The situation in Romania
Romania shows how decentralisation can work well in education. A key way to improve students’ knowledge and broaden their horizons is through the School-Based Curriculum (Curriculum by School Decision [CDS]). As the name suggests, each school has the power to add various curricula to what they offer, making them fit the specific needs and interests of its students.
The optional subjects offered at the school level have to meet certain criteria. Schools have to make sure the learning activities are varied based on the needs and aspirations of the students. The subjects have to come from any of the educational subjects, making up an educational offer that caters to student interest in a particular field of study. Adding a new subject, in addition to those in the common core curriculum, requires it to be structured around a unifying theme for a specific curricular area or across multiple curricular areas.
The design of the school-based curriculum is made with the students’ interests, the resources of the school, and the needs and specificities of the local community in mind.
This curriculum can take on different forms. It can be an in-depth curriculum, extended curriculum, or optional curriculum. Firstly, an in-depth form of CDS aims to deepen the reference objectives of the core curriculum by adding new reference objectives and content units within the maximum number of hours allocated to a subject. Deepening is mainly used in cases of catch-up, targeting students who haven’t reached the minimum level of the curriculum objectives in previous years. Secondly, for general education, an extended form of CDS aims to extend the objectives and contents of the core curriculum by adding new reference objectives and content units within the maximum number of hours allocated to a subject. It covers the full curriculum. Finally, an optional curriculum is structured as a new school subject, with aims and content different from the compulsory curriculum corresponding to the common core. It allows for a tailored approach to meet the diverse interests and needs of students beyond the mandatory curriculum.
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