posts frozen Dedy years of dignitaries-teachers could become history. A legislative proposal adopted tacitly by the Chamber of Deputies limits to no more than five consecutive years in which a teacher can benefit from the reservation of the job when holding public positions. The initiative is to be debated by the Senate, which is a decision -making. Klaus Iohannis, Crin Antonescu or Gabriela Crețu are just a few of the famous politicians who blocked their positions.
Chamber of Deputies. Source: www.cdep.ro
Although he received a rejection report from the Commission for Education of the Chamber, the project was considered tacitly adopted on Monday, after the voting term, May 9, was exceeded.
What the new law provides for
The legislative proposal tacitly adopted by the Chamber of Deputies limits at most five consecutive years the period in which a teacher can benefit from the reservation of the job when holding public functions. The initiative, supported by five USR senators, is to be debated by the Senate, which is a decision -making. According to the proposal, all persons chosen or appointed in public functions (president, parliamentarians, ministers, counselors, etc.), who also have the quality of teachers or research, will have the right to keep their position in education only during the mandate, but not more than five consecutive years. They will retain all their rights, but after the expiration of the term they may lose the degree if they do not return to the chair.
The modification concerns the Law on pre -university education no. 198/2023 and the Law of Higher Education no. 199/2023, in the context in which the system has been marked, for decades, by cases of permanent blocking of positions in favor of former teachers become politicians.
Teachers become dignitaries will no longer be able to block the chairs endlessly
The best known case reported by the press is that of former President Klaus Iohannis, who had reserved, for 24 years (2000-2024), the position of physics teacher at the National College “Samuel von Brukenthal” in Sibiu. Iohannis has never returned to the chair, but the post remained “frozen”, being temporarily occupied. In 2024, Klaus Iohannis retired.
And the former president of PNL Crin Antonescu kept his position as a history teacher at a high school in Tulcea for almost 25 years. Recently contacted by the press, Antonescu stated that it was not his decision, but a legal provision that allowed him to reserve his position.
Another emblematic case is the senator Gabriela Crețu, who blocked a position of social sciences teacher for 20 years at the “Mihail Kogălniceanu” High School in Vaslui. Crețu submitted to the high school the request for retirement only in April 2024, after 20 years. In parallel, he also benefited from a contractual position in the Senate of Romania, also reserved since 2012.
Her former husband, Dumitru Buzatu, a local PSD leader and president of the Vaslui County Council, also kept a reserve teacher for 28 years.
Expert: Students were deprived by titular teachers
“It is normal to reserve your position for a term or two, but if you return after 20 years, it is no longer natural to reintegrate directly into the system, as a holder. You can give the title again, like everyone else? ”, The Education expert Ștefan Vlaston asks. He believes that the adoption of the law in the Senate will depend on how interested the senators are, especially if there are teachers who have reserved, in their turn.
The Ministry of Education promised reform
The Minister of Education, Daniel David, recently said that he is working on a “complete diagnosis of the system”, which will also include the problem of booking. The reform is expected in May and could lead to extensive legislative changes, including in the degree, the transition between educational cycles and national exams.
“All these situations are related to the regulations that exist in the field (…). We will analyze and propose the best European practices”said the minister.
The tacit adoption of the proposal that limits the reservation of teaching stations to 5 years is a signal that the system begins to respond to chronic malfunctions. Education needs active teachers, present, involved – not chairs blocked endlessly by political careers. In a system already affected by an acute degree crisis, in which stable positions are increasingly difficult to access for young teachers, the formal preservation of locked places for decades only deepen the inequities and compromise the quality of the educational act.
The poor management of the vacancies in pre-university education determines the annual repetition of the title contest, regardless of the result of the candidate, which transforms it into a contest without purpose, accuses the teachers.
