All in One. Fairness, Neutrality and Conservatism. A Case Study form Romania

PROSPECTS quarterly review of

comparative education

NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE

OPEN FILE

GENDER EQUALITY I A N D EDUCATION FOR ALL I

GUEST EDITOR: DUNCAN WILSON

(UNESCO) INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF EDUCATION

Vol. XXXIV, no. 1, March 2004

ALL IN ONE: FAIRNESS, -

N E U T R A L I T Y A N D C O N S E R V A T I S M

- A CASE S T U D Y OF R O M A N I A ’

Mihaela Miroiu

In the past decade, Romania has passed through a profound educational reform. The main outcomes concern tangible progress concerning regulations and the curriculum. In spite of these impressive changes, gender sensitivity and gender-fair policies have been largely absent from objectives, subjects, textbooks, assessment and evaluation. The genderless, neutral approach to education masks conservative content and has lifelong consequences for both sexes. This is the reason for the title of the paper: we have an ‘all in one’ education system - fair from a quantitative point of view, neutral in terms of principles, but conservative in content.

Gender fair (strategies, policies, education) indicates approaches that are capable of promoting the idea that both genders are worthwhile, that human rights apply equally to both, and celebrate difference as sources of human richness, not as defi- ciencies. Gender-fair education also means creating equal opportunities in education, including equal opportunities to learn about gender experiences.

Gender sensitivity is the capacity to perceive gender issues, receptivity to gender aspects and gender injustice (being aware of sexism and patriarchy and, at the

Let me begin by explaining the basic concepts I use in this paper.

Original language: English

Mihaela Miroiu (Romania) Professor of Political Science at the National School for Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest. Author and editor of a large number of books on feminist theory and gender, transition theory and political ethics. She co-ordinates masters’ students in gender and public policy.

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86 Mibuelu Miroiu

same time, having the will to promote gender partnership rather than gender dom- ination).

A gender-neutral approach means the tendency to ignore gender differences as being irrelevant and thus to perpetuate stereotypes as they exist.

Gender blindness is the incapacity to perceive gender aspects at all. The last two approaches can be sources of gender conservatism (the tendency to keep gender relations as they are; to consider them as unproblematic and ‘natural’) or, even worse, ways of promoting sexism in the name of ‘tradition’.

Finally, gender potential is used to suggest that certain approaches have the necessary framework for gender sensitivity and gender-fair education, even if just in an implicit manner. They can therefore be used as entry points for gender-fair policies.

Quantitat ive indicators

Enrolment in the education system is relatively high (overall enrolment is 66.5%, with 67.8% for females). It is important to note that, while in primary school and gymnasia the number of males is slightly greater, females dominate in high schools ( 5 4%).

Levels of dropout in primary and secondary school are not very high (about 0.8%). Some 2.8% of children aged 7-14 drop out of the school. However, the level of repetition is higher for males than females (for example, in secondary school 5.1% of males repeat classes, while only 2.3% of females do so). Literacy levels are also relatively high: the adult literacy rzite is 97% (male, 98.6%; female, 95.5%), with a proportion of 4.5% of adult women illiterate.

Data reveal gender differentials at achievement levels.2 Girls have better results with, on average, 5.24% higher grades. There are specific fields where girls dominate: languages, social sciences, economics and arts. Boys have better results in the scientific fields, such as mathematics, computers, physics, but not chemistry and biology. Boys are more successful in fields like religion and also technology, especially in elec- tronics, construction and forestry. Girls dominate in industrial chemistry, food industry, the textile industry and horticulture. The proportions of dominance of one sex in specific fields tend to be constant over time.

The Romanian education system is highly feminized in terms of its staff.’ Of a pre-school staff of 34,023, only thirty-five are male; in primary and secondary schools, 110,634 staff are female, with only 36,764 male; in high schools, more than 39,000 out of almost 61,000 staff are female. However, when we consider decision-makers, things change: female principals/deputies represent only 56% of the total, and of the thirteen directoddeputy directors in the Ministry of Education and Research (MER), only two are women.

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A case study of Romania 87

Qua1 i t a t ive indicators

E D U C A T I O N POLICY

Several statutes concerning the organization, co-ordination and assessment of education in Romania contain the principles of non-discrimination and equal opportunities. The Educational Law (1995) and the Statute on the organization and functioning of the pre-academic level (The Statute) (2002) provide that:

All citizens have equal access to all levels of education, without discrimination concerning social or material conditions, sex, race, nationality, political opinions andlor religion. The educational process should respect human rights; should promote tolerance and freedom of opinion. None of the activities within the education system should negatively affect the dignity of the people. Possession of obscene material is not permitted within educational institutions, nor is the expression of aggressive or denigrating behaviour and language towards colleagues or teachers.

