In light of teachers’ strikes which have been ongoing for the past two weeks, national exams will keep to their original schedule if teachers return to their classrooms next week. If not, these exams will be rescheduled, Education Minister Ligia Deca declared. The ultimate decision will be taken by June 9th.
„We have managed to keep the timetable of the national exams under control. There has been no change in the exam calendar. We have extended the period for finalizing the academic situation of the 12th/13th grades until June 9, and we have also extended the registration period for the Baccalaureate exam, also until June 9. This would allow us to start the Baccalaureate exam in good conditions, as it was included in the calendar of school activities, on 12 June. The National Assessment starts on June 19. In order to keep to this calendar, to give predictability to the students and to ensure the best conditions for the exams, it is very important that we should all return to our classrooms next week. If this does not happen, not something we want, but that will be the situation, we will have to think about extensions – extensions of the registration period, of the finalisation of the academic situations, rescheduling of national exams”, Minister Deca said.
She stated that the dialogue on the wage law will continue, in the context of negotiations at the Ministry of Labour, and the Ministry of Education will support the pay scale developed with the trade union federations.
„We will fight (…) for teachers to have the respect they deserve and the salary we have considered together as a decent one and in the negotiation format on the collective labour contract we have here at the Ministry of Education. Many of the requests they have regarding overtime, the adjustment of issues related to the payroll software – these are solved technically, through bilateral dialogue and can be guaranteed through these documents – the collective labour contract and the wage law”, added Deca.
In Romania, there are 183,000 students in the 8th grade and circa 142,000 students in the 12th grade.
„Given the importance for all students to be able to take their middle school or high school final exams, we ask teachers to help us so that we can finish this year in good conditions. (…) For these hundreds of thousands of students, we need to go back to school”, Deca said.
It’s gonna be a long strike for Romanian teachers (and students)
