Students of the 11th grade will study “History of the Jews. Holocaust” as a compulsory subject from the new school year, which will begin on September 11, according to the order of the Minister of Education, which also includes the curriculum of this new subject. The Elie Wiesel Institute accuses him of not consulting with him as an employee of the Ministry of Education in the process of developing this document since April, so he left the working group devoted to the implementation of the school program.

As the Ministry of Education reports, Ligia Deka signed the order approving the school curriculum for the compulsory subject “History of the Jews. Holocaust”.

The new school discipline will be studied from the 2023-2024 school year for one hour a week for one year in the following classes:

• 11th, Day Courses, Secondary and Vocational Education and Evening Secondary Education, Technology Stream
• 12, special vocational and technical education, special education upper cycle of secondary school, technological stream and evening secondary education, theoretical stream.

“The program includes content that will help students better understand Jewish origins and culture”

On Thursday, the Official Gazette published the program for the subject “History of the Jews”. Holocaust”.

• “Introduction of the school subject History of the Jews. The Holocaust in an Educational Framework aims to acquire skills and new perspectives on the history, culture and traditions of Jews in Romania.
• Cultivating memory and teaching tolerance as a manifestation of sincerity are forms of awareness of one’s own identity, and education and understanding are the best ways to support democracy and freedom, counter intolerance and extremism,” the presentation note reads.

• “The new curriculum offers students not only knowledge of the history of the Jews and the tragic moments that happened in the middle of the last century, but also the development of humanistic values ​​and tolerance, respectively, attitudes characteristic of democratic citizenship, which should be formed and consolidated in high school years.
• The curriculum includes content that will help students better understand the origins and culture of Jews, contemporary challenges (anti-Semitism, xenophobia, genocide and threats to democratic norms and values) and memory of the Holocaust in the 21st century,” the minister noted. wrote on Facebook Education, Ligia Deca.

She thanks several institutions “for their contribution”, including the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Secretariat for Cult Affairs, the Romanian Embassy in Israel, the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania.

What does the Elie Wiesel Institute accuse.

The Elie Wiesel Institute accuses him of not consulting with him as an employee of the Ministry of Education in the process of developing this document since April, so he left the working group.

The institute says that the working group was established in March 2022 and by September 2022 had passed all the procedural steps set by the ministry for the development of the school curriculum. Despite the completion of the procedure, in April 2023 the working group met again, and on July 31 the members of the group received a modified version of the program, as well as a request to express their agreement with it, the quoted source said.

Full press release of the Elie Wiesel Institute:

• “The Elie Wiesel Institute took note of the signing of order no. 5344/09.08.2023 regarding the school program in the discipline “History of the Jews. Holocaust” and expresses the hope that the 2023-2024 academic year will provide an appropriate foundation for an educational path that will bring students of secondary and vocational schools more knowledge, understanding and compassion for the tragedy of the Jews in Romania under Ion Antonescu. regime.
• However, since the Institute, according to Law 276/2021, was identified by an employee of the Ministry of Education in the process of developing the school curriculum, we make the following clarifications.
• In March 2022, the Ministry of Education created a Working Group to develop this program. Six of the 14 members of the group participated from the Elie Wiesel Institute. By September 2022, the working group has passed all the procedural steps established by the ministry for the development of the school curriculum, and the coordinator of the group has submitted the document to the minister for approval.
• Although the procedure was completed, the working group reconvened in January and April 2023 at the request of the coordinator to analyze the different points of view that emerged after the procedure was completed. It should be noted that during all this time, the National Center for Policies and Evaluation in Education (CNPEE), the entity of the ministry responsible for the programs, did not send the working group an unfavorable conclusion on the draft program, the only situation when the procedures can be resumed.
• On July 31, 2023, group members received a modified version of the program, as well as a request to express their agreement with it.
• The Elie Wiesel Institute, in consultation with the experts representing it on the working group, informed CNPEE of the inappropriate way of requesting a new opinion from the working group, and that some of the changes represented mistakes out of respect for the purpose and values ​​that underpinned the promotion of this disciplines Thus, the Institute announced that it is not participating in this new round of consultations and will leave the working group if the new option is approved.”