Marcel Ciolacu made an extremely important request through a last-minute announcement, which millions of Romanians across the country should know about, and this is because many are currently affected by the strike in schools and high schools, and the PSD president demands its termination, after the approval of an Emergency Ordinance of the Romanian Government.
Marcel Ciolacu says that the demands of the education unions would have been resolved with this request, and he says that the teachers should return to the department, and the national exams should be held according to the schedule established before the start of the school year, so that the young students are not affected.
"The ordinance for the immediate increase in the incomes of teachers and non-teaching staff was published in the Official Gazette. But this must be complemented by a consistent reform of the salary in the education system. And this will happen from next year, when the future unitary wage law will be applied. I will continue to be open to dialogue and finding realistic and applicable solutions that bring more justice to the education system.
This is just the first step! Moreover, I clearly assumed that the future Government will continue - with even more force - to restore the respect and dignity due to teachers. I appeal to teachers to return to classes to end this school year well! Discussions about legitimate problems in the system must continue, but it is also about the future of children. Therefore, all exams must take place according to the announced schedules.
I am convinced that we have reached, together with the union leaders in Education, a solution that provides all the prerequisites for teachers to return to classes and for the school year to end under normal conditions. The 1000 lei increase in teachers' salaries, respectively 400 lei for auxiliary staff, which we agreed upon today, is a significant step in a wider process, which will be strengthened by the new law on unitary salaries.
It is now clear that our objective is a common one: as in the new salary scale, the starting teacher's salary should be related to the average gross salary in the economy and be the reference point of the salary scale in education.
I believe that the demand of the teachers, that the salaries in education represent a much fairer expression of the social respect due to this profession, was justified. And I will continue to believe that when a social crisis arises, the role of political leaders is to take into account the priorities of society, not political negotiations."
