Having started on the path to modernisation in
\nthe early 19th century, the Romanian Principalities were beginning
\nto set up institutions based on the western model, and that included education.
\nThe first official mentions of this process referred to literacy and general
\neducation, and are found in the so-called Organic Regulations, the earliest
\nform of constitutional law, issued in 1831. They provided for setting up
\nschools in villages, and charged urban schools with training rural teachers.
\nSchools did exist in some villages before that, but they were set up by the
\nlocal noblemen and landowners, and were aimed at children who worked in the
\nhouseholds of landed gentry. The first state school system appeared in 1838, as
\nhistorian Nicoleta Roman told us: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Everything begins with a passage in the
\nOrganic Regulations, indicating that villages had to have schools, with
\nteaching provided by a deacon or a priest, or a trained teacher. Based on this
\nparagraph, Wallachian ruler Barbu Stirbey formed a team he headed, which
\nincluded Mihalache Ghica, a nobleman of the court, and Petrache Poenaru, a top
\nscientist of the time. They decided to use a British model used in the late 18th
\ncentury, applied in London by John Lancaster. This model had proved effective
\nfor children from poor areas, it was community based, and it relied on older
\nand more educated pupils helping with teaching the younger ones. Mihalache
\nGhica had designed some guidelines for rural education: he issued a memorandum
\ntelling the landowners that they had to build schools on their lands, providing
\nthe building materials. School started in November and ended in March, allowing
\nchildren to help their parents with farming. Also, the memorandum indicated
\nthat it was up to the community to provide for the teacher’s livelihood and
\nexpenses. Each peasant family had to contribute two lei, the local currency,
\nper year, as well as two kilograms of food. Later on, an additional provision
\nwas introduced, exempting teachers from doing farm work for landowners during
\nthe school months.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Since this was a dual financing system,
\ninvolving both landowners and villagers, modern schools in the rural
\nenvironment were slow in taking root. Here is Nicoleta Roman again: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There were two extremes at the time: noblemen
\nwho rejected the idea altogether, but also some noblemen, like Gheorghe
\nMagheru, who had not one, but two teachers on his properties. In fact, he
\nproposed that one larger school cover several villages at the same time. There
\nwas one problem, however: there were villages reporting to the authorities that
\nthey had more schools than they actually did, in order to get more money from
\nthe state. In reality, at the same time, teachers, were not getting paid on
\ntime, reasons for which many of them quit teaching altogether. Some buildings
\ndid not get enough money from the noblemen for upkeep, forcing the community to
\nmove it into a less appropriate building. That is in broad lines the early
\nimage. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Add to this the fact that peasants resented
\ncompulsory public education, because it kept their children from helping with
\nfarm work. Nicoleta Roman: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Promoting literacy could not be the task of
\nlandowners only, the community had to be open to the idea as well. People were
\nstill dependent on farming, and did not see the point of schooling for their
\nchildren. They started seeing the benefits of education only in the late 19th
\ncentury, when the system of vocational schools started taking shape. Most of
\nthe students in vocational schools back then came from a rural environment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In spite of the hurdles, official statistics
\nshow a slow but steady increase in the number of children attending school. The
\neducational reform in the United Principalities was interrupted by the 1848
\nrevolution, but was resumed in 1853, after the Crimean War. The situation
\nstabilised and improved a lot after the union of 1859, with Alexandru Ioan Cuza
\ntaking the throne. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Having started on the path to modernisation in the early 19th century, the Romanian Principalities were beginning to set up institutions based on the western model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":168784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-168783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n