The Minister of Education opposes political propaganda in universities

People involved in education strongly oppose political interference in education. The Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, has stated that political propaganda should not take place in university spaces, referring to a political event organized by the AUR party at "Aurel Vlaicu" University in Arad. Deca mentioned that she will investigate what happened at this university and that measures will be taken. She said, "Last week, when we witnessed political interference in the opening of the academic year at SNSPA, I was very clear in saying "no' to political propaganda in schools and universities. Schools and universities should be spaces for debating ideas and the teaching-learning process. The law clearly states that political propaganda is not allowed in university spaces or schools, and I believe this message is even more important as we enter a pre-election and election period. All those entering the electoral race should respect educational spaces as they are." Ligia Deca made this statement in Timişoara, after being asked about the AUR party's political event at "Aurel Vlaicu" University in Arad. She added that investigations would be carried out regarding this political event: "It is concerning what you are telling me about Saturday's meeting. We will also investigate because political propaganda should not take place in university spaces. If such a thing happened in Arad, we need to see the exact situation and the necessary measures. The ministry has the possibility to verify compliance with legal provisions and, if violations are found, take measures. I will personally investigate what happened and what actions the ministry can take in these cases." On October 6th, USR deputy Adrian Wiener sent an open letter to the Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, requesting measures to prevent the organization of a political event by the AUR party at the "Aurel Vlaicu" University building in Arad. The USR deputy warned that such events involve a blatant violation of the law and the independence of the academic space from political ideologies and doctrines. On Saturday, October 7th, the launch of the first AUR candidate for the Arad County in the European elections, Cristian Terheş, took place in the presence of AUR's president, George Simion, at "Aurel Vlaicu" University in Arad.

Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, stated that tolerance should be zero when it comes to plagiarism. She believes that not only final thesis papers should be checked, but any exam or assessment should ensure integrity. She said, "The issue of plagiarism is part of a broader problem regarding integrity in higher education. I believe that tolerance for plagiarism in Romanian universities should be zero. In this regard, I think we need a culture of integrity in universities, which means prevention. Not only final thesis papers, whether for a doctorate, master's, or bachelor's degree, should be checked. I believe that any exam or assessment should ensure conditions of integrity, and deviations from integrity rules should be penalized primarily within the university and, if necessary, at the national level." Deca mentioned that the new higher education law provides a range of clear sanctions not only for those who have committed plagiarism but also for those who allowed it to happen: "Regarding what we do next, the recent higher education law provides a series of clear sanctions not only for those who have actually committed plagiarism but also for those who allowed it, whether we are talking about supervisors, university committees, or those who did not ensure that the institutional system that should sanction plagiarism is functioning. There are sanctions for doctoral schools themselves or for institutions." Ligia Deca added that any doctoral thesis should be transparent for 90 days for consultation: "Furthermore, we believe that greater transparency helps prevent actions that violate academic integrity norms. Therefore, any doctoral thesis, before it can be defended, must be transparent for 90 days so that it can be consulted, and if there are integrity issues, they can be reported to the committee before the candidate defends it. This is considering the decision of the Constitutional Court, which unfortunately limits the time period for revoking a doctoral title because the Court says that a legal measure cannot be taken one year after it enters civil circulation. Here, I believe we need to focus even more on prevention because the legal sanctioning, not moral but legal, of those who have committed plagiarism is time-limited."