With the exception of non-discrimination and the principle of equal opportunities, the basic norms are not gender sensitive. They tend to be gender neutral in the general formulation and gender biased in the terms used for specifics: e.g. pre-school teachers are named in feminine terms, irrespective of level; managers are named in masculine terms.

The Equal Opportunities Law (2002) provides that the Ministry of Education and Research is responsible for co-ordination, monitoring and assessment of the promo- tion of equal opportunities at all levels. Its responsibility is to supervise the publication of educational materials that do not contain discriminatory elements and do not promote negative stereotypes concerning social roles.

The national survey Gender barometer (2002) reveals that there are differences in the value attached to specific goals in the education of girls and boys within families:

For girls, the most valued goals are diligence (53%), obedience (46%) and discipline (43%). For boys, the relative weight of importance of goals is discipline (61%), diligence (35%) and obedience (33%).

Freedom of choice (24% for boys and 16% for girls) and independence (16% for boys, 8% for girls) obtained very low values. In the view of the present author, as well as of others, the education system must overcome the conservatism of the general population by changing the hierarchy of values within public education.

C U R R I C U L U M C O N T E N T , M E T H O D S A N D STRATEGIES

Some optional subjects (0-2 hours) may have gender potential: ethics, sexual education; artsltapestry design; sports/aerobics; technologyltailoring, woodcarving, gastronomy. Compulsory subjects (language and communication, social sciences, arts)

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TABLE 1. Time distribution of subjects

Number Language Sciences Social Arts Sports Technology Practical of hours and com- sciences abilities per field munication

Primary school 7-9 h 4-6 h 2-5 h 2-3 h 2-3 h 0 1-2 h Secondary school 6-9 h 6-10 h 3-7 h 2-3 h 1-2 h 1-2 h 0

Note: In some schools that concentrate on arts or sport, the number of hours for subjects is adjusted to this profile.

usually related to girls’ preferences4 have more hours than those preferred by boys (sciences, sports, technology). The hours for optional subjects are gender balanced.

Minimum learning objectives, expected outcomes and competencies: The general expected objectives, outcomes and competencies of the national curriculum do not contain specific references to gender, and overall they are gender neutral. However, the general terms used are in their masculine form and this can represent a premise for a gender- biased outcome. There is very little education for domestic life, for care and for empathy.

Gender-relevant objectives: Flexibility: the educational process should be adaptable to the real needs of each pupil. Matching learning contents to everyday l;fe realig and to the pupil’s interests and aptitudes. The possibility o f the school choices, oriented towards personal fulfilment.

Outcomes and competencies o f general education: Explicitly gender-aware approaches are lacking, but some have gender p ~ t e n t i a l : ~

Education for private life;

Formation and use of critical judgement: analysing gender stereotypes; Participation in the social life of the school and local community;

Knowing and respecting human rights: women’s rights; Understanding and evaluating interdependence of identity and otherness; Knowing about different social roles and their implications for everyday life: the inclusion of gender roles and gender partnerships (sharing public and domestic tasks). Development of positive attitudes toward self and toward others: tolerance, responsibility: including care and co-operation; Understanding the social and cultural environment (family, social norms, linguistic codes, historical traditions, etc.) influences self-perception and behaviour, as well as other matters; a critical approach concerning gender norms and traditions;

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Knowing and analysing opportunities offered by different vocational routes, according to individual aptitudes; overcoming gender stereotypes concerning careers.6

I

Gender-relevant objectives by subject: The general objectives are excessively theoretical, hence there is no gender perspective in educational practice and activities. There is, however, some gender potential in the objectives of the following subjects. Home economics activities: pre-primary school level recommended the following activ-

At the primary school level: Sciences: learning how to use household appliances. Mathematics: estimating calculus starting from practical situations. Foreign languages: oral communication capacities, practice in conversation and rela-

Practical abilities: role-playing within a group. Civic education (all levels): the development of communication skills and co-opera-

tion, while accepting pluralism and difference (with the potential of including gender differences); positive attitudes toward ‘himself’ and toward the other.

Technology (7th and 8th grade): knowing and using the technologies of everyday life; understanding the ethical consequences of the development of science and technology for people and the environment (with the gender potential to include reproductive technologies).

