Trade Unionists believe that education is going through the darkest period in the last 35 years

The Federation of Free Trade Unions in Education (FSLI) accuses the Government of transforming the Romanian school system into a "disorganized and demotivating” system through the provisions of Law 141/2025 on fiscal-budgetary measures and calls for the resignation of the Minister of Education and Research, Daniel David, as well as Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. In a message sent on the occasion of International Education Day, FSLI President Simion Hancescu states that the Romanian education system is going through the "darkest period in the last 35 years”. "Resignation, Minister Daniel David! The Ministry of Education and Research needs a minister who will fight with the government to defend the rights of employees and students, and not a minister who supported the cynical measures taken by Law 141/2025! Resignation, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan! Romania does not need a calculating prime minister who is only focused on cuts, but one with vision, who understands that education must be constantly invested in, even in more difficult economic times," the unionists' statement reads.

• Protests announced for an unlimited period

The Federation announces the continuation of all forms of protest, considering that the current government has applied budget cuts that directly hit the education system. According to FSLI, the fiscal-budgetary measures adopted by the Executive ignore European studies showing that Romania has among the lowest amounts allocated per student in the European Union and the lowest percentage of GDP allocated to education, according to Eurostat data. "Romania is the EU country with the highest number of students per teacher in primary education, the country with the fewest children enrolled in kindergarten due to poverty, one of the countries with the highest degree of functional illiteracy and the only one where there are unqualified substitute teachers,” warns Hancescu. The unionists also accuse the increase in violence and drug trafficking in schools, amid a lack of supervision and "disinterest on the part of governments and parliamentarians”.

• "Teachers, treated with contempt”

The FSLI claims that teachers are "treated with contempt” by the authorities, and this attitude will lead to resignations and early retirements. In the federation's opinion, the measures lacking logic and analysis will distance valuable young people from the system, endangering the future of Romanian education. "Yes, gentlemen politicians, you have achieved something unprecedented: to destroy education in Romania, a "success' of the great reforms signed by the Bologna Government! You congratulate yourself on the savings made to the state budget from the cuts applied to education, but you miss the big tax evaders, the big kickbacks given to the Romanian state, the big thefts by the smart guys from energy and the rigged contracts", the official position of the FSLI also states.