Romanian Education Minister Not To Enforce School Mgmt Order

The decision made by Andronescu comes in the context in which the order has not been published in the Official Journal yet, which means it is not active, people close to the matter said.

The same sources added the order becomes null when the education law is promulgated by the head of state and when the methodological norms of the law are drawn up.

Prime Minister Emil Boc on Monday reiterated his decision to sack social democrat Education Minister Ecaterina Andronescu unless she cancels the order she passed recently entitling her to replace and appoint school principals.

"I am sticking to my decision. If the order is applied and school principals are replaced by order of the education minister, then, the education minister will be dismissed," Boc said Monday after the meeting of the country's ruling coalition.

Boc recently stressed the order, which leaves school management appointments up to the ministry instead of local school inspectorates, goes against the law on education and is completely opposite to the principle of decentralization allowing local administrations to appoint school principals.

On September 18, Boc said he asked Andronescu to cancel the order and stressed he would dismiss her if the act is applied.

In turn, Andronescu said at the time that she would have a talk with the prime minister and explain why she passed the order over which he threatened to oust her from the Cabinet.

After she was accused by democrat liberal lawmakers of passing the act to leave room for political appointments in school management boards, Andronescu said on private television Antena 3 that she passed the order specifically to avoid appointments by political criteria and make sure school and kindergarten managers are selected based on professional criteria only.

Before the prime minister said he threatened to dismiss her, Andronescu had told a news conference she does not regret passing the order, but regrets not having explained it.

Andronescu issued an order on September 16 that bans school inspectorates from appointing school principals and assistants and stipulates that school managers will be proposed by managing boards of school inspectorates.

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