The Ministry of Education and Research issued a circular by which district and municipal councils are requested to dismiss the heads of education division who were employed contrary to the provisions of the Education Code. The documents concerning the termination of employment contracts are to be issued by January 11 and the Ministry is to be subsequently informed about the taken actions, IPN reports.

The heads appointed more than four years ago, those who weren’t appointed by a contest or were appointed for an indefinite period of time are to be discharged. “The provisions regarding employment heads of education divisions by a contest for a four-year term date back to 2014, when the Education Code was adopted. Now the Ministry does nothing but implement these provisions and ensure that the law is equal for all,” said Minister of Education and Research Dan Perciun.

The request was made because the time limit of 45 days of the adoption of the Constitutional Court decision of December 12, 2023, by which the amendments to the Education Code adopted by Parliament on August 17, 2023 were confirmed, expires on January 26, 2024. The Constitutional Court established the constitutionality of these amendments and dismissed as inadmissible the complaints submitted by a number of MPs and a district council.

If the administrative document is not issued by representatives of the second-level local public authority, the Ministry will terminate itself the employment relations and will appoint interim heads until contests are held and new heads are named.

At the end of December, the National Alternative Movement made a new request to the Constitutional Court, asking for the constitutional review of the new provisions of the Education Code. The new request came after the Constitutional Court on December 12 rejected a similar application filed by MP Gaik Vartanean on September 7. The authors warned about the threat to local self-government generated by the provisions of Article II, paragraphs (2) to (9) of the law adopted on August 17. They pointed out that this change can lead to a series of abuses, allowing arbitrary dismissals and appointments in educational institutions, with serious consequences for the integrity and independence of the education system.