The Ministry of Education adopted the Methodology on Romanian language introductory courses for foreign children, which provides useful clarifications on the procedures and responsibilities of schools, school management and school inspectorates concerning the organisation, delivery and monitoring of Romanian language introductory courses for children.

The new methodology is aligned with the country's integration legislation. It sets a total number of 216 hours of language course over the school year (36 weeks), divided into 3 modules (A1; A2; B1) according to CEFR standards. Each child must attend 6 hours of Romanian language training per week. While individual schools are responsible for organising language courses, monitoring and assessment of the work is carried out by school inspectorates via a specifically-appointed inspector.

The steps involved in the procedure are as follows:

• parents/legal guardians send a school enrollment request to the school inspectorate from their place of residence
• the school inspectorates appoint the schools that will organise the Romanian language courses
• children attend both mainstream classes and Romanian language courses (until their previous studies are recognised or, if they don't have proof of previous schooling, until they are tested in key subjects, they are only school 'attendees' and are not entered into official school records)
• children complete the Romanian language introductory course with an evaluation of their skills in understanding verbal communication, conversation, reading and understanding written texts, and writing texts, and are awarded a language certificate
• children are definitively placed in a grade that corresponds with their level of knowledge, provided that they have proved their previous schooling or have completed the relevant tests, and enrolled in the relevant Romanian language course (for those who do not speak Romanian)

Though the methodology refers mainly to Romanian language introductory courses for children, it also amends existing procedures on assessment for foreign children who do not have proof of studies attended/completed abroad, including by introducing the simplified testing procedure for assessing the level of knowledge of mathematics. Unlike current testing procedures, which differentiate between children who are beneficiaries of international protection and other foreign children, the simplified procedure can be applied to all foreign children.

The language course and its manuals, as well as the mainstream school enrollment procedure, are free for all children in Romania, regardless of their legal status.

The methodology document can be accessed online here.