1. ICT in primary education

2. Introduction The evolution towards an information society marks a new step in the history of civilization and it always brings profound and fast changes in all the fields of social and economic life. These changes accelerate globalization but at the same time they cause an increasing divide. The information society (IS) represents an economy and a society in which the collection, storage, processing, transmission and the use of knowledge and information, using electronic means – including interactive communication techniques – play a very important role. The information society represents a new life-style and work-style, a new way of working in the economy and the development of a new society, a new era in the human civilization.

3. Information society has begun to shape itself once the information and communication technologies (ICTs) started to increase exponentially and so did the use of these technologies. Education has to be therefore continuously preoccupied to create information handling skills and abilities amongst the pupils, students and teachers, so that they have a better quality of life and a better civilization standard in the Romanian society through equal access to the national and global information resources. The actions undertaken in education have to belooked at as part of a new and complex policy of developing and valuing human resources, from the point of view of the information society and the knowledge based economy.

4. Taking into consideration the ideas mentioned above, the educational reform in Romania has looked at the introduction of Information and Communications Technologies in more than one direction, ensuring that there is a legal environment that would allow changes in the national curriculum for university and pre-university education, the initial and in-service training of teachers, open education and distance learning, post-graduate courses in informatics, attracting private sector and civil society in the process of equipping schools and training teachers, informing the informational system of the national education and the extension of the communications network: RoEduNet.

5. The Ministry of National Education has adopted and approved the Programme for the Implementing of Information and Communications Technologies in pre-university education (www.edu.ro/prtinf.htm) which is part of the National Informatisation Strategy and the Implementing in an Accelerated Rhythm of the Information Society approved by the Romanian Government under Decree no 58 of 02.02.1998. The general objectives of the project are: to support the reform in the pre-university education through ensuring a good technical and informational environment, the creation of the necessary infrastructure for communication and documentation at the educational level, the training of the teachers and auxiliary staff in schools so that they have the skills to use modern information systems, the development of educational materials (software) according to the new curriculum. The financial support for this project has not been yet identified, but some of the objectives have been achieved or are currently under work.

6. Information and Communication Technology in national curriculum Informatics represents a tradition in Romanian education. Before the introduction of the new curriculum plan, informatics was studied in high schools or in special classes. The new curriculum plan of pre-university education brings along the development of Informatics through the introduction of the following subjects: Informatics – for the mathematics-informatics special classes (compulsory), Information Technology – in lower secondary (optional) and in theoretical and vocational high schools (compulsory), Informatics– Computer Assisted Technologies – for technological high schools (compulsory) and the Technology of Information Processing and Applied Informatics – for vocational high schools(compulsory) (Minister's Order no: 3207/03.02.1999, 3420/12.03.1999, 3540/02.04.1999, 3788/10.05.1999, 3879/26.05.1999, 5086/15.12.1999)

7. The general objectives set in the study of the subjects mentioned above were related with those of other European countries: developing capabilities to use a computer system and a range of well-known software, making some applications using certain algorithms,developing communication skills in an active individual or team environment, using information sources and processing means in order to access, process, present and understand information, technological development and its implications on environment and society. From the content point of view the subjects mentioned are related to other subjects from a series of European countries: the role and functions of computer systems, the main functions of an operating system, word processing, design packages, spreadsheets, Internet and additional services, algorithms, basic elements of programming languages, practical applications, informatics and its impact on society. The new curriculum plan for the pre-university education allows some extra-curricular classes where Information and Communications Technologies can be used.

8. In universities, the system has mainly kept the Informatics as it was, but there are a few new subjects in connection to ICT in different faculties and their departments. In the next few years, universities will have to be prepared for the new profound changes that seem to be approaching on global level (multimedia techniques and the virtual university). This way, we will insure extensive training in the use of computers, of the Internet and in general informatics of the young generation from the university and pre-university education.

9. The informatisation of the informational system of the national education Within the Reform Programme of the Pre-university education, Management and Finance Component, and again through its sub- component of Informational System of Pre-university Management, some clear objectives can be pointed out: the modernization and extension of the informational educational management system and its informatization, improving quantity and quality of the use of information regarding education form its decision making level for medium and long term planning. This programme has been funded through the World Bank and aimed at creating a good information infrastructure by providing equipment and software to the 42 School Inspectorates and to the Ministry of National Education. The university education has access to international funding through the PHARE programme HER9601 for improving university management.

10. The RoEduNet communications network RoEduNet is a communications infrastructure that comprises data of national interest, defined and developed within the national education system. The data communications infrastructure RoEduNet is opened to all non-profit organizations, with legal Romanian status, that develop educational, research and/or cultural activities. ICD ReduNet is in charge with the National Ministry of Education strategy in the communications field and provides information to all institutions in the national education system.

11. The connecting of schools of the education system to this large and comprising network ensures: -access to scientific/educational information available on the Internet; -access to the necessary applications needed in an education based on multimedia technologies; - the development of open and distance learning; -structured and clear dissemination of the necessary information needed for the system to function; -the functioning of applications that the managerial and decision making process as a whole, access of information on both ways, from the centre to the last school and the other way around; -a good integration with the other educational institutions of the public administration system on specific information flows; -distance access of citizens (parents, pupils, students, etc) to public information offered by the system.