Education Minister reassures the system: "Measures regarding pension-salary cumulation will not affect teachers"

The Minister of Education and Research, Daniel David, sent a message of calm to the education staff, stating that the possible measures regarding the limitation of pension-salary cumulation will not affect teachers. The statements were made in a public intervention on Facebook, in the context of increasingly frequent discussions about the reform package prepared by the Government. According to the minister, retired teachers remain indispensable in many schools in Romania, where the staff shortage is still major. "We will be careful that in the area of education, pension-salary cumulation does not affect teachers, because we know that, in many situations, retired teachers are the ones who help us cover the classes," Daniel David emphasized. He explained that, unlike in other fields, retired teachers do not "take lessons" from younger colleagues, but fill the gaps in a system that has been facing a chronic shortage of qualified personnel for years. In the same intervention, the Minister of Education also responded to speculations regarding a possible new increase in the teaching norm. Daniel David firmly ruled out this hypothesis. "There is no such discussion, the increase has been made. As I said, we need to stabilize, to develop in the system; there is no longer any question of a new increase in the teaching norm," he specified. The teaching norm was previously modified by recent legislation in the field of education, and the ministry believes that the system now needs predictability and stability, not new changes that would further strain the relationship between teachers and authorities. The minister's statements come at a time when education unions are demanding clarity regarding the announced reforms, and some voices are warning that restrictions on pension-salary cumulation could remove thousands of experienced teachers from schools. The message sent by Daniel David indicates that the Executive considers education a special area, where exceptions are necessary for the proper functioning of the system.