A British historian is calling for Romanian to be added as an optional language to be learnt at GCSE level.
The purpose is to support children of the Romanian diaspora across the United Kingdom in learning their mother tongue at school, helping their families avoid the high costs of private lessons.
Tessa Dunlop, who describes herself as a ‘British historian particularly interested in Romania’, has started a campaign to collect signatures in support of getting GCSE Romanian on the syllabus.
She said: “Despite the fact there are half a million Romanian people in the United Kingdom, their children don’t have a Romanian language exam in the British education system.
“Romanian is the third most spoken foreign language in the UK. If these children decide to go back to their country, they will have no real chances without an adequate level of the language.”
The program aims to generate the interest of the teaching committee and support from the Romanian community in the United Kingdom.
Dunlop completed her PhD at Sheffield Hallam University in 2020, with a thesis titled ‘Representations of Romania in British Public and Political Discourse, 1907-1919′.
Just two weeks since the first social media post about the campaign, Dunlop’s survey already shows the interest of around 1,000 children and 20 volunteer teachers of the Romanian language.
Tessa also mentioned she has found interest for the campaign in Jersey in the Channel Islands, where she held an event a couple of months ago.
Around 100 Romanian children are expected to express interest in the scheme. Raluca Kovacs, a Romanian-born deputy and member of the centre-left party Reform Jersey, has indicated her commitment to back the initiative.
The project will need stronger involvement from both Romanian and British authorities, as well as from Romania diaspora community, if it is to move beyond an initial idea.
Dunlop said: “I am the creative person. I can do articles, the appearances and making noise about the topic.
“In the end, you have to have some sort of structure, and I’m not good at that.”
She urged for institutional support, in order to turn the initiative into a lasting programme.
Giles Portman, the ambassador of the United Kingdom in Bucharest, Romania, expressed his support for the initiative.
He said: “This would be wonderful to achieve, as an important symbolic and practical step recognising the value of the Romanian diaspora in the UK and the closeness of our bilateral relationship.”
Although Dunlop later married a Romanian, her connection with Romania began long before when she first visited the country in 1992.
She said: “I had been to Romania before I met my husband. I had worked in the orphanage in Siret when I was 18 years old.
“After I got married, I entered Romania’s life again, pursuing a master’s and PhD focused on Romania history and on Queen Marie.”
Tessa noted that languages like Polish or Portuguese already benefit from having an exam in the British education system.
But, according to the Office for National Statistics, the Romanian language was the most spoken foreign language in London as of 2021, particularly in the London boroughs of Harrow, Barnet and Redbridge.
The Romanian community is encouraged to participate in the survey to demonstrate support for the introduction of a GCSE in Romanian.
Fetaured image credit: aboodi vesakaran on Unsplash
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