The remainder of the subjects do not contain even potentially gender-sensitive contents or recommendations. In the 9th grade there is an isolated example of a subject devel- oped with gender awareness: civic culture, where gender discrimination is widely

ities: dusting, table arranging and cleaning, plant care.

tionships.

I discussed.

T E A C H I N G METHODS

The methodologicalguidelinesfor teachers published by the National Curriculum Centre provide for the following methods:

Free expression of pupils’ own ideas; Team dialogue; Co-operation for problem-solving and team work; Pupils’ involvement in personal learning projects; Teacher as facilitator and partner in the learning process; Evaluation acknowledges individual achievement in the learning process.

Recommended learning methods are: putting forward a hypothesis, debate, data inter- pretation, project development, portfolio building for different subjects, taking into account economic, social and cultural aspects; bibliographic work and research, role- play and simulations. The gender potential of these methods cannot be achieved without specific gender-sensitive training for teachers. Most teachers still practise traditional methods based on rote and memory. Very few were trained to use new educational methodologies and curricula.

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LEARNING C O N T E N T BY SUBJECT

The contents of textbooks are gender neutral. It is evident that education for public life is far more important than education for private life: the general education system aims at forming good citizens, but devotes little attention to becoming parents, spouses, brothers, sisters and friends.

Subjects with gender-sensitive potential: Romanian Language and literature: acceptance of personal points of views concerning

school life, one’s own life, uses of self-identity information (for 1st and 2nd grades).

Foreign Languages: family, house, scenes from daily life. Sciences: the development of interest in a natural balance encouraging the develop-

ment of life (4th grade). Civic education: myself, self-esteem and trust in others, respect, courage, fear, goodness,

meanness, sincerity, family (3rd grade); human relations like the family, collab- oration, competition, protest, assumption; limiting situations: aggression, accidents, death, natural calamities, personal problems or group problems like disease, famine, loneliness, mistrust (4th grade); family as a social group and roles in contemporary families (7th grade); authority in private and public spheres (8th grade).

History o f the Romanians: history of the family, daily life in the inter-war period (4th grade); women’s status in the Middle Ages (6th grade); democracy and totali- tarianism, including female emancipation (7th grade).

History and traditions o f ethnic minorities: traditions have gender potential (6th and 7th grades).

Geography humans and places (6th grade); the study of population can include a gender- sensitive perspective (8th grade).

Practical abilities for the primary level: topics on the Christmas tree, breakfast, presents, clothes, dolls, fences, menus, use of electric tools.

Sex education: part of the compulsory curriculum for health education and is provided for one hour per week - not sex segregated. The main topics are: hygiene, menstruation, sex education, pregnancy, family planning, sexual transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS, alcoholism, smoking and drugs. Courses are taught by doctors, physiologists, police officers, parents of disabled children and non-governmental organizations.

Textbooks and other teachingllearning materials

Several studies on textbooks and teaching/learning materials reveal gender problems. Texts are generally gender neutral, but their content is a more significant promoter of gender stereotypes than are c ~ r r i c u l a . ~

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LANGUAGE

The Romanian language is a Latin one. It does not have a gender-neutral form; all forms are either masculine or feminine. The generic term for humans is masculine and is the equivalent of ‘man’. The term ‘person’ is feminine, but it is seldom used. The feminine term of a profession, especially one with a prestigious status, is also seldom used. From the linguistic point of view, textbooks are masculine as generic references are made through ‘man’ and ‘he’: teacher, colleague, brother, worker, scientist. Terms may have both masculine and feminine forms, but the masculine is used more frequently. For example, the masculine form for teacher is used over five times more frequently than the feminine in language and communication textbooks for secondary school, even though most of the teaching staff is feminine.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Of 106 textbooks analysed, the percentage of the pictures illustrating girls/women is very low: 12.8%. The dominant model is masculine. At the level of 1st and 2nd grades: 24% of pictures contain images of girls/women; this drops to 12% from 3rd to 6th grade; 11% at 7th to 9th grade and 10% at 10th and 12th grades. Of 5,505 images containing people, 3,281 include men and boys, 756 girls and women. In the mathematics textbooks, images are abstract: of 2,579 images, 60% do not contain images of people. For other science subjects, of 1,526 images, 626 represent men, 190 women, and only 1% of those containing men illustrate domestic life. Nevertheless, many textbook covers contains images of both sexes (45%).

