Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

1. In its previous observation, the Committee noted the comments of the Hungarian Teachers' Federation of Romania (HTFR) concerning the Education Act (No. 84 of 1995), and, given that the Government's response to those comments was received only during the Committee's session, decided to make certain preliminary remarks and to examine the response at the present session. The Committee notes that the Government has sent, in the meantime, certain further information requested in that previous observation (on the employment situation of minorities, on compensation for past discriminatory practices and on the medical examinations of certain persons who had participated in the 1987 strikes).

2. The HTFR alleged that the Education Act introduces further restrictions on native language education and training of minorities which will affect their equality of access to employment. It mentioned, in particular, sections 8.1 ("Education at all levels is provided in the Romanian language. Classes in Romanian are organized and function in each locality"), 120.2 ("In lower secondary and in secondary schools, the history of Romanians and the geography of Romania are taught in Romanian on the basis of the same curricula and from the same textbooks as for the classes where tuition is in Romanian. (...) In primary school, these subjects are taught in the mother tongue"), 122.1 ("In the vocational, technical, economic, administrative, agricultural, forestal, mountain agricultural public secondary forms of education, (...) specialist training is provided in Romanian, assuring as far as possible, the learning of the technical terminology also in the mother tongue"), 123 ("In public university education, sections and groups with tuition in the mother tongue may be established, upon request and according to the present law, in order to train the necessary staff for teaching and cultural-artistic (sic) activities") and 124 ("In the education at all levels, admission and graduation examinations are taken in Romanian. Admission and graduation examinations may be taken in the mother tongue for schools, classes and specialization forms in which teaching is provided in the respective mother tongue, in accordance with the present law").

3. The Committee had previously noted that section 8 of the Act guaranteed the right of persons belonging to national minorities to learn and receive education in their mother tongue, that section 119 permitted the establishment, taking into account local needs, of group classes, sections or schools with teaching in the language of national minorities, without prejudice to the learning of the official language and the teaching in this language (Romanian), and that section 120.3 mandated that the curricula and textbooks of universal history and on the history of Romanians reflect the history and traditions of the national minorities of Romania. It nevertheless expressed concern over the perception that the right to teach and learn in minority languages is being reduced, and over the apparently contradictory provisions in the Act.

4. The Government explains that the Act was the outcome of a four-year pre-legislative and legislative process, that it was adopted by a large majority in Parliament, and was elaborated taking into account the requirements of a number of European regional instruments and the Convention. In fact, according to the Government, the Act could constitute a main element of the national policy to promote equality under Article 2 of the Convention. It denies that the Act has shortcomings, and refers - as was noted in the Committee's previous observation - to the statement of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the effect that the Act allows considerable flexibility in its implementation. Given that the HTFR cites no specific examples of discrimination against minority languages, the Government confines itself to replying to the HTFR's allegations, section by section. In particular, it explains that the reference in section 8.4 to "official school documents" having to be in Romanian is merely a reflection of the fact that all official/administrative documents (such as certificates attesting to scholarity or occupational diplomas) are drafted in the official state language, Romanian. The Government adds that section 8 contains no discrimination based on national extraction and concords with Recommendations Nos. 10 and 11 of the 1991 Report of the Commission of Inquiry established under article 26 of the ILO Constitution to examine a complaint alleging discrimination in employment on that ground. It refers to the concluding paragraphs of that Report concerning the balance to be struck in the teaching of the official and minority languages, and stresses that the Constitution of the country ensures such a balance.

5. The Government explains that section 120.2 constitutes the only exception to the right to take admission and graduation examinations in the mother tongue, provided for in section 124. Regarding section 122.1, the Government points out that there is no threat to the existence of mother-tongue vocational training schools since vocational training represents only a part of their curricula, whereas the entire spectrum of relevant subjects is covered in the minority language. In addition, it states, to accept a separate system of technical training in the mother tongues of the national minorities would be counter-productive to the aim of economic integration; society could be faced with "socio-linguistic disabilities" of such persons when they try to enter the labour market. Regarding section 123, the Government states that it is aimed at preserving minority languages, as is seen by the following sections: 125 (Ministry of Education to train teaching staff in their teaching language) and 126 (a proportional representation of teaching staff belonging to the national minorities is ensured on the managing boards of educational institutions). Section 118 of the Act is also relevant here, as it ensures the right of national minorities to study and receive instruction in their mother tongue at all levels and in all forms of education in accordance with the Act. The Government states that section 124 is in accordance with the equality provision of the national Constitution and Recommendation No. 9 of the 1991 Commission of Inquiry report (the need to adopt a language policy which, without prejudice to the status of Romanian as the official language of the State, would meet the cultural and economic needs of the minorities). The Government encloses a copy of the Constitutional Court decision of 18 July 1995 attesting to the constitutionality of that Act.

6. The Government states that of the 29,241 pre-university school units, 2,820 (or 9.6 per cent) function as units or sections with tuition in the languages of such minorities; at the primary-school level, 73.5 per cent of the subjects included in the curriculum were taught in the mother tongue, at the junior high-school level, 75.4 per cent, and at the senior high-school level, between 60.2 and 82.8 per cent depending on the profile of the institution. According to the Government's brochure Romanian democracy and ethnic minorities, at the tertiary level, certain courses are taught in the languages of Hungarian- and German-speaking students upon their request. All students attending mother-tongue tuition schools have textbooks on the curricula subjects in their mother tongue. The teaching staff are trained in teachers' colleges with tuition in Hungarian and German, and "for the other minorities, there are forms with a pedagogical profile in high schools" (sic). Regarding vocational training, the Government cites the Regulations for the Organization and Functioning of Vocational Training and Apprenticeship, which ensure the teaching of terminology in the mother tongue. It also notes that, according to section 115 of the Regulations for the Nomination of Directors and Deputy Directors of Pre-University Educational Institutions, for minority language schools at least one of the management posts must be held by persons belonging to that minority having a good knowledge of Romanian or by persons having a good knowledge of the minority language involved.

