How to learn in the “Lazăr” and “Șincai” pilot high schools in the Capital. XII students go to school only 3 days a week

For years, high schools and parents repeat the same chorus: in the last year of high school, the school syllabus forces children to juggle many subjects, when their main concerns are the BAC and admission to the faculty. A pilot program implemented in a few schools in the country came up with a solution: compression of non-bank subjects until March, and from then until the end of the school year, students go to school only three days a week, exclusively for exam (exam. The rest of the disciplines are made in the asynchronous system (mainly projects and homework). At the National College “Gheorghe Lazăr”, it has been learned for four years, and at the National College “Gheorghe Șincai” of three. In addition, at “Șincai”, the pilot implemented, with a new program, and in classes IX-XI: students do not have 16 subjects simultaneously, but 8-9, in 6-week modules, with an emphasis on understanding and application. The change was not easy for teachers at all, but the effects in the class were visible: more concentrated students, in -depth subject and a reduced need for consistent themes.

“Lazăr” College, the first school-pilot school in Romania

The pilot program was first implemented in “Lazăr” in the school year 2021-2022, in response to a reality observed in the last year of high school. Professor Ionela Neagoe, the director of the college, noticed that many children were making medical exemptions and staying home to prepare exclusively for baccalaureate subjects. It considers that it is a hypocrisy to claim that the students of the 12th grade should be interested in all 17 disciplines, so it proposed the formalization of this “silent reality”.

Success quickly attracted the attention of other high schools in the country, says the director, and the Ministry of Education has begun to receive more and more derogation applications. In a short time, the model of the National College “Gheorghe Lazăr” was taken over as an example of good practice, becoming an argument for the extension of the pilots to four years and for their inclusion in the programs funded by PNRR.

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