CONTENT^

Characters: The most relevant examples are language and communication and social sciences. Of 4,318 human images, 33.2% are females and 64.8% are male. In language and communication, 431 female characters appear as mothers and 264 male characters as fathers. Old texts exist presenting women in the home and men in public life. The activities described perpetuate the same traditional roles: 56% of characters are passive. The dominant verbs are static ones: sit, look, sleep; rather than active: running, working. Active characters (44%) are fighting, walking, talking, working and dancing. They are mostly male (79.8%), as are passive figures (89.8%).

Success& models are masculine: There are almost no successful female models in textbooks. Textbooks for 3rd to 12th grade contain only 2.2% of women working, 1.2% for 3rd and 4th grade, 4.8% for 7th to 9th grade, and 1.9% for 10th to 12th grade. The idea that men are the only creators is directly and indirectly presented. For example, in curricula for the social sciences at the primary and secondary levels, of 5,620 images selected, 1,306 concern recognizable trades, of which 1,290 are performed by men and only sixteen by women.

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Gender roles are traditional and old Women usually sew, weave and bake, while men cut wood, hoe and mow. Women’s success is their family; men’s success is their career. The gender relationship promoted is a static one and sex segregation is more frequent than gender co-operation. Specific gender experiences are invisible; there is no mention of pregnancy and giving birth. The biological characteristics of both sexes are ignored. It is a non-emancipatory, neutral and disengaged presentation of gender. Textbooks do not mention women’s double burden: domestic work and domestic violence.

Gender differences are the model of the gender approach in textbooks. Masculine and feminine ideal types are constructed: isolated, predetermined and conservative. What women do, men don’t do: men are not placed in domestic situations - only 1% of images picture them in such a way; women are mostly presented as mothers, grandmothers, sisters. Of 16,600 lines analysed in language and communication (primary level), only eight lines featured women in public life and three lines men in the home (out of 415 pages). Textbooks promote complementary gender roles of family responsibilities. For 3rd to 5th grade, the eight textbooks analysed present only thirty- five situations in which women are in the public sphere and/or men in the home sphere. For 6th to 8th grade, in thirty-seven textbooks analysed, only 105 such non-traditional situations are found. Of 3,690 problems found in mathematics and science textbooks, just 704 invoke situations with people and 636 of them present traditional situations: mother in the kitchen, father pursuing a career. From 7th to 9th grade, the twenty-five textbooks analysed contain five non-traditional situations. In the cut- ricula for mathematics and sciences, of 1,966 problems, only 282 contain people - none of them are in non-traditional roles.

T E X T B O O K A U T H O R S

Textbooks for primary school were written by 404 authors, of whom 210 were women (52%). Women dominate in language and communication, science, civic education and arts. Men dominate in religion, chemistry, secondary-school mathematics, physics and history. Women represent 58% of authors in language and communication, 59% in mathematics and 39% in the social sciences. Textbooks for high school were written by 1,655 authors, of whom 707 were women (43.14%).

Content analysis of the textbooks reveals that women authors promote gender traditional stereotypes or gender-neutral perspectives. There is no direct correlation between the gender of the author and the level of gender fairness promoted in the texts.”

T E X T B O O K S BY SUBJECT

Sciences: Mathematics problems are gender conservative. Most problems containing gender relations promote gender stereotypes: women housekeepers run the family finances; women are not associated with scientific progress.

The evaluators argue that girls fear mathematics because they have more devel- oped relational abilities that are not contained in the mathematic’s problems and that these problems do not have any relevance in everyday life. ‘The lack of preparation

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for everyday life is the main problem of all textbooks analysed’ (Grunberg & StefZmescu, 2002, p. 161). This conclusion is significant for the textbooks at the secondary level.

Romanian language and literature: The main characters are all masculine. Masculinity dominates in promoting development. Images are static, texts are old, archaic, not grounded in reality: women dominate domestic and educational activities, while men dominate scientific, communicative and physical activities in the public sphere.

History A girl’s story is mostly absent at the primary level. At the secondary level, a ‘way of life’ history exists, with consequent gender potential. In history textbooks, women are almost invisible, do not co-operate with men and are engaged in different tasks. Children do not learn that gender roles change over time and place. Women are presented as the wives and mothers of leaders, involved in charity work and taking care of the wounded. Taking into account the large minority of the Rroma population whose history is almost invisible in the curriculum, we can notice that, given also the patriarchal nature of the Rroma community, Rroma women face a double exclu- sion in Romanian education. They simply aren’t there, even as the mothers of history makers.

