en/ukrainian-citizens

Who is it for?

The European refugee qualification passport is issued to refugees who have completed their education starting from the upper cycle of secondary school, for whom there are insufficient documents or cannot be confirmed by documents issued by educational institutions.

Validity

The European refugee qualification passport is valid for 5 years from the date of issue.

https://cnred.edu.ro/en/CNRED-and-Higher-Education-Institutions-in-Romania-are-connected-to-European-initiatives-on-facilitating-the-integration-of-refugees-from- Ukraine

What is important to know about obtaining higher education and further employment?

If your profession is not regulated and your employer requires recognition of your qualifications, contact CNRED:

  1. for recognition of professional and higher qualifications
  2. for the recognition of university-level qualifications

Contact the competent authority if your profession is regulated by:

  1. Contact the Ministry of Labor if you want to get a job, but do not have documents confirming professional qualifications or work experience.
  2. European refugee qualification passport – if you cannot provide documents for your studies, contact the CNRED for a recommendation on the level of your studies, issued in cooperation with the Council of Europe and other member states.

 Please note that the passport does not replace the certificate / decision on the recognition of studies!

Regarding students

Regarding students

In order to enroll students from Ukraine to Romanian universities, the Ministry of Education was able to approve in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years an additional number of places for universities/higher educational institutions – within 20% of the volume of studies established by the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance of Higher Education for the requested training programs.

Accommodation for pupils and students

For refugees accommodated in the premises of public and private institutions of pre-university education and public and private institutions of higher education, a subsidy for accommodation of 50 lei/refugee/day and food in the amount of 20 lei/refugee/day is provided.

 

This project is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of State. The opinions, findings, and conclusions presented in this page are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State.