Education
NIicolae Manolescu, an open letter addressed to the Minister of Education
I am not a regular reader of the publication,,Literary Romania”, but I can say that more than half of the magazine’s appearances, in a year, I purchase or read from friends, from the County Library, etc. I follow a few names and themes assiduously, starting with the director of the magazine, professor and academician Nicolae Manolescu. What impressed me lately was the diversity and multitude of topics addressed by the Director, starting with the editorials of the magazine. Although I did not always agree with the opinions of the one who was also my teacher, in no. 11/March 15, 2014 of the magazine, published 8 days before Professor Nicolae Manolescu left for his eternal life, it attracted me attention a,,open letter” addressed to the Minister of Education, regarding the direction in which the Romanian school is going. I read the “letter” several times and thought of sending the teacher a word of thanks on behalf of the teachers, parents and students of this country, but… lightning struck and the “teacher” left. I then thought of broadcasting this document through ZdV, to be a lesson for the entire Romanian nation in eternity! I firmly believe that Professor Manolescu put these burning wishes on paper, with the “tongue of death”, a testamentary wish. I also believe that the opinions in this letter should be on the electoral agenda of those who aspire to the votes of the electorate in the upcoming elections. (cost I DENY)
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OPEN LETTER
Madam Minister of Education,
We don’t know each other personally, but as a former professor of Romanian literature at the University of Bucharest, with over half a century of experience, interested in the Romanian school, I couldn’t help but follow you in your work as a minister, especially during the reform period, whose task you took over from your predecessor.
I do not hide from you that I consider the reform wrong and with very serious consequences. I have written several articles on this topic.
I published in “Literary Romania“, magazine whose director I have been for 34 years, numerous interventions by teachers from various disciplines, including a memo due to the Section of Philology and Literature of the Romanian Academy, of which I am a member.
I didn’t have any FEEDBACK from you, nor from your predecessor. Not that I would have expected. Unfortunately, I am no longer old enough to be naive. I have to confess to you that nothing that happens in the school is foreign to me. And if I have proved unable to hold your attention with a major issue like reform, I think I may be lucky with a relatively less important one, for you, Madam Minister, not for me, in whose eyes all issues are important . All the more, since the problem is closely related to the reform, even if it precedes it.
An article in this issue of “Literary Romanians“, due to a secondary school teacher and doctor of letters, tells us that many schools did not display the results of the recent simulation of the eighth grade students, because an order of the minister, dating back some time, would oblige them to treat the grade from the catalog or from the exam as personal data protected by the confidentiality law. The same thing happens in some faculties. I find out on the same occasion that the grade from the catalog and from the exam was not included in the minister’s order from the beginning. Naturally: a note is a form of stimulation. Why do we hide it??
Someone, I don’t know who, would have entered it in the same category as the date of birth and other personal data. The result of this aberration was that teachers would inform each student personally of the grade they received, privately. Abuse as clear as possible: the law and the minister’s order do not prohibit the display of lists by classes and schools. Both have individual personal data in mind exclusively. Unfortunately, it’s not a stupid matter of procedure. The measure reflects a politically correct mindset where the possibility of students confronting their grades is seen as frustrating for those with low grades, making differentiation on the basis of merit to be eliminated in the name of an egalitarianism that lowers the level and destroys value. I did not think that our school would so quickly end up imitating the one in the USA, in France and in other countries, following them on the path of destruction.
Political correctness breeds mediocrity and blocks meritocracy.
The school is thus equalized from top to bottom and does not, to be fair, give a chance to either the serious or the lazy.
It is about a rule long known to pedagogues, which should be above laws and ministerial orders, which slowly, slowly push not only the school, but the whole society towards the abyss.
With all due respect, I warn you, Madam Minister, that you are making yourself responsible for the consequences of such thoughtless and shocking measures for all those who have spent their whole lives in school and whose opinion you ignore. Not to mention the students.
Nicolae MANOLESCU
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Tags: President Nicolae Manolescus open letter published shortly died
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