Geography Textbooks are mostly focused on physical geography, not on human geography. The relationship between physical geography and humans is ignored. When the topic is population, gender is ignored.

Arts: There are only male composers and artists; only fathers that encourage their sons to compose and create. The dominant perception is that women are muses, men are creators.

CONCLUSIONS

The ideal person presented in the textbooks is a-gendered, intelligent, well-trained, pro- fessionally oriented, with competitive skills, not at all concerned about home life, but very much interested in the public one. Alongside this ideal type, textbooks teach and perpetuate gender stereotypes.

The lack of gender sensitivity represents a form of curricular sexism: there is no specific space for gender-fair or gender-sensitive issues in titles, topics and messages. There is some potential for gender fairness, but it depends on the level of training achieved by each teacher and on hidher gender awareness (Grunberg & Stefhescu, 2002, pp. 163-164).

Assessment methods

In primary education, evaluation is by qualification (performance descriptors on pupils’ progress or lack of progress) and not by grades. At other educational levels, evaluation is measured by figures from 10 to 1. As mentioned in the National Report on

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Education f i r All (Birzea, 1999), pupils’ school achievements are influenced by psycho/intellectual development, motivation, aspirations, family and school environment. The standard studies do not mention gender-related factors.

In School at a cross-roads (see particularly Dima & Voicu, 2002), research con- ducted in 35 1 national primary and secondary schools and assessments made by teachers revealed that there are differences in evaluating interest for school and ability to learn for girls and boys. The differences significantly favour girls. In 5.4% of cases, teachers evaluate minimal interest in school for girls, while 15.2% said the same about boys. Medium interest in school is different for girls and boys: 54.9% of cases concerned girls and 61.9% of cases boys. For high and very high interest, the proportions are different: 30.0% of teachers say that girls are very interested in school, and 5.8% says they have high interest, while only 15.3% of teachers say boys are very interested in school, and a small percentage (1.8%) of teachers say that boys have a high interest.

The ability of girls and boys to learn are assessed as different: 4.3% of teachers consider that girls have a low ability to learn, while 9.2% of teachers say the same about boys. The medium and high ability to learn of girls and boys perceived by teachers is slightly different: 55.7% saying that girls have medium ability and 60.2% saying the same about boys; 29.8% of teachers say that girls have a high ability to learn and 21.9% of teachers the same about boys. The difference in evaluating appears at the level of very high ability: 4.7% of teachers say that girls have very high ability to learn, and only 2.3% of teachers say the same about boys.

Performance scales for all subjects in general education are not gender sensitive. Evaluation guidelines do not contain recommendations against gender-biased evaluation. But there is a gender-biased problem: girls are always favoured in evaluation because they are mote disciplined, while boys are more punished because they are undis- ciplined. This problem can be solved by a specific technique of evaluation and by making clearer the distinction between the evaluation process and the punishment/ reward process.

Teacher education : cur r i cul um , methods and management

Primary schoolteachers are trained in teacher colleges. Secondary and high-school teachers are trained in universities. Each university has a department for pedagogical training. The departments offer mandatory subjects such as pedagogy, the psychology of education, teaching practice and two optional subjects. None of these has a specific gender dimension. In this situation, gender sensitivity and gender awareness depend on the individual education of the teacher. According to Law 202/2OO2, the Ministry of Education and Research (MER) shall promote gender-sensitive training for teachers. Nevertheless, the MER does not yet hold data on gender-sensitivity training.

Every five years, teachers must attend a training programme organized by the MER and affiliated institutions: Houses of the Pedagogical Personnel and Centres for Curricular Development. None of these training courses is gender sensitive.

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Between 2001 and 2002, 5,086 teachers attended the training. Based on these courses, methodological guidelines for each subject were published. The methodological guidelines affirm the principle of equal opportunities. The main objectives of the training are:

The personalization of teaching methodology by adapting it to the needs of pupils. The elaboration of curricula at the school level.

The possible gender sensitivity of teaching methodologies may be lost without clear guidelines.

At the local level, inspectorates monitor teaching activities. Gender-sensitive training for inspectors is absent. This may lead to the conclusion that gender sensitivity within the guiding methodological principles is, in fact, unexploited.

School organization/management

The Romanian system is co-educational at all levels of general education. Facilities are the same, 'for better and for worse', for both girls and boys.

