After a Baccalaureate held in the midst of a heat wave, the president of the National Student Council proposes to change the school calendar. He argues that the new school year should start earlier and national exams should be reorganized so that students no longer sit the tests in extreme weather conditions.
Temperatures that exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, delays caused by the Red heat wave and floods that delayed some candidates revealed that exam centers are not prepared to cope with the extreme conditions of the new climate reality, and protective measures were applied unevenly across the territory.
In this context, the president of the National Council of Students, Mihnea Haiduc, explained to “Adevărul” why it is necessary that, starting next year, the start of the school year and the national exams be moved earlier, to reduce the risk of exposure of students to the heat.
Baccalaureate 2026. An experience marked by extreme weather conditions
For many of the candidates who took the Baccalaureate this summer, the written test meant more than the usual stress of a national exam. According to Mihnea Haiduc, the student representative, the extreme heat in the classrooms turned the testing into an additional physical effort, and the solutions found by the authorities were neither uniform nor sufficient.
“For many of my colleagues and candidates who took the baccalaureate exam this year, this experience meant not only focusing on the exam topics and the natural pressure that such a test should normally involve, but also the added effort of enduring three hours in an overheated classroom with air that was often hard to breathe, and the solutions that were found in certain exam centers were applied unevenly throughout the country, because, despite the address sent by the National Baccalaureate Commission to the county school inspectorates a few days before the start of the tests, requesting protective measures and ensuring thermal comfort for the candidates, the heat in many exam centers was unbearable.
The data that appeared in the press clearly showed that, especially in exam centers in rural areas, these measures were applied unevenly, but the same situation was also recorded in certain smaller cities, which does not mean that all exam centers in the Capital, for example, were properly equipped, since there were also many complaints from candidates”explained the president of the National Council of Students.
In response to the recent statements of Iuliana Căplescu, professor of History at the National College “Matthew Basarab”who suggested that exams could start from June 15 to protect students from the heat wave, Mihnea Haiduc said that firm actions are needed, not just speeches.
“I hope that Mrs. Căplescu, who is also an advisor to the Ministry of Education, will implement the necessary measures and not limit herself to just declaring on television that such measures are needed. We need concrete actions from the Ministry”the student representative pointed out.
He also came up with a concrete solution: starting school two weeks earlier and ending classes on June 10, which would allow national exams to be scheduled in mid-June, when temperatures might be more bearable, at least for the next few years.
“Going forward, we who are involved see it this way: we would have no objection to school starting two weeks earlier, say on September 2 or 3, and ending on June 10, and then the national exams could be scheduled in mid-June.”Haiduc explained.
Baccalaureate 2026. The heatwave postpones the Mathematics/History test. The announcement made by the officials of the Ministry of Education
Climate change, a long-term challenge
The heat waves that affected Europe this summer are no longer exceptional phenomena, but could become a regular feature of the continent’s climate, as scientists warn. The World Health Organization (WHO) says governments need to treat heatwaves with the same seriousness as cold-season flu epidemics and prepare infrastructure for a future of ever-higher temperatures.
Thus, we must prepare for summers with increasingly pronounced extreme temperatures, while Europe warms twice as fast as the rest of the world.
The student leader is therefore realistic and recognizes that moving exams earlier is not a long-term solution given the unpredictability of climate change and the global trend of rising temperatures.
“However, we have to recognize that this is not a long-term solution, because we have no guarantee that it will be cooler in mid-June than it was at the end of June this year, and global warming is a reality which, as time goes on, will cause temperatures to get higher and higher.
In the coming years, we will no longer have the certainty that in mid-June the temperatures will be acceptable for conducting the exams in optimal conditions. It is true that maybe next year will be cooler and the situation will be better, but in a few years we will not have this security, and that is why this measure cannot be considered a definitive solution and massive investments in the education system are needed”declared Mihnea Haiduc.
When might the National Assessment and Baccalaureate be scheduled
Another important point emphasized by the CNE president is the need not to cut oneself off from the vacation period preceding the exam, as this is extremely valuable for final year students, who use it to review and consolidate their knowledge before exams.
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“Also, we don’t want them to be cut from the holiday period before the exam, because for many students in the final years that free period is extremely important, as it gives them the chance to review the whole subject or to focus on those aspects that they still don’t feel sufficiently prepared for the exam, which is why we support the idea of school starting two weeks earlier, for example on September 2, which would not be a problem for us”added Mihnea Haiduc.
The 2026-2027 school year is structured so that it begins on September 7, 2026, and classes for the 12th grade end on June 4, 2027, and for the 8th grade on June 11, 2027, according to the ministerial order.
If the start of school was delayed by two weeks, then the entire calendar of semesters and holidays would be shifted. Thus, for the 12th grade, the courses would end around May 21, and for the 8th grade, around May 28. As the national exams are scheduled, as a rule, shortly after the end of the courses, this advance would directly influence the period of their implementation.
Therefore, it is expected that the National Assessment for Grade VIII (which normally takes place in mid-June) will be rescheduled to the first part of June 2027, possibly around the dates of 7-9 June, and the Baccalaureate written tests for Grade 12 could be moved to the beginning of mid-June, during the week of 14-18 June 2027.
