Education Minister holds talks with unions on teacher salaries and problems in schools

Education Minister Sorin Costreie held his first meeting this week with leaders of the unions representing pre-university and higher education, with discussions focusing on teacher salaries, the 2027 budget and the main problems in schools.

Costreie said the ministry would seek solutions together with the Government and the Ministry of Finance and that he wanted the unions to participate throughout the process. The minister argued that teachers should be better paid and more motivated, without putting forward figures he cannot guarantee.

The meeting’s agenda included teaching workloads, class sizes, hourly pay, scholarships, commuting, the training of future teachers and the situation of employees who have not received the teaching career bonus. Costreie said clarifications would be issued in the coming days and indicated that some measures provided for by Law 141 should be reconsidered.

Another topic was cutting red tape in schools. The minister announced a study to identify the causes of the administrative burden and spoke about “defensive bureaucracy,” in which some documents are prepared more for formal protection than for actual needs.