Chaos on First Day of Teachers’ General Strike in Romania

Romanian schools are in chaos because of a general strike involving 150,000 teachers and school support staff. Not all teachers are on strike, so some parents on WhatsApp groups have been asked to bring their children to school to be supervised. After announcing the start of the protest, trade union activists advised parents to keep their children at home. It is not even known how many classes have been missed, and how many classes have been held, despite the protest. The Romanian Ministry of Education said it has not made public the list of schools where the strike is taking place because the situation is dynamic, meaning there are teachers who refuse to protest, though others join it. It is unclear whether the strike will continue in the coming days. “On May 18, 2023, the Ministry of Education requested from the District School Inspectorate/School Inspectorate of the Bucharest Municipality the number of participants from public pre-university education institutions in the general strike announced by the representative federations of pre-university education. Please note that the request concerned the number of participants in the strike, and not the name lists. We assure you that any request from the Ministry of Education will be treated in compliance with the legislation on the protection of personal data and in accordance with the duties regarding the coordination and control of educational activities, as well as extra-curricular activities of students,” the Ministry said.