Education Minister Daniel David: "I can agree to reduce the number of hours during the week, but then we will also have to reduce the number of vacation weeks."

The Minister of Education, Daniel David, explained that Romania has a lower number of school hours per year compared to the OECD average, but many hours per day, due to the choice to have more weeks of vacation. He stated that if there is a desire to reduce weekly hours, the number of vacation weeks should also be reduced.

David mentioned that the Romanian educational system is built on old paradigms and that there are no psychopedagogical arguments for returning to a semester structure. An OECD analysis showed that long vacations can exacerbate educational inequalities, and Romania has some of the longest vacations in the world. Recent studies suggest that most students prefer the modular school year structure, despite the reluctance of some more experienced teachers.