THE INTRODUCTION OF THE PREPARATORY CLASS IN ROMANIA

The year 2011 represents a major milestone in the history of the Romanian education mainly due to the appearance of the new law on education no. 1/2011. From the following educational year a new generation of pupils has started their studies in the school: the preparatory class or so called "zero grade" was introduced by the new law. The context represented a challenge for every actor in the field: from the minister's stuff and local representative personnel to the teachers and parents. The present paper offers an overview of the methodological aspects related to the introduction of this starting grade in the schools. In the second part an own research is presented about the Romanian teachers perception related to different aspects of the preparatory class: new disciplines, further education for teachers, usage of a dedicated portal for teacher etc.