7. The Committee is sensitive to the Government's explanation that the Education Act attempts to reach a difficult balance between preserving the official language and respecting the right of the country's ethnic minorities to learn and be taught in their mother tongues. It welcomes the statistics and documentation which the Government has collected (in the book of the Council for National Minorities The Education System in Romania - Tuition in the Languages of National Minorities 1995-96 School Year). However, the Committee is also aware of the HTFR's perception that the Act, through subtle restrictions spread across several different sections, could endanger the teaching of these languages, and thus have an impact on the equal employment opportunities of members of the national minorities. In the spirit of the Conclusions of the 1991 Commission of Inquiry, the Committee requests the Government to supply, in its next report, similar detailed information on how the Education Act is being applied in practice, so that the Committee can assess if the current language policy meets the cultural and economic needs of minorities while enabling them, if they so wish, to engage in trades and professions using their own language.

8. Turning to the points raised in its previous observation on the equality of employment opportunities of certain minorities, in particular the Rom and ethnic Hungarians, the Committee notes the statistics provided (based on the 1992 census) concerning the ethnic extraction, age and sex of the economically active population. It notes in particular the comparison of the current position of national minorities with their 1977 position: the number of economically active persons increased among ethnic groups which recorded population increases (Rom, Russians, Tartars and Turks), but decreased for those groups having an aging active population (Jews, Germans, Serbians, Slovakians and Bulgarians). The census shows that Romania's active population consists primarily of ethnic Romanians (90.8 per cent), the other nationalities making up 9.2 per cent of which 6.7 per cent belong to the Hungarian-speaking group. The Hungarian, Rom and German minorities are most represented in the secondary sector of activity, this denoting a marked change for the Rom in particular who had previously been engaged mainly in agriculture and forestry. While all minority groups are represented more or less equally in the construction and industrial sectors, some groups are more highly represented in other sectors (for example, Armenians and Jews have almost no involvement in agriculture and forestry, but are strongly represented in other branches of the economy; ethnic Hungarians are strongly represented among construction workers and specialized operators, but only around 11 per cent were farmers).

9. The Committee notes the Treaty of Understanding, Cooperation and Good Neighbourliness concluded on 16 September 1996 between the Governments of Romania and Hungary; Article 15 of the Treaty deals with the rights and obligations of persons belonging to minorities. The Committee also notes that there have been slight improvements in the employment profile of the various minorities. It would appreciate receiving statistics more recent than 1992 so as to be able to assess the trends, particularly for the Rom and Hungarian minority communities.

10. Article 2 of the Convention. In its previous observation, the Committee had requested information on the adoption of the Bill on National Minorities, which could constitute a major part of the national policy aimed at ensuring the application of the Convention as well as of the Recommendations of the 1991 Commission of Inquiry. It had also asked for further information on the aims and activities of the minority joint commissions (such as the Romanian-German commissions mentioned in previous government reports) working in the context of the Council for National Minorities. As the Government provides no such information, the Committee can but repeat its request.

11. Measures of redress. For a number of years, the Committee has been following up on Recommendation No. 6 of the above-mentioned 1991 Commission of Inquiry report (requests for medical examinations made by persons who went on strike in 1987 and who have subsequently been rehabilitated by the courts). The Committee notes with interest that the Government supplies further details concerning a total of 31 persons who underwent such examinations and trusts that the Government will continue to supply information on this point in its next report.

12. Likewise, the Committee has been requesting the Government to provide details of persons who made claims for compensation under Act No. 118/1990 and Act No. 18/1991 for past discriminatory practices based on political opinion, social origin and national extraction. It notes that, according to the Government, 88 further cases of compensation have been granted to persons who took part in the 1987 strike. The Committee welcomes this information, but would again ask that the Government provide information on the measures taken to give effect to Recommendation No. 18 of the 1991 report (rebuilding of the houses destroyed as part of the systemization policy against certain minorities).

13. Discrimination on the ground of sex. The Committee, in its previous observation, had noted certain information on the employment opportunities of women contained in the Government's National Report on the Condition of Women, presented to the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), and had asked the Government to inform it on the implementation of the various programmes aimed at promoting women's participation in production and management, as described in that National Report. The Committee has been supplied with a copy of Romania's National Plan for Action (NPA) for the Implementation of the Main Objectives provided for by the Final Documents of the Beijing Conference which aims, inter alia, (a) at developing the national machineries which are to coordinate the policies for the advancement of women; and (b) at improving the economic situation of women (for example, through special counselling for unemployed women who wish to (re-)enter the labour market; better correlation between training programmes and actual job demand; encouragement of women entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises; improved network of social services to support working women; harmonization of professional activity and family responsibilities by providing that both parents benefit optionally from the interruption of work to care for children). The Committee looks forward to receiving, with the Government's next report on the Convention, further information on the practical application of this NPA.

14. Discrimination on the ground of political opinion. The Committee's previous observation asked for information on the implementation in practice of the national policy against such discrimination, particularly as regards manifestations of differing political opinions. It expresses the hope that the Government's next report will contain this information.