Romanian Education Minister Invites Unions To Talks, Urges Teachers Not To Freeze School Year

The minister said freezing the school year isn't fair to students and parents, adding the country is going through a crisis and austerity measures need to be taken.

Romanian teachers will go on full-blown strike indefinitely as of May 31, will not take part in national tests and will attend a rally of public sector workers on May 19, a union leader said earlier Wednesday.

He said the decision was made following a meeting with leaders of all union federations in the education sector and the protests will be joined by teachers in both pre-university and university education.

Romania's Government has announced drastic spending cuts, including a 25% reduction in public sector wages and a 15% cut in pensions and social benefits.

Teachers in Romania have staged repeated protests over wages and, most recently, had planned protests over the country's new education bill. The Government said earlier this year it plans to sack about 15,000 teachers as of September.

Following authorities' announcements of austerity measures, all unions have threatened Greek-style protests and 40,000 people are expected to attend an ample rally in Bucharest next Wednesday, May 19.

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