Scoala Gimnaziala Nr. 5 Piatra-Neamt has been established in 1974. At the present day it is still the largest public school in Neamt County NE Romania (approx. 1500 students and 80 staff members).
Second Chance Program is an alternative continuation and completion of compulsory education for people who, for various reasons, have failed to and which currently exceed the legal age to be integrated within the standard schooling system.
The program have been developed within the framework of the grant scheme PHARE 2005 (applied from September 2005) by the The Ministry of Education in Romania. In 2008 our institution welcomed its first Second Chance students.

During the last school year we had 53 Second Chance students (Level 1- Primary and Level 2- Lower Secondary).
The number of students varies from year to year according to the demands and each student’s educational route (which is flexible according to some variables such as: the number of years of education already completed, demonstrated informally gained skills and current performances). However, we observed and increasing trend during the last years.

Main Characteristics of the Second Chance program:
• Modular Structure: the disciplines are organized in learning modules
• Schedule Flexibility: according to the needs of the learners, classes can be held in the evening or during week-ends.
• Bi-annual frequency of open enrolments and course start dates (February and October);
• Use of the latest and newest learning methods, practice-based, adapted to the age group of the participants;
• Small work groups (8-15 learners);
• Tailor-made curriculum and guides for each discipline and level.
Flexible length of schooling for a student (according to each student’s performances);

Staff: Our teachers attended special training courses organized by The Teachers Training Institute and agreed by the Ministry of Education at the moment the program has been established and also other Lifelong Learning/continuous development trainings.

Levels and certificates:
Primary level
Modules covering the primary level curriculum;
Opportunity to complete in 2 years (instead of 4 – standard system);
Primary School Graduation Certificate

Lower secondary level
4 years’ standard duration
Compulsory Education Graduation Certificate
If the student promoted the professional qualification component – Level 1 Professional Qualification certificate;

Each Second Chance level is equivalent with a standard level (primary and lower secondary); The duration may vary according to the skills and performances of the student. This is possible due to the modular structure of the program. There are compulsory and optional modules and periodical testing sessions, so that students have the opportunity to validate their informally gained skills.
Work placements:
If the students choose the profession qualification component they have to complete a number of practical training hours. We have some local partners (hotels, restaurants, canteens) which offer us practical training facilities (under the supervision of one of our qualified teachers).

We implemented a Leonardo da Vinci VET students Placement (within the framework of the LLP) with Vitalis GmbH from Schkeuditz, Germany. 9 of our Level 2 students participated a 3 weeks working placement in different locations from Schkeudits and Leipzig, with great results. They have also benefited of language, cultural and practical training. This is the project website (available only in Romanian but with many representative pictures): http://www.ivt21.scoala5piatraneamt.ro/index.html

ICT Tools for Adult Literacy Grundtvig Workshop – June –July 2014
Second Chance to Education, First Chance to Professional Training – LdV project, 2013-2014;
Staff participation at EU Events:
Working for Inclusion – YiA Seminary, Ceuta, 2013
Adult Education to Fight Exclusion – Study Visit, October 2013- Koln, Germany
Extracurricular activities:
„First IT Step Project” – ICT Literacy courses for students;
„The story of my life”
Teachers use Feuersten method during the standard courses;

Contact details
Name of the organisation: Scoala Gimnaziala Nr. 5 Piatra-neamt

Name of contact person: George Micu

Address: Scoala 5 Piatra Neamt
32, 1 Decembrie 1918,
Piatra-Neamt Neamt, 610233, Romania

Phone : +40233224508
Fax : +40233224508
E-mail: scoala5p.neamt@yahoo.com
website: http://www.scoala5piatraneamt.ro