site.btaEducation Unions in Romania Urge School Principals, Inspectors to Join Rally on First School Day

Education unions in Romania urged school principals and school inspectors to join their rally on the first day of school, September 8, in a post on their Facebook page.  Around 30,000 people from the sector are expected to take part in the demonstration. 

“We invite you to join our efforts instead of stopping our colleagues who want to democratically express their problems and threatening those who wish to participate in the rally organized by the trade union federations on Monday. Everyone who protests in the streets of Bucharest will also be doing it for you. Let us show together that the education system stands united in the face of measures that undermine its foundations,” the unions’ statement read.  

The Education Minister, Daniel David, also addressed teachers urging them to welcome children to school on the first day of the academic year and to take care of them. In an interview for Digi24, he further said that school principals will decide whether teachers who showed up at school but not in class will receive pay. 

Asked whether there is a plan B after September 8 in case a general strike is organized, he said that he doubted that events would escalate that far and denied having an alternative plan.  

The Minister expressed respect for the unions' efforts towards accountability in the sector but added that, despite their demands for his resignation since the start of his mandate, he will not step down. 

Romanian education unions continue protesting in Bucharest and other cities the measures Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government introduced recently. These include reducing teachers’ salaries, while increasing their workload and the number of students per class they teach.