Academic guidance

In most cases, educational guidance during primary education is ensured by the class teacher working closely with the children’s parents and the school psychologist.

The National Curriculum includes the curricular area Counselling and Guidance, dedicated to the educational guidance of pupils.

In the case of primary education, the curriculum frameworks stipulate the possibility to allocate, within the school-based curriculum, an hour per week for counselling and guidance. There is also a central curricula offer for this curricular area, approved by an Order of the Minister of Education.

At secondary level, the educational/vocational guidance is ensured through the National Curriculum and delivered by the class teacher, together with pupils’ parents and the school counsellor. The curriculum frameworks allocate one hour per week to this curricular area, for all phases at secondary level (gimnaziu, liceu, arts and trades school, additional year).

For this curricular area there is also a central offer with curricula approved by an order of the minister of education which establish for each phase (gimnaziu, liceu, arts and trades school, additional year) the educational objectives and contents, providing at the same time methodological suggestions which guide the activity of teachers in order to reach the objectives/ to develop the specific skills inb this particular curricular area.

The County School Inspectorates organise a 5-day fair known as The Fair of Your Chances every year. The schools display all the information on their current educational offer (enrolment quota, specialisation of studies, school-based curriculum, etc.) as well as on the quality of the education they provide (educational conditions, resources, internal and external efficiency, relationships established with industry, etc.). School management teams and class teachers facilitate and organize visits for their pupils to the fair in support of their educational guidance.

Student guidance and counselling in vocational and technical education is ensured through:

• The subject Vocational Guidance and Counselling, for the technological path, grades 11 and 12.

• Offices for psychological and pedagogical assistance, organised within schools with more than 800 students and subordinated to the County Centres of Psychological and Pedagogical Assistance (schools with less than 800 students access psychological and pedagogical assistance services provided by other schools).

• County centres of educational assistance and resources, organised in each county.

• Class teachers’ activity, guided by the regulations in force, in relation with parents and representatives of education institutions and local businesses.

• Students’ practical training, conducted in partnership with local businesses, where a major role is played by tutors and students’ direct relation with employees.

Psychological counselling

Children attending pre-primary education benefit from free medical and psychological assistance in consulting rooms in schools or in general state hospitals.

Health care of children in pre-primary education is ensured either through schools’ medical units (existing mostly in urban areas) or through public medical units and is free of charge (including medication).

Kindergartens with prolonged and weekly programme employ nurses to ensure the first-hand health care of the children.

Health care of children in primary education is ensured either through schools’ medical units (existing mostly in urban areas) or through public medical units and is free of charge (including medication).

The Centers for psycho-pedagogical assistance (Centre Judeţene de Asistenţă Psihopedagogică) are organised at the level of each county/ Bucharest as Pre-tertiary education complementary units subordinated to the County School Inspectorates/ School Inspectorate of Bucharest.

In each school with more than 800 pupils psycho-pedagogical assistance units can be organised, according to the existing resources and needs. Schools with less than 800 pupils apply to a psycho-pedagogical assistance unit organised in another school.

Psycho-pedagogical assistance centers (Centre Judeţene de Asistenţă Psihopedagogică) and units ensure through individual and collective activities the psycho-pedagogical monitoring and counselling of the pupils as well as guidance of the teachers and pupils’ parents.

In cooperation with the schools and the local community the psycho-pedagogical assistance centers and units also organise school and professional guidance of the pupils, information and documentation activities, etc.

Career guidance

The tutor teacher has the responsibility to plan, organise and accomplish the activities for the counselling and guidance classes – based on the existing guiding lines, on consultations with the parents and the pupils and according to the pupils’ age and particularities.

Mostly for pupils attending final grades of a given education level, the activities accomplished during the counselling and guidance classes include meetings and debates with representatives of educational institutions and local employers, visits to various institutions, application and interpretation of personality and aptitude tests, etc.

Education institutions send on regular basis detailed information on their educational offer, usually through their teachers/professors.

On these occasions the schools managements organise meetings with all the pupils attending a given final grade.

Specifically for T/VET, the practical training of the pupils performed on a contract basis at different local employers has an important role in their vocational guidance. During the practical training pupils get in touch directly with the employees, acknowledge the work conditions provided understand the requirements of the work and the requested level of initial training get first-hand information on the income and on other details. The efficiency of this guidance is proved by the fact that an important number of the T/VET graduates get their first job in the same firms where they accomplished their practical training. Training-employment and school-industry relations are also ensured through the consultative bodies working at the level of the school and of the county.