A history of education in Romania

Macgregor-Hastie, Roy

Abstract

This study of education in Romania begins with an investigation of the geographical factors affecting the Romanian people's evolution in general, and the emphasis on their Romanity in particular. The early history of Dacia is outlined, as a well developed agro-military society comes into being. The Roman conquest by Trajan leads to a fusion of the culture of conquerer and conquered, with the Latin language supreme and substantial Roman settlement. After the formal withdrawal of the Romans, Christianity comes from Rome rather than from Constantinople, reinforcing a Romanity which is one of the characteristics of the emergence of the voivodats of Moldavia and Wallachia, in the twelfth century, though the Orthodox Church has overwhelmed the Roman Catholic. In Transylvania, the Roman Catholic tradition survives under Magyar suzerainty. The Romanity of the culture of all three provinces survives Slav, Magyar and Turkish oppression, and finds expression in the translation of religious texts, into Romanian, and the setting up of Romanian language schools in the seventeenth century . During the eighteenth century, public, primary and grammar schools prepare a minority for higher education in France, and after the de facto independence of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859, education at all levels develops, French influence prevailing. At the end of the century, Spiru Haret lays the foundations for universal public education, and after the addition of Transylvania to the core of the reformed State in 1918, a Greater Romania makes slow progress, hindered by political and military demands on the budget. Liberation in 1944 by the Soviet Red Army ensures a period of sovietisation of every aspect of life, but after 1965, the Romanity of institutions and people is once again stressed by Nicolae Ceausescu. 1968 marks the beginning of a new 'Romanian way', and important statutes, examined here in detail, point the way forward. The author's visits to Romania in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977 are reported and the condition of educational institutions described.

Citation

Macgregor-Hastie, R. A history of education in Romania. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4216990

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Sep 7, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 23, 2023
• Keywords: Education
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4216990
• Additional Information: Department of Education, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Jan 1, 1977