Several hundred teachers and teaching assistants in Romania are protesting in front of the Ministry of Education in Bucharest. They are dissatisfied with the new government measures which, in their view, can affect the education system, writes Over 200 teachers have called for the resignation of the relevant minister, Daniel David. County unions have warned that they will suspend teaching activities, and educators are ready to repeatedly take to the streets if the Government does not meet their demands. Thus, the autumn baccalaureate session may not take place.
The new measures proposed for approval refer to the increase in teaching standards, the reduction in hourly pay, and the increase in the number of students per class.
At the same time, the minimum number of students required for a school to have legal status will be increased. Consequently, over 900 director positions are at risk of being eliminated.
Today’s protest is the first in a series of announced demonstrations, totaling 10, which will culminate in a nationwide protest on September 8, when the school year begins. Then, over 30 thousand teachers are expected to take part in a protest march, from the Government to the Cotroceni Palace.
In the meantime, the general strike announced for July 30 by multiple employees from city halls has been postponed. The decision came after discussions on Monday with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, Deputy Prime Minister Tanczos Barna, and Minister of Development Cseke Attila. Later on, the Prime Minister would have given up the initial proposal to reduce local administration salaries by 20%. However, officials did not leave the meeting with all their issues resolved and agreed to continue negotiations next week, reports Euronews. If the proposals from the city halls are not included in the local administration reform, unionists threaten a general strike.
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