School infrastructure, still a danger

School infrastructure remains a danger to students and teachers in many areas. For now, the authorities express their regret after each incident, but the problems remain. The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, reacted after the incident at a school in Sibiu County, saying that "it is absolutely regrettable that the students were once again put in a situation where they would be in danger" due to outdated school infrastructure. In this context, Deca mentioned that the report of the control body of the ministry was completed regarding the incident in Odorheiu Secuiesc, from December of last year: "It is absolutely regrettable that the students were once again put in the situation where they were in danger because the school infrastructure is out of date. Following the incident at Loamneş secondary school, Alămor structure, in Sibiu county, according to our information, four students were slightly injured, they are only superficial injuries - according to the information I had so far. The children have been evaluated by medical staff, I understand they are fine. The incident took place in a 1936 building that was rehabilitated about two decades ago. The school is now included in a rehabilitation project, and I am absolutely convinced that the investment will primarily aim at making it safe, in order to have the maximum degree of safety for the children and for the teachers who work there". The minister added that, from the information he has, the building in which the ceiling of a classroom collapsed does not appear to be at seismic risk and that he is waiting for the results of the assessment made by the Sibiu County School Inspectorate:

"The police have opened a criminal investigation file for the commission of the crime of culpable bodily harm and the Sibiu County School Inspectorate, with whom we have contacted, is already carrying out an inspection there, let's see from the point of view of the obligations under the Education Law if everything was respected by the school management, because, we know, the administration of the building is the responsibility of the local public authorities. We are waiting for the results of these evaluations to know what the reasons were, I cannot pre-pronounce. (...) From the information I have, it (the building - n.r.) did not appear to be at seismic risk".

The Minister of Education also referred to the incident in December of last year in Odorheiu Secuiesc, when part of the building of a boarding school collapsed, and two students lost their lives, noting that the report of the Ministry's Control Body was completed, which was submitted to the criminal investigation bodies, and disciplinary investigation measures were ordered within the educational unit: "The report of the control body of the Ministry of Education was completed, it was submitted to the criminal investigation bodies, because there are aspects that are not belong to our attributions and there is still an ongoing investigation there, so what we had collected, on our line, by the Control Body, we forwarded to them and ordered a series of disciplinary investigation measures for those who had to supervise the safety of the students, from the perspective of the school management. (...) We did not publish the report because it was submitted to the criminal investigation bodies, so until the investigation is completed we will not be able to make it public".

The false ceiling of the school in the village of Alămor, Loamneş commune, fell, on Wednesday, on top of four students due to the strong wind, being current in the classroom, as well as the pigeons that would have penetrated without being noticed, on the false ceiling, contributing to its damage , declared the mayor of the locality, Maria Greavu: "The only explanation is the wind and the draft that occurred by opening the windows and the door. And indeed in the eaves, we now looked very carefully, both to one side and to the other in right of this classroom, there's a hole there in the eaves. And probably through those two holes, and on one side and on the other, there was a draft, the doors were open, the windows were open, and at the same time I saw that there was a lot of excrement of pigeons. The wind blew very hard here. Even today, if I sit outside, I can't talk to anyone on the phone. I think the wind was over 80 kilometers per hour at one point." According to the mayor, a noise from the ceiling was heard in the classroom half an hour before it collapsed. Only one child among the four on whom the classroom ceiling fell remained hospitalized in the Pediatric Clinical Hospital in Sibiu, in the Department of Surgery, but he was not operated on, and his condition is not serious, the hospital manager said.