National research from 2002 (Vlzsceanu et al., 2002; see particularly Dima & Voicu, 2002) included information on facilities in urban and rural schools. This information was gathered in a questionnaire sent to school directors who were asked to evaluate conditions for teaching and learning: 4.6% considered conditions not at all suitable for teaching and learning; 1 1.7% unsuitable; 2 1.4% satisfactory; and 54.3% suitable. Only in 21.1% of cases was sanitation recent. In 60% of cases schools had no running water; 9.1% of schools had a medical centre; 70.9% a doctor to call in case of emer- gency; but 19.4% had no medical centre, nor a doctor on call. In 60.6% of cases, there were no proper sports facilities, but in 73.1 Yo of cases there was a playground; for 66.0% there was no assembly room; in 38.9% cases the school had no library; 93.1% were not connected to the Internet;" only 22.6% of schools had a computer labora- tory and used it properly. In 28.0% of cases materials necessary for teaching were not available. In major towns, schools have medical centres; staff conduct periodic medical checks, vaccinating, approve exemption from sports and study in case of sickness or other disability, provide health education courses on hygiene, sex education, con- traceptives, menstruation, pregnancy, STDs, HIV/AIDS and drugs. In cities, school councillors provide specific services.

SCHOOL REGULATIONS

There are school regulations concerning: Teenage pregnancy: studentdpupils in 'special situations like marriage and child birth' are encouraged to finish the cycle of education (The Statute, Art. 86)." Teacher pregnancy and childcare: teachers have the right to interrupt teaching activities and to maintain their position while taking care of young children up to 3 years old (Statues, Art. 106). According to the Law of Parental Leave of 1999,


Mibaeh Miroiu 96

the norms mentioned apply also to fathers, but there are very few men who ask for parental leave. The general prejudice is that men who apply for such leave have problems with their manhood. Delinquent behaviour: no one may possess or distribute obscene or porno- graphic materials in educational institutions, nor shall anyone denigrate or behave aggressively towards fellow colleagues or teachers (Art. 102). Sexual or other abuse by teachers: ‘the personnel employed within an educational institution should behave respectfully towards students, colleagues and parents’. The Equal Opportunities Law” (Art. 10) defines sexual harassment in the work place as a discriminatory practice and provides for criminal prosecu- tion. The employer, in this case the MER, must give notice to its employees of the provisions of this law.

AS a matter of principle, these provisions are gender fair in that they do not make any distinction between genders in providing those rights.

FLEXIBILITY OF S C H O O L H O U R S

There are no provisions concerning cultural practices/traditions with regard to boys and girls. The only provisions concerning cultural practices are access to education in the language of ethnic minorities and holidays for the most important religious events of official religions.

S T U D E N T PARTICIPATION

The Statute (2002) provides that pupils, no matter whether boys or girls, have the right to represent their classmates in the school council. Members of the council of pupils take part in the school managerial council. Pupils and students have the right to association in organizations concerning issues of science, culture, art, sports, and civic education and to create their own space for initiative and creativity. They have the right to publish or edit magazines. Extracurricular activities are gender fair. The choice is very limited in villages and in slums, because of very low budgets.

D E C I S I O N - M A K I N G

In the MER, there are twenty-nine decision-makers for general education of whom five are women (17.24%). The gender distributions of the positions in the MER are the following: Minister: 1 man;13 State Secretary: 1 man; General Directors: female - 1, male - 4; Deputy Directors: female - 1, male - 7; Heads of the Departments: female - 1, male - 6. At the district level the main decision makers are inspectors: total - 493; female - 249 (50.5%).

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EVALUATI 0 N A N D M 0 N I T 0 R I N G 0 F G EN D ER- S E N S I T I VE STRATEGIES

The Ministry of Education and Research has the mission of educating students in conformity with the principle of equal opportunities and is obliged to promote textbooks, university courses and guidelines for application of curricula free of gender discrimination or negative stereotypes. The ministry co-ordinates, monitors and assesses the process of inclusion and implementation of equal opportunities in the curricula of institutions within its ambit. All of these provisions can be found in the text of the Equal Opportunities Law (Articles 14, 15 and 27). Given the recent entry into force of this statute, the MER has yet to organize monitoring and evaluation activities with a focus on gender sensitivity.

Until now, most evaluation and monitoring of gender-sensitive strategies within education has been done by independent specialists, by several think-tanks and non- governmental organizations: Ana Society for Feminist Analyses; FILIA-Centre for Curricula Development and Gender Studies; The Education Centre 2000+; The Centre Partnership for Equality; and Step by Step. All of these are in Bucharest. The Institute for Educational Sciences (a national institute) has taken into consideration the gender perspective in its activities, but did not make explicit gender-sensitive policy recommendations.

Conclusion

The Romanian education system is co-educational at all levels of general education. With the exception of the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sex within the teaching and learning process and the principle of equal opportunities for both sexes, the legislative acts and the educational policies are not gender sensitive. They tend to be more gender neutral in the general formulation and gender biased in the content.

General education is overwhelmingly feminized in terms of teaching staff and relatively feminized when considering principals and authors of curricula and textbooks. The education system seems to be girl-friendly if we take into account repetition, dropout, achievement and performance in different subjects, as well as the proportion of different subjects. Teachers’ opinions favour girls in terms of learning abilities and motivation. The classical sex segregation of subjects remains intact: girls are better in languages, social sciences and arts; boys are better in sciences and technologies.

Facilities are the same - for better or worse - irrespective of gender. Textbooks are a stronger promoter of the gender stereotypes than the curriculum,

which is rather gender neutral. The lack of gender sensitivity represents a form of curricular sexism in the sense that there is no specific space for gender fairness or gender sensitivity in subject titles, topics and messages. The interest in gender themes is random in the objectives of curricula and textbooks.

Specific gender experiences are invisible. There is a non-emancipatory, neutral and disengaged presentation of gender: textbooks do not mention the double burden on

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women (as a professional and as a house-keeper), domestic violence or single-parent problems. Content analysis of the textbooks reveals that female authors promote gender traditional stereotypes or gender-neutral perspectives; thus there is no direct correlation between the gender of the author and the level of gender fairness promoted in the texts.

The general education system seeks to form good citizens, but does little to prepare parents, spouses, partners, brothers, sisters and friends.

There is little room for gender-sensitive evaluation and training and for gender- fair policies. At the moment, independent experts and organizations conduct most of the process of evaluation and monitoring of gender-sensitive strategies within education as well as in making proposals for gender-fair educational policies.

Notes

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8. 9.

10. 11.

12.

13.

The author expresses her gratitude to her assistant Ioana Borza for her significant col- laboration. The author also thanks Daniela Ion and Irina Stanciugelu for their help in collecting data at the level of the Ministry of Education and Research and to Duncan Wilson for his contribution in editing the final version of the article. The Ministry of Education and Research does not have data concerning achievement and the level of performance by subjects for general education. Every year, there are competitions at national level for each subject studied in secondary and high-school level. I relied on data on the final exam at secondary level and on the high-school level for the year 2001-2002. For subjects, I used the results for the national competitions on subjects for the high-school level. Once feminized, a profession has lower salaries and status, as is very well demonstrated by Pasti (2003). See the references, especially those by Stefiimescu, Grunberg and Miroiu. I shall mention what I consider to be a gender-fair entry point policy. Based on National Curriculum (NC), 1998 and National Report on Education f i r All. Romania (BPrzea, 1999). The presentation is based on research by Grunberg & Miroiu, 1997; Stefmescu & Miroiu, 2001; Grunberg & SteFmescu, 2002. See Grunberg & Stefiinescu, 2002. In the same way that there was no correlation between gender-awareness policies and the gender of the Minister of Education. Data refer to 2001-2002. Regulamentul de organizare si functionare a unitatilor de invatamant preuniversitar [The Statute on the Organization and Functioning of the General Education Level], Monitorul oficial, 1 3 1 / 1 9.02.2002. Legea nr. 202/19.04. 2002 privind egalitatea de Banse intre femei Si birbati [Law of Equal Opportunities for Women and Men], Monitorul oficial, 301/08.02, 2002. Between December 2000 and July 2003, the Head of the Ministry of Education and Research was a woman, but she did not promote gender policies.

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References and bibliography

Books and articles

Dima, A.M.; Voicu, B. 2002. Prelucrarea datelor [Data processing]. In: Vlisceanu, L. et al., eds.

Dragomir, 0.; Balan, E.; Stefan, C. 2002. Formarea elevilor pentru o viati personals din per- spectiva privatit%ji [Pupils education for personal life from the private perspective]. In: Vlssceanu, L. et al., eds.

Grunberg, L., ed. 200 1. Good practice in promoting gender equity in higher education in Central and Eastern Europe. Bucharest: UNESCO-CEPES.

