The 2025-2026 school year, under the sign of uncertainty

The 2025-2026 school year should start on September 8, but the plans risk being overturned by deep dissatisfaction in the education system. The Minister of Education, Daniel David, publicly admitted that "it is very difficult to say" whether school will start on time, given that the education unions are threatening a general strike.

• Teachers' dissatisfaction and "crisis measures"

According to the minister, the fiscal-budgetary measures adopted by the Government are temporary in nature and were imposed by the country's economic situation. "We don't like them, I don't want them either. You realize that as a minister I wouldn't have wanted to be the minister of austerity," said Daniel David. He asked teachers to start school and build medium and long-term solutions together. "Let's start school, let's build some rational medium and long-term projections on this anger," the official said, emphasizing that after the effects of the budgetary measures stabilize, more advantageous solutions could be found for the education system.

• Unions threaten general strike

Unhappy with the cuts and restrictions, education unionists have organized several protests in recent months and warned that they are ready to launch a general strike. Teachers' representatives met with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan to discuss the situation in the system, but the discussions did not lead to concrete results. "The Prime Minister listened to us, but it didn't seem like he heard what we had to say," union leaders said after the meeting. In this context, they announced that they would boycott the start of the school year if their demands were not taken into account.

• Government Position

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stressed, at the same meeting, that the measures are based on the real possibilities of the state budget and that, although difficult, they are necessary to reduce the budget deficit. "The measures taken by the Government are based on the possibilities that Romania's budget currently has and on the realities of the education system," the head of the Executive said.

Official school year calendar

According to the calendar established by the Ministry of Education, the 2025-2026 school year begins on September 1, and classes are expected to begin on September 8. However, under current conditions, the actual start of classes remains uncertain, depending on the decisions of the unions and on how the Government will manage the conflict.

Romania is facing a delicate situation: if negotiations between the Government and the unions do not advance quickly, students could miss the start of the school year. The Education Crisis reflects the economic and social tensions generated by austerity and raises questions about how the authorities will manage to ensure the stability of a sector essential for the country's future.