Romanian teachers continue protests over reforms
Teachers' protests are set to continue in Romania. While they are in classrooms, they are refusing to teach.
Education union leaders have not ruled out a general strike, following talks with President Nicușor Dan. More than 10,000 teachers boycotted the start of the new academic year. High-school and university students also joined the demonstrations.
A protest march took place in Bucharest, with teachers walking from Victoria Palace to Cotroceni Palace, where Mr Dan met with union leaders. For the first time in 35 years, the first day of school was held without ceremonies in many schools. The city's Victoria Square was transformed into a giant classroom, with the sound of the school bell accompanied by vuvuzelas.
Protesters are demonstrating against reforms including an increase in teaching hours, the merging of schools, larger class sizes, and a reduction in hourly wages.
"What bothers us most is that our colleagues who are here today—P.E. teachers—have been given math, physics, or chemistry classes to teach," one protester said.
"Student scholarships have been cut, and not all classes have their full set of textbooks. The addition of two or four teaching hours has led to the elimination of qualified substitute teachers who had received high scores on the national qualification exam but no longer had a position," another added.
Demonstrators say the measures have a negative impact on the system and have called on the government to scrap the austerity drive. Teachers from across the country have picketed government headquarters, demanding the resignation of the Bolojan Executive, before marching to Cotroceni Palace. President Nicușor Dan walked his children and other parents to school before holding talks with education union leaders.
Mr Dan said: "If there are things that can be fixed, they will be fixed. But there has been a multi-directional effort to reduce the deficit. This was the effort on education, and, as I said, it should have started earlier to be ready by September 8th."
Romania's Education Minister, Daniel David, told teachers their requests had been heard, but that some of their demands could not be met at this time.
Meanwhile, teachers are determined to continue their protests until the measures are reversed. In 2023, education unions organised a massive strike over low wages, which ended after their demands were partially met.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
