A Short History of St. Francis of Assisi High School, Roman, Romania

1. COMENIUS MULTILATERAL PROJECT FINANCED BY THE EUROPEAN COMISSION“ R.R.E.V.“ (REDISCOVER THE REAL EUROPEAN VALUES) PARTNERS: Romania, Estonia, Italy, Spain, Norway, France, Cyprus, Holland, Turkey. A Short History of St. Francis of Assisi High School, Roman, Romania ‘This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.’

2. Saint Francis of Assisi The founder of the Franciscan Friars religious order, was Saint Francis of Assisi (bornin 1181). On 26 July 1895, The Holy Congregation approved the foundation of the province “St. Joseph”, of the Franciscan Friars from Moldavia and since the beginning they were very involved in education.

3. Unfortunately due to a comunistgovernement law ,on 3-rd of August 1948, all religious orders from Romania, including the province “St. Joseph” OFMConv of the franciscan friars from Moldavia, where suppressed and many of its members where arrested and sentenced to heavy years in prison. For this reason they couldn’t continue their activity in the education of the youngsters anymore.

4. In 1991, with the effort of some of the Franciscan Friars the Franciscan high school reappeared in Nisiporești, with an impressive number of students, and after 4 years moved its center to Roman, in its own buildings, where it continues to work even today.

5. The high school “St. Francis of Assisi” has all the material and didactic resources needed to help students grow-up as well as form them to become valuable people, both spiritually and intellectually. • The students have at their disposal different laboratories: informatics, art , music , a conference hall, sport fields, a library, a chapel and a medical room.

7. Some info about the Romanian educational system before During the period between the two World Wars, in Romania there where applied the principles of the “active school”, which affirmed that the “classroom is a community of life and work at the same time”. This means that the students were trained to use practical research. The school, beside the normal educational activities, had an after school program, too. An important preoccupation was the education of the adults and the involving of students in school trips. Primary school started on the 1st of October and ended on the 1st of May.

8. The Law of Education in Romania strictly required all students to study their own religion in school, during the courses. The secondary school for both boys and girls was organized in two different cycles, independent one from another. The gymnasium, as an inferior secondary school cycle with 4 years of study(at the end of which, the students sustained a exam after which the ones who graduated, could enroll to theoretical or practical high schools) and the high school, as a superior school with another 4 years of study, followed by one or two year of specialization. At the same time there were inferior schools that gave students a preparation for the job field, the so called apprenticeship schools. Starting with 1937, King Carol II organized the ‘Country Scouts’, therefore all youngsters had to be part of that institution. The politics of the Ministry of Education during the period between the two World Wars was meant to ensure an equal cultural development of all Romanian children , regardless ofnationality or religion.

9. Levels of education gradesVIII-XI Upper- Secondar y grades V-VII Lower-Secondar y gradesI-IV Primary

10. Thanks for watching us! Presentation made by the students Gabriel Bejan and Paul Bejan under the guidance of Paula-OdilleDogan and DobritaAntica