Grunberg, L.; Miroiu, M., eds. 1997. Gen ,ri educarie [Gender and education]. Bucharest: A d .

Grunberg, L.; Stefimescu, D.O. 2002. Manifestki implicite Fi explicite ale genului in programele 8i manualele $colare [Explicit and implicit presence of gender in textbooks and the curriculum]. In: Vlhceanu, L. et al., eds.

Miroiu, A,, ed. 1998. fnvZqZmantu1 romanesc azi [Romanian education today]. Iagi, Romania: Polirom.

Miroiu, M. 2003. Guidelines for promoting gender equity in higher education. Bucharest: UNESCO-CEPES.

Novak, C. 2002. inv?+im2ntul de bazl in perioada 1990-2000 [General education between 1990-2000]. In: Vlisceanu, L. et al., eds.

Pasti, V. 2003. Ultima inegalitate [The last inequality]. Iagi, Romania: Polirom. Stefgnescu, D.; Miroiu, M., eds. 2001. Gen si politici educationale [Gender and educational

policies]. Bucharest: Step-by-step. Vlisceanu, L. et al., eds. 2002. Scoala la rascruce. Schimbare si continuitate in curriculumul invata-

mantului obligatoriu. Studiu de impact [School at a crossroads: change and continuity in the curriculum of the general education. Evaluation study]. Iagi, Romania: Polirom.

Statistics

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Birzea, C., ed. 1999. National report on Education for All: Romania (NREA). Bucharest: Ministry of National Education, Institute of Educational Sciences.

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National report on human development, Romania, 2001-2001. New York, NY: UNDP, 2002. makers, principals, national competitions for high-schools: 2003. Bucharest.

(Data based on information provided by the National Institute of Statistics, 2002.)

La ws

Legea Invatamantului [The Education Law]. Legea Nr. 84/24, iulie 1995 publicata in Monitorul of;cial, U05.0.1996.

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100 Mihaela Miroiu

Legea privind Statutul Personalului Didactic [The Law on Teaching Staff 1. Statutes Legea, 12811997.

Regulamentul de organizare si functionare a unitatilor de invatamant preuniversitar [The Statute on the Organization and Functioning of the General Education Level]. Monitorul oficial, 13 1/ 19.02.2002.

Legea nr. 202/19.04. 2002 privind egalitatea de sanse intre femei gi birbati [Law of Equal Opportunities for Women and Men]. Monitorul ofrcial, 301108.02, 2002.

The Law Concerning the Prevention and Sanction of all Forms of Discrimination. Legea nr. 48/16.01, 2002, Monitorul ojcial, 69131.01. 2002.

Oficial documents

Curriculum National pentru inv2jimdntul obligatoriu [National curriculum for compulsory education]. Bucharest: Consiliul National pentru Curriculum - Ministerul Educaiiei National, 1998.

Curriculum National - Programe polare pentru invZjZmdntul gimnazial [National curriculum - school curriculum for the gymnasium]. Bucharest: Consiliul National pentru Curriculum - Ministerul Educariei Nationale, 1998.

Curriculum Nalional - Programe fcolare pentru invZ@ndntul primar [National curriculum - school curriculum for primary education]. Bucharest: Consiliul National pentru Curriculum - Ministerul Educatiei Nationale, 1998.

Descriptori de perfirmanpi pentru invZjZmdntul primar [Performance descriptors for primary schools]. Bucharest: SNEE-CNC, Pro-Gnosis, 2000.

Ghid metodologic de aplicare a programelor jcolare pentru educatie civic2 j i cultur2 civic2 [Methodological guide for the civic education curriculum]. Bucharest: Consiliul National pentru Curriculum - Ministerul Educatiei Nationale, 2002.

Ministry of Education and Research. Planuri cadru de invZpZmdnt pentru invZtZmantul preuniversitar [The framework for pre-academic education]. Bucharest: 1999.

Strategia de dezvoltare a sistemului de formare initial: gi continui a personalului didactic gi a managerilor din invithhntul preuniversitar [The strategy for the development of initial training and continuous education, 2001-2004]. www.edu.ro.

Strategia dezvoltarii invatamantului preuniversitar 2002-2004 [Strategy for the pre-academic education development for 2002-20041. www.edu.ro.

Textbooks and teaching materials for the 1st to 9th grades.

Prospects, vol. AXUV no. 1, March 2004

All in One. Fairness, Neutrality and Conservatism. A Case Study form Romania

Documents

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