Essay --

Raluca is from Bucharest, Romania. At the age of seven, her family had a computer, a library, and more than a majority of the time, quality food to eat. Raluca’s parents believed in order for her to succeed in the free market economy, education was critical. Throughout the film, it was evident that Romania was a work in progress due to it’s transition to capitalism. Raluca commuted everyday to a public school in a wealthy neighborhood where she received an advanced curriculum of French, Science, and Humanities. Raluca’s future looked promising, as a high school diploma was not enough to provide financial security. At the age of thirteen, Raluca had access to computers and the Internet considering her country valued education. In fourth grade, Raluca continued to receive a high-quality education and an advanced curriculum in Bucharest. In order to stay in a superior school, Raluca had to do well on extremely difficult exams at the end of fourth grade. In Romania, during 2003, the structure of the education system was, to an extent, hard to understand. The various schooling system consisted of pre-school education, primary school, lower secondary school, high school, vocational school, apprentice school, long-term higher education, short-term education, post secondary school, and post graduate school. Children entered pre-school education between the ages of three and six. At the age of six, the child entered primary education, which was the first four years of compulsory education. According to the 2003 amendment to the Education law, children entered school at the age of six. However, children had the option to begin their compulsory education at the age of seven at the family’s request or before the age of six if ... ...a implemented a three-cycle structure, with completion in a minimum of ten years. Romania, overtime, began the process of educational reform. Since this occurred, the population of student growth in schools increased dramatically. Resources for education also improved overall, with the adoption of new curriculum. However, the Romanian education system was slow to change due to efforts and budgets were limited. As a future educator, I would thoroughly enjoy working in Romanian schools. Even though the resources and technologies may not be available, student objectives and curriculum are in place, ensuring student success. A quote from an unknown source reads, â€Å"The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book.† From my point of view, as long as the student feels safe and comfortable, while having the will and motivation to learn, anything can happen.