Romania: The union struggle to improve the quality of education continues
Despite financial challenges and teacher shortages in Romania, decisive union initiatives and significant reforms are underway to improve the quality of education. The Federation of Free Education Unions (FSLE) is sparing no effort to overcome obstacles and ensure students and teachers have a better future.
Insufficient funding for public education
Adrian Voica, Vice-President of the FSLE and member of the Bureau of the Francophone Education and Training Union Committee, which brings together French-speaking education unions affiliated with Education International, emphasised that public education funding in Romania is insufficient, with only 3% of gross domestic product allocated to it, despite the national education law providing for a minimum of 6%. This shortfall has a devastating impact on children from disadvantaged backgrounds, Voica warned.
He also stated that a European Commission report indicated that students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Romania are 2.5 years behind those from more privileged backgrounds. Moreover, the current funding model does not meet the needs of the education system and financial redistribution mechanisms lack transparency.
Voica stressed a shortage of teachers in Romania, particularly for subjects such as maths, biology, physics, and chemistry. The Ministry of Education acknowledged that there were 1,015 job vacancies for these subjects at the beginning of the school year. To fill this gap, the Ministry has called on retired teachers, university students, and staff from other sectors, such as banking, to fill the gap.
Delayed retirement
Romania’s education law has been amended to allow teachers to remain in their jobs until the age of 70. This has been criticised by unions as it could set a dangerous precedent for raising the legal retirement age. In February 2025, 95% of teachers eligible for retirement chose to continue working, representing about 5,000 members of the profession nationwide.
According to Voica, one of the main reasons for this is the 50% wage increase in 2024. He noted that the 50% wage increase for teachers in 2024 was achieved after a four-week strike that prevented exams from being held. This increase was necessary to attract students to the teaching profession, retain teachers in the profession, and improve the quality of education.
Poor working conditions in private education
The private education system in Romania represents about 5% of schools nationwide. Education unions believe that private education receives unequal funding compared to public education, as private schools benefit from triple funding from the state, parents, and sponsors.
Voica highlighted that many teachers leave the private system to join public education due to lower salaries, unpaid overtime, and the implicit ban on creating or joining a union in private schools.
Go Public: Fund Education!
Education International’s campaign Go Public! Fund Education was launched and is active in Romania.
The campaign is an urgent call to governments to invest in public education, a fundamental human right and a public good, and to invest more in the teaching profession, the most important factor needed to achieve quality education.
