Romanian Teachers March Against School Restructuring and Budget Cuts

Thousands of Romanian teachers took to the streets of Bucharest on Monday, causing a nationwide suspension of classes as they protested against government-initiated school restructuring and increased teaching hours.

The demonstrations come in response to spending cuts by Romania's coalition government, which aims to reduce one of the European Union's highest budget deficits and secure recovery funds. Since June, the government has implemented measures including hiking taxes, increasing average weekly teaching hours without a corresponding pay raise, and merging small schools.

Protesters, estimated at over 10,000, demanded the resignation of the education minister and a reversal of the implemented measures, stressing that education should be viewed as an investment. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's administration is also making cuts across healthcare, state firms, and public administration to reduce the deficit from 9.3% of GDP to just over 6% by 2026.