Crin Antonescu, the joint candidate of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition in the May 4 presidential elections, has had the post of a tenured history teacher at the best high school in Tulcea locked for him for 24 years, according to information obtained by Info Sud-Est, G4Media and EduPedu and confirmed by the Ministry of Education and Crin Antonescu. The freezing of the titular post was done in accordance with the law, as for any dignitary for the duration of their term of office, without any limit provided by law. Klaus Iohannis also had his tenured physics teacher’s post on lock, in Sibiu, at the „Samuel Von Brukenthal” National College, as EduPedu pointed out here.
In a reply to the three publications, Crin Antonescu said that it was not his decision and that the post had been reserved for him according to the law:
- „I was a titular at the National College „Spiru Haret” in Tulcea in 1992, when I first became a parliamentarian. From 1992 until 2016, the period when I was a parliamentarian, I assume that the post was kept by the effect of law. I never requested the reservation of the post or anything similar, I assume, I repeat, that the standing law applied. I think you can get a full explanation from the Tulcea County School Inspectorate. I do not believe that the lack of an incumbent on the post has disadvantaged the students, as long as I believe that QUALIFIED teachers have worked on that post. In any case, this was not my responsibility, the reservation of the post is imposed by law, not by the incumbent or by the Inspectorate”, Crin Antonescu said.
Except that, at the same time, the Ministry of Education explained that Antonescu decided to resign from the teaching post in 2017, so the decision to resign from the post was his. The ministry also says that there were 3 three laws during this period, which provided for the blocking of tenure positions in education for dignitaries:
- „Mr. Antonescu George Crin Laurențiu is no longer a tenured teacher in the history department at the National Pedagogical College „Spiru Haret” Tulcea, since January 2017, when he informed the management of the educational unit, in writing, that he was resigning from the post of tenured teacher,” the ministry told G4Media, EduPedu and Info Sud-Est.
Crin Antonescu said on Sunday at the National Council of the PNL, where his candidacy for the May 4 presidential elections was validated, that people’s ignorance „is also to blame for our ignorance, we who educated in schools, in public discourse”, in the context in which Klaus Iohannis is preparing to complete two presidential terms in which he had „Educated Romania” as a central theme.
Antonescu also said in December 2024 that he had not worked for eight years and lived from the salary of his wife, Adina Vălean, a former European Commissioner for Transport:
- „I have not been employed these last eight years, I have lived financially from my wife’s income and my rather meager savings. I don’t remember asking anyone for a single leu, I haven’t asked the Romanian state or any institutions for a single leu or euro, and I think it’s my choice that I have nothing to be wary of,” Crin Antonescu told Antena 3.
Crin Antonescu was the author of the putsch in 2012, when the former USL (PSD-PNL alliance), led by Victor Ponta and Antonescu, suspended a series of fundamental institutions through a cascade of moves in an attempt to seize all the power in the state. See details in the editorial by journalist Dan Tăpălagă.
What is the status of tenured teachers
Tenured teachers are teachers employed in a school for an indefinite period. Every year, the Ministry of Education organizes the biggest public employment competition in the public system, which is called tenure (employment of teachers in schools for an indefinite period). The number of tenurable positions (vacant for at least 4 years) is maximum 5,000 in recent years, while the number of vacant positions for 1-3 years is over 40,000.
Posts such as the one blocked by Crin Antonescu can only be filled for a fixed period of up to 3 years and only by substitutes. A supply teacher is a qualified teacher (with a degree in the subject he or she teaches) with pedagogical training, but who is not stable in his or her post (he or she does not have an indefinite contract with a school like the tenured teachers, so he or she must regularly take part in tenure competitions to have first priority in filling a post).
The UN High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, of which Romania was a member, recommended that governments should immediately start to stop using substitute teachers and unqualified staff to fill the teacher shortage. The recommendation was launched in the Report of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, released in February 2024.
The full response of the Ministry of Education
„Mr. Antonescu George Crin Laurențiu is no longer a tenured teacher in the history department at the National Pedagogical College „Spiru Haret” Tulcea, since January 2017, when he informed the management of the educational unit, in writing, that he resigns from the post of tenured teacher.
Mr. Antonescu George Crin Laurențiu had the status of a tenured teacher in the history department at the „Spiru Haret” High School Tulcea (later „Spiru Haret” National Pedagogical College Tulcea) from September 1990 to January 2017.
In the period from October 1992 to December 2016, Mr. Antonescu George Crin Laurențiu served three terms as deputy (1992 – 2008) and two terms as senator (2008 – 2016) in the Romanian Parliament and benefited from the reservation of the chair he held.
The legal provisions on the basis of which Mr. Antonescu George Crin Laurențiu Crin benefited from the reservation of the chair between October 1992 and December 2016 were as follows:
- Law no.4/1990 on the remuneration and other rights of the President of Romania, Senators and Deputies, Article 7;
- Law no. 128/1997 on the Status of Teaching Staff, art. 101 para. (1);
- National Education Law no. 1/2011, Art. 255 para. (1).
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