The 2025-2026 school year, under several question marks

The Minister of Education and Research, Daniel David, stated that there is a possibility that the 2025-2026 school year, scheduled to begin on September 8, will debut with a boycott. During a TV show, the minister stated: "What will happen, the truth is that I don't know. It's very difficult for me to make predictions. There will probably be a boycott, I don't know how big it will be. There will probably be segments with different attitudes on the first day of school. I don't know what the magnitude of this process is, I don't know if there won't be schools in other areas that will carry out their activities as usual...”.

• Education, in the first package of measures

The official explained that the education system entered the first package of measures regarding the recovery from the fiscal-budgetary crisis due to the school calendar. "Education entered the first package not because anyone wanted it, but because we start on September 8 and then these measures had to be taken," Daniel David said. He added that, after overcoming this difficult period, the education system will need additional support and development.

• Classes with extremely small numbers

The minister also drew attention to the abnormal situations in some schools, where there are classes with reduced numbers to a minimum. "We currently have, for example, hundreds of classes nationwide, over 400, in which in the eighth grade there are one, two, three, up to seven children. It is not normal to have the eighth grade with two children or one child," Daniel David stressed.

• Reorganization measures

The Ministry of Education and Research announced on Monday evening that the reorganization mainly targets under-staffed classes. Following the application of Fiscal-Budgetary Law no. 141/2025, several measures were adopted: the reorganization of 507 educational units, increasing the weekly teaching norm by two hours, modifying the minimum and maximum limits for the number of students per class. According to the ministry, most classes that respected the old limits will also fall within the new provisions.

In the 2024-2025 school year, in Romania there were: 12 classes with 1 student, 26 classes with 2 students, 52 classes with 3 students, 64 classes with 4 students, 84 classes with 5 students, 92 classes with 6 students, 107 classes with 7 students. These structures will be reorganized starting with the 2025-2026 school year.

• Slight increase in simultaneous education

The ministry estimates that the measures will lead to a moderate increase in simultaneous education, from 6% currently to approximately 7.5%. However, the institution emphasizes that the percentage remains comparable to European benchmarks. The target remains flexible: relocating children to places where they can benefit from standard education or, where it is unavoidable, conducting simultaneous education through adapted methodologies, following the model practiced in countries such as France, Ireland or Finland.

The Ministry of Education and Research has assured that it will publicly present the final results regarding the organization of the 2025-2026 school year when they are available in their final form.