Parents and students protest school closure two weeks into academic year

A group of students from the Capital’s Gymnasium no.3, along with their parents, came on Thursday, September 20, to protests in front of the Government building against the decision to close their education institution. The parents are appalled by the fact that they were notified about school’s closing only after the beginning of the school year. The authorities, for their part, say that the institution cannot be preserved since only 95 children study there, whereas its full capacity is of 1,000, reports Info-Prim Neo. Victoria Sendrea, a mother of two of the school’s students, complains that they were told to transfer to another school two weeks into the academic year. The woman believes that, if the parents would’ve been announced during the summer, there wouldn’t have any complaints. Angela Dumbraveanu, the mother of another student, says that the Gymnasium No.3 is a good institution, and the children got used to it. Moreover, the parents did some maintenance works for the school and prepared the study halls. The woman suspects that an economic interest behind the school’s closing, namely for the field and building of the gymnasium. “I am appalled by the fact that they don’t give us a choice. If they would’ve notified us in May, or at least at the beginning of August, then we would’ve transferred to another school”, the woman said. Ecaterina Tertiuc, another mother, stated that the Lyceum to which the students are proposed to transfer to is far away. Moreover, they must pay all kinds of taxes as contributions, which the parents cannot afford. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, head of the General Division for Eduation, Youth, and Sports Tatiana Nagnibeda-Tverdohleb stated that there are normative documents to be respected. In line with the educational reform, it was decided to optimize the gymnasium. The capacity of the gymnasium is of 960 children, whereas only 95 are currently enrolled. According to Tatiana Nagnibeda-Tverdohleb, they did not notify anyone about the closing of the gymnasium earlier, because even the authorities did not expect to have such a small number of students. The number of students was much greater in spring. The parents were proposed several institutions where they could transfer their children to. The teachers will also be transferred to those same institutions. As for the repairs done in the gymnasium, the division head pointed out that the schools to which the students will be transferred were also repaired.