Romania’s reformist Save Romania Union (USR) has submitted a bill seeking to abolish special admission exams that high schools and colleges can organise alongside the national assessment, arguing that the separate examinations deepen inequalities in the education system.<\/p>\n
The bill was submitted by USR deputy Corina Atanasiu and USR senator \u0218tefan P\u0103l\u0103rie on August 19 and proposes amendments to Pre-university Education Law No. 198\/2023, including the repeal of provisions allowing colleges and high schools to organise their own admission competitions for ninth grade.<\/p>\n
The initiative follows the Ministry of Education and Research’s decision to relax the rules governing separate admission examinations. USR argued that the changes could allow top schools to select students on a discretionary basis.<\/p>\n
The ministry published for public consultation on August 14 the draft order, framework methodology and calendar for high school admission for the 2027-2028 school year, according to Edupedu.ro<\/a>. This would be the first school year in which high schools could organise their own admission competitions for up to half of their available places, alongside the National Evaluation.<\/p>\n “The admission exams organised separately by some colleges and high schools only deepen the inequities already existing in the education system,” USR said.<\/p>\n According to Edupedu.ro, the draft methodology does not include a specific anti-fraud mechanism for the separate examinations. The publication said this could allow schools to favour particular candidates because the proposed rules do not include safeguards that are mandatory for other types of admission tests organised by high schools.<\/p>\n USR’s bill would therefore eliminate the legal basis for these separate ninth-grade admission competitions rather than regulate their implementation.<\/p>\n The proposed changes come amid a broader debate over the organisation of secondary education admission and the balance between national assessment and school-level selection. Under the ministry’s proposed framework, schools would have greater autonomy to select students through their own examinations, while the National Evaluation would continue to determine admission for the remaining places.<\/p>\n The ministry’s draft regulations remain subject to the public consultation process and could be amended before their adoption.<\/p>\n