Education unions have said 73,000 members across the country are in favor of boycotting mock national exams and pushing for teachers to take part in final year pupils’ practice tests. “I didn’t force anyone,” claims an IȘJ official, explaining how the increase in teachers’ interest in simulations was achieved.
Will the mock national exams be boycotted or not, as announced by the Education unions, who reported that 73,000 union members have called for a boycott and 40,000 for strike action during the mocks? The moment of truth will be on Monday, March 16, 2026, when the first test of the National Assessment exam simulation takes place.
According to the information posted publicly by the representatives of the Federation of Education Unions (FSE) “Spiru Haret”, in 127 educational units the simulation activities will be boycotted, the federation asking their colleagues to be in solidarity with those who decided not to participate. At the same time, assurances come from the Ministry of Education that the simulations will take place and that they will take place in optimal conditions.
“The commissions that are at the simulation are also the ones that will be at the National Evaluation”
In Olt county, for example, the simulation of the National Assessment tests will most likely run smoothly. 24 exam centers are organized, and the simulations will take place strictly under exam conditions, including the transfer of 8th grade students from schools that are not exam centers to the educational units where they are assigned. In the classrooms, the students will be supervised by assistant teachers, and their papers will be scanned and sent to the evaluators, as will happen in the exam itself.
The deputy general school inspector of IȘJ Olt, Mihaela Pirnă, who is also the president of the County Commission of the National Evaluation exam, stated for “Adevărul” that the simulation will be carried out according to exam criteria, because what is at stake is not only the evaluation of the students’ preparation, but also of the administrative capacity.
“This simulation has a double purpose: 1- to prepare the children for the exam and get them used to the conditions of the exam and 2 – to test the institutional capacity and prepare the human resource for the exam itself. The commissions that are at the simulation are also the ones that will be at the National Evaluation. This principle has been going on for two years”. Pirna declared.
The decision was reached to keep the composition of the commissions from simulations and for exams for the simple reason that the simulation is an exercise and that it is normal that the experience thus accumulated be capitalized.
On the other hand, it also started from the reality that for simulations – which represent, as the teachers say, “volunteering”, that is, for the activities carried out there is no additional payment – there was almost never very much interest.
“The problem with those who sign up for the simulations, know that we also had it last year and two years ago. I mean, there are a lot of people who don’t want to participate in the simulations, because it’s voluntary, and they want to participate in the summer. We have been practicing this way for two years, it is not a measure taken this year, because the simulation is an exercise, scanning and uploading the works of the works are not easy tasks, and it takes practice. And then those who participate in the simulation it is normal for them to be the ones who participate in the summer. In the summer we supplement only if we have situations where certain people withdraw or there is not enough staff in certain centers. (…) We have been doing this for two years, in order to encourage people to participate in the simulations. It is normal that the volunteer who gives up his time to participate in these activities should also be included when the activities are to be remunerated”, stated the deputy general school inspector of IȘJ Olt.
Tensions in Education: about 40,000 teachers prepare to strike before national exam simulations
In the centers where it was more difficult to carry out the commissions, staff from the district schools were called upon, and thus the problem would have been solved.
“We have no problems, the simulation will be carried out”, confirmed Prof. Pirnă.
Fewer exam centers
This year, 24 exam centers for the National Assessment were organized in Olt county, which will work both for the simulation and for the actual exam, fewer than last year (when 30 worked).
The decision to reduce the number of centers, stated Prof. Pirnă, would have been based on reasons for efficient organization of the activity.
“I had a meeting with the directors of the educational units from all over the county that educate the 8th grade, I came up with a proposal for centers. Initially there were 26, there were two centers that informed us that they were entering rehabilitation and could not be centers, and then we reallocated the schools to other centers, leaving 24. In general, they are in large schools, in high schools, which have the necessary infrastructure. This organization that we established – to make fewer centers – had only one goal: objectivity in conducting the exam”said Pirna.
Monitoring a large number of centers also requires a commensurate human resource. With a smaller number, problems related to the take-up of subjects or other problems that may arise during the simulation and after the National Assessment can be resolved much more quickly, added the Deputy Inspector General of Schools.
Three years ago, it was decided to round up, in a public meeting, at that time the directors of the small schools, which are not exam centers, being consulted about the centers where they prefer to lead their students, and since then it has followed the same structure, Pirnă stated, the number in the meantime decreasing either as a result of the merger of the schools, or as a result of the fact that certain schools originally designated as exam centers have entered or will enter in the summer rehabilitation programs. “No one took him by force”Prof. Mihaela Pirnă also pointed out.
“The algorithm was – each school should have at least two other surrounding schools, no school should be a center only for its own students”, Prof. Pirnă also said.
“I didn’t force anyone to participate in the simulation”
Because in recent days there has been a lot of discussion, at the national level, about the fact that school principals and representatives of school inspectorates would have pressured teachers to participate in the simulations, I also addressed this topic.
Learning that passes the exam or learning that stays?
“I didn’t force anyone to participate to the simulationI didn’t pressure anyone. There was a meeting with the directors of the units in which we established the centers, after which there was a communication through various tools in which I asked each of them what their needs were, what problems they were facing, where they had enough supervisors, where they did not, I sent information almost daily. People notified us, where there were not enough we intervened from the centers that could provide more. People were not pressured in any way to participate in the simulation.” Prof. Pirnă also said.
Although there were fears that it would be more difficult to find evaluator teachers to correct the students’ works, because the school olympiads are also held during this period, this did not happen either, the IȘJ Olt official said. Evaluating teachers had the opportunity to directly announce their interest in participating in the evaluation, not through the director of the school unit, the specialized inspectors choosing the version of a form sent to their colleagues, and each teacher signed up.
The simulation of the national exams starts next week and will take place according to the following calendar:
– March 16 – 18, 2026 – written tests for EN VIII simulation;
– March 23 – 26, 2026 – written tests for simulating the Baccalaureate exam.
