ties,
trained personnel, and teaching materials for the improvement of
minority instruction.

As a result of this increased government support, groups as small as six
were made eligible to be instructed by a full-time teacher in any
non-Romanian native language. High schools with instruction in Hungarian
or German were set up in a number of the larger cities and towns that
had sizable populations in those nationalities. In addition, sections or
classes were organized in certain vocational and industrial schools for
the teaching of selected subjects in minority languages, and candidates
for admission to higher schools were permitted to take competitive
examinations in either Romanian or their native language. By the opening
of the 1971/72 school year the government reported that more than
280,000 minority students in 3,162 schools and sections were receiving
instruction in their native languages from approximately 14,000
teachers.

CHAPTER 7

ARTISTIC AND INTELLECTUAL EXPRESSION

The arts and intellectual activity reflect Romania's position as a
crossroads of Eastern and Western cultures. Elements of ancient Roman
culture from the second and third centuries mingle with Byzantine
elements (dating from the Middle Ages) and with Islamic elements
(brought by the Turkish conquest of the fifteenth century) (see ch. 2).
In more recent times, these were joined by elements of Western European
culture. Underlying all these influences from abroad are elements of a
native peasant culture that can be traced back to the Neolithic
settlement found on the territory of the Romanian state. The mixing of
all the elements has produced a cultural mosaic that, although it has
much in common with the cultures of neighboring countries, is purely
Romanian.

The Romanian people are very proud of their cultural heritage and of the
artistic and intellectual expression that it has inspired. Artists and
intellectuals have always occupied a favored position in society as
transmitters of the aspirations of the people. They continue to feel an
identity as the social class that is responsible for the spiritual
well-being of the nation.

The communist government has promoted this pride in the cultural
heritage by devoting considerable funds and effort to the restoration
and preservation of antiquities. It has also fostered the preservation
of folk art and folk traditions through the establishment of the Village
Museums in Bucharest and Cl