PM Boc Maintains Plan To Reshuffle Education Minister

• Minister Andronescu: "I do not have a problem. I can leave today or tomorrow."

The decision to reshuffle Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu remains valid, unless she gives up the order concerning the appointment of head teachers, Prime Minister Emil Boc said at the end of the ruling coalition meeting on Monday.

"I have had another discussion with the Minister of Education today and we have made it clear that, if head teachers are replaced by order (of the Minister), I will proceed with the reshuffling. This order contradicts both the National Education Law, which we have promoted, and the principle of decentralization, by which we give the local communities the prerogative to appoint head teachers," Prime Minister Emil Boc explained.

• Minister Andronescu: "The order is meant to depoliticise schools."

In turn, Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu said she could leave even "today or tomorrow" and stressed that the order concerning the appointment of head teachers did not have a political nature, but was meant to depoliticize schools.

"Regarding the reshuffling, I do not have a problem. I can leave today or tomorrow, but what I am interested in is the matter of the schools, which is a national matter," she said. Further to these remarks, Minister Andronescu said that the new Education Law would be promulgated by the end of the week, then the methodological norms would be created in order to allow head teachers to be appointed, as per the Law, by the school boards.

According to Minister Andronescu the order was drafted based on the information received from 30 School Inspector"s Offices, which indicated that some 2,720 head teachers out of a total of 7,300 had taken such posts without any contest. "I have not yet received the information from 12 School Inspector"s Offices, but I"m inclined to believe that the situation could be even worse," Minister Andronescu added.

• Nichita: "No head teacher will be replaced."

Referring to possible head teacher appointments and dismissals in the near future, Gheorghe Nichita, Vice President of the co-ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), said that "no head teacher will be replaced these days" before the methodological norms were ready.

"First of all, we need to wait for the new Law to be promulgated, because this is the starting point. The new Law clearly stipulates decentralization. While the law is being promulgated, the Minister needs to expedite the creation of the methodological norms for organizing the contests for appointing head teachers. When the norms are ready, at the end of this week, the order in question becomes impracticable and therefore can be revoked," said PSD Vice President Gheorghe Nichita.

• Ruling parties disagree on controversial order

The two ruling parties, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Democrat-Liberal Party (PD-L) disagree on the matter of the order issued by Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu (PSD) before the coalition meeting.

Leading PD-L representative Vasile Blaga commented that Minister Andronescu should revoke the order concerning the appointment of head teachers, while PSD"s Liviu Dragnea claimed that the order was going to correct the political appointments made by PD-L and that there was no good reason to dismiss Minister Andronescu.

The scandal started from the decision of Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu that head teachers and school inspectors who had been delegated to their current post should be confirmed by order of the minister, which would conflict with the decentralization plan